Also today I can recommend some reading for those of you who are not busy with other things! Very distinct Christmas theme, too.
Dagens Nyheters runs a evangelical Christmas editorial this morning.
In the newspaper they also ran a Bengt Nilsson-essay on the Holy sepulchre church and the territorial conflicts between different churches inside the building. I can't find it on the web but it was worth reading if you have it - I may add it later.
Biblical archaeology is a difficult business - a new Bethlehem is found to the north?
Åsa Linderborg in Aftonbladet writes about the Christmas spirit - charity or change?
Wednesday, December 24, 2008
Tuesday, December 23, 2008
Future forum - happy note for happy holidays?
A last look before the holidays at substance issues touching on our life at the Gulf, the link of the Future Forum held in Abu Dhabi in October.
Happy holidays to all of you! I may return to blog before the New Year, but wish you a calm and peaceful end to 2008 all ready now, to be on the safe side.
Happy holidays to all of you! I may return to blog before the New Year, but wish you a calm and peaceful end to 2008 all ready now, to be on the safe side.
Policymakers, administrators, historians
I had reason recently to discuss British colonial practices and orders - mainly on HOW the Middle East was governed (and what the British imperial interest was). This book came nicely into it and partly helps unveil the tight connection to the government of India, at least up until the Iraq mandate was formed (the First World War became a sort of landmark also in this). This link becomes especially apparent in the Gulf, actually.
The corresponding American policy formation and the early shapers of it are introduced here:
Both are warmly recommended for reading as they focus on passionate individuals and help explain the 20th century through them.
The corresponding American policy formation and the early shapers of it are introduced here:
Both are warmly recommended for reading as they focus on passionate individuals and help explain the 20th century through them.
Saturday, December 13, 2008
Link updates continue
First 2 links from this week:
Aftonbladet on women, power and sex in modern film.
National runs a story on the "Arab Booker"-prize shortlist..., results to be announced at the Abu Dhabi Book Fair.
And deeper into the autumn backlog:
Dagens Nyheter ran an editorial on Russian gas policies, mentioning my mother!
Svenska Dagbladet writes of Barack Obama's Arab appeal and runs an editorial on Obama and Iran policies. Washington Posts writes of Arab and other bloggers in the election race.
BBC reports on a British Dubai sex scandal... Later, a "swinger-scandal" hit Cairo.
Svenska Dagbladet reports on a trial against a molester in Egypt. The victim and brave reporting woman is interviewed here!
Svenska Dagbladet also meets the man behind "Young Freud in Gaza".
IWPR raises the alarm for journalists in Iraq. BBC reports on the tragic fate of a young Iraqi woman in a tribal environment... Another hard-pressed group in Iraq are Christians, as reported here by BBC.
National reports on ethnic disturbances in Turkey. BBC discusses the trial uncovering the "deep state".
Cyprus is also featured in Dagens Nyheter.
National runs a forum on the environment in the UAE - a difficult issue in the best of times.
Dagens Nyheter visits Istanbul and Svenska Dagbladet travels to Damascus.
National ran this story on preserving architecture in New Delhi.
BBC reports on seabed finds off Indonesia, highlighting Indian Ocean trade.
Cordelia Edvardsson for Svenska Dagbladet on lessons of how a Greek antique reached a private Swedish home... Dagens Nyheter writes on historical research into the history of capital punishment in Sweden.
And finally some posts in the Swedish debate - on criminalising forced marriages and on parents and taking leave to spend with their young children.
Aftonbladet on women, power and sex in modern film.
National runs a story on the "Arab Booker"-prize shortlist..., results to be announced at the Abu Dhabi Book Fair.
And deeper into the autumn backlog:
Dagens Nyheter ran an editorial on Russian gas policies, mentioning my mother!
Svenska Dagbladet writes of Barack Obama's Arab appeal and runs an editorial on Obama and Iran policies. Washington Posts writes of Arab and other bloggers in the election race.
BBC reports on a British Dubai sex scandal... Later, a "swinger-scandal" hit Cairo.
Svenska Dagbladet reports on a trial against a molester in Egypt. The victim and brave reporting woman is interviewed here!
Svenska Dagbladet also meets the man behind "Young Freud in Gaza".
IWPR raises the alarm for journalists in Iraq. BBC reports on the tragic fate of a young Iraqi woman in a tribal environment... Another hard-pressed group in Iraq are Christians, as reported here by BBC.
National reports on ethnic disturbances in Turkey. BBC discusses the trial uncovering the "deep state".
Cyprus is also featured in Dagens Nyheter.
National runs a forum on the environment in the UAE - a difficult issue in the best of times.
Dagens Nyheter visits Istanbul and Svenska Dagbladet travels to Damascus.
National ran this story on preserving architecture in New Delhi.
BBC reports on seabed finds off Indonesia, highlighting Indian Ocean trade.
Cordelia Edvardsson for Svenska Dagbladet on lessons of how a Greek antique reached a private Swedish home... Dagens Nyheter writes on historical research into the history of capital punishment in Sweden.
And finally some posts in the Swedish debate - on criminalising forced marriages and on parents and taking leave to spend with their young children.
Friday, December 12, 2008
Extreme backlog of links...
This autumn has been more difficult to cope with and confused than I reckoned with. Blogging has been one thing I have not really had a lot of energy for. So I have a absolutely enormous backlog of links to give you. I'll try to give them some structure...
For a time in the early autumn, a renewed US presence in Tehran was floated, here reported by the BBC. Here Per Ahlin in Dagens Nyheter about the discussion on Iran in the US presidential race. National looks at muscle-flexing by Tehran's influential bazaaris.
BBC also reports on an Iranian "women's car".
National reported on the fourth anniversary of Istanbul Modern!
Joschka Fischer wrote an appeal for an Arab Jean Monnet, to father an Arab cooperation like that in Europe - her in Gulf news, but I remember it being published also in Swedish, by Dagens Nyheter.
Gulf News on Syrian-Russian relations echoing the cold war?
Bitte Hammagren för Svenska Dagbladet on reconstructing Beirut and what is forgotten underneath.
National reports on an early Arab highlevel visit in Baghdad, from the UAE. Here also on Kurdish-Arab relations in Iraq and on tribal endeavours to enhance security.
Human Rights Watch reports on developments in Saudi-arabia. Amnesty similarly discusses who seem to be at the receiving end of Saudi legal harshness.
National on ethnic and linguistic mixing in the UAE - very interesting and entertaining! They also ran a whole series on youth in the Arab world, eith very interesting features of the Gulf, not least. BBC looks at the difficulties of dimensioning infra-structure in a boom - Dubai has a sewage problem...
Thomas Gür for Svenska Dagbladet on Turkey and the Caucasus, especially Armenia, against the backdrop of the Georgian war. also in Turkey, the discussion of the Ilisu dam building goes on.
Svenska Dagbladet also reports on the Swedish presence in Afghanistan.
A review from Svenska Dagbladet on Steve Colls book on bin Laden.
A little reminder of the importance of the translator of fiction...
Dagens Nyheter writes on the foreign aid-debate in Sweden and some of the books published on the topic.
Mariza sang in Uppsala, praised here by Svenska Dagbladet.
Swedish tour operators re-discover the Middle East?
Sarah Palin wigs became the rage - I wonder what her stylist does now?
For a time in the early autumn, a renewed US presence in Tehran was floated, here reported by the BBC. Here Per Ahlin in Dagens Nyheter about the discussion on Iran in the US presidential race. National looks at muscle-flexing by Tehran's influential bazaaris.
BBC also reports on an Iranian "women's car".
National reported on the fourth anniversary of Istanbul Modern!
Joschka Fischer wrote an appeal for an Arab Jean Monnet, to father an Arab cooperation like that in Europe - her in Gulf news, but I remember it being published also in Swedish, by Dagens Nyheter.
Gulf News on Syrian-Russian relations echoing the cold war?
Bitte Hammagren för Svenska Dagbladet on reconstructing Beirut and what is forgotten underneath.
National reports on an early Arab highlevel visit in Baghdad, from the UAE. Here also on Kurdish-Arab relations in Iraq and on tribal endeavours to enhance security.
Human Rights Watch reports on developments in Saudi-arabia. Amnesty similarly discusses who seem to be at the receiving end of Saudi legal harshness.
National on ethnic and linguistic mixing in the UAE - very interesting and entertaining! They also ran a whole series on youth in the Arab world, eith very interesting features of the Gulf, not least. BBC looks at the difficulties of dimensioning infra-structure in a boom - Dubai has a sewage problem...
Thomas Gür for Svenska Dagbladet on Turkey and the Caucasus, especially Armenia, against the backdrop of the Georgian war. also in Turkey, the discussion of the Ilisu dam building goes on.
Svenska Dagbladet also reports on the Swedish presence in Afghanistan.
A review from Svenska Dagbladet on Steve Colls book on bin Laden.
A little reminder of the importance of the translator of fiction...
Dagens Nyheter writes on the foreign aid-debate in Sweden and some of the books published on the topic.
Mariza sang in Uppsala, praised here by Svenska Dagbladet.
Swedish tour operators re-discover the Middle East?
Sarah Palin wigs became the rage - I wonder what her stylist does now?
Wednesday, December 10, 2008
Celebrations today
Today marks 2 different celebrations:
Nobel celebrations in Stockholm and in Oslo.
and
the 60 years anniversary of the UN Declaration of Universal Human Rights. Read Human Rights Watch and Amnesty about it here.
Nobel celebrations in Stockholm and in Oslo.
and
the 60 years anniversary of the UN Declaration of Universal Human Rights. Read Human Rights Watch and Amnesty about it here.
Tuesday, December 09, 2008
December reading
I have a wealth of waiting links from almost the whole autumn to post - so I'll be unorthodox and start with the latest ones. ;-)
Goran Bregovic played in Stockholm - here reviewed in Svenska Dagbladet.
Bitte Hammargren writes here in Svenska Dagbladet of meeting the inhabitants of Nahr el-Barid camp in northern Lebanon, months after the siege.
The National interviews new UAE ambassador to Sweden.
Ing-Marie Froman reflects on neo-feminism and social conservatism with swedish televisison iniativ Halal-tv as a backdrop. This show has also been much debated a few weeks ago on Newsmill, actually mainly before broadcasting began.
A lot of Svenska Dagbladet today - here they published an essay exploring the importance of cassettes for spreading news and information in Arabic, here in Yemen.
A much-discussed arrest of blogger Hoder in Iran has not met with much attention in sweden, but Brian Whitaker of the Guardian discusses it here. a mass of different theories and points-of-view have popped up, will post more if I find something sensible and comprehensive.
I believe I have previously (even if it was quite some time since) pointed to the specific situation in the Sinai. Human Rights Watch issued a new report in the subject in November.
Sexuality is a powerful taboo not least in the Middle East (in Sweden we are less afflicted by it ;-) ) - Dagens Nyheter here meets sex-advisor in Lebanon and discusses implications.
A Dagens Nyheter-editorial on EU-Russia relations, against the background of an installation speech by Swedish EU-minister Cecilia Malmström at the Royal Swedish Academy of War Sciences.
The Institute for Gulf Affairs offered a report on religious freedom in Saudi-Arabia - I haven't read it but the topic is always interesting!
Robert Fisk is angry and to the point as usual - here lamenting the fact that Arab archives are closed and making the writing of history dependent on British and Israeli archives! I am by the way reading a book on the colonial officers who shaped the Middle East and it's 20th century - coming back to that in a later post.
Goran Bregovic played in Stockholm - here reviewed in Svenska Dagbladet.
Bitte Hammargren writes here in Svenska Dagbladet of meeting the inhabitants of Nahr el-Barid camp in northern Lebanon, months after the siege.
The National interviews new UAE ambassador to Sweden.
Ing-Marie Froman reflects on neo-feminism and social conservatism with swedish televisison iniativ Halal-tv as a backdrop. This show has also been much debated a few weeks ago on Newsmill, actually mainly before broadcasting began.
A lot of Svenska Dagbladet today - here they published an essay exploring the importance of cassettes for spreading news and information in Arabic, here in Yemen.
A much-discussed arrest of blogger Hoder in Iran has not met with much attention in sweden, but Brian Whitaker of the Guardian discusses it here. a mass of different theories and points-of-view have popped up, will post more if I find something sensible and comprehensive.
I believe I have previously (even if it was quite some time since) pointed to the specific situation in the Sinai. Human Rights Watch issued a new report in the subject in November.
Sexuality is a powerful taboo not least in the Middle East (in Sweden we are less afflicted by it ;-) ) - Dagens Nyheter here meets sex-advisor in Lebanon and discusses implications.
A Dagens Nyheter-editorial on EU-Russia relations, against the background of an installation speech by Swedish EU-minister Cecilia Malmström at the Royal Swedish Academy of War Sciences.
The Institute for Gulf Affairs offered a report on religious freedom in Saudi-Arabia - I haven't read it but the topic is always interesting!
Robert Fisk is angry and to the point as usual - here lamenting the fact that Arab archives are closed and making the writing of history dependent on British and Israeli archives! I am by the way reading a book on the colonial officers who shaped the Middle East and it's 20th century - coming back to that in a later post.
Reading experience
I read a really interesting novel the other night, The Kissing Gates by Mackenzie Ford.
It takes place in England in the First World War and circulates around issues of life, love and morality - the price of life and the cost of love. It is very multidimensional in it's exploration of these epic themes, but in a very ordinary everyday seeting - at the same time as the wartime setting gives a cutting edge to the issues.
I picked it up by chance, but once reading, I really couldn't put it down...
It takes place in England in the First World War and circulates around issues of life, love and morality - the price of life and the cost of love. It is very multidimensional in it's exploration of these epic themes, but in a very ordinary everyday seeting - at the same time as the wartime setting gives a cutting edge to the issues.
I picked it up by chance, but once reading, I really couldn't put it down...
Tuesday, December 02, 2008
Dubai creek at dusk
Seeing the abras floating on the creek as the light is going was a near-magical experience.
Monday, December 01, 2008
Accolade
Like elsewhere, Swedish media are finding Saudi girlband Accolade! I quite like the song (it has no real Arabic feel to it, but I understand it to be sprung from a real rock scene, not necessarily a local/folksy music tradition).
Svenska Dagbladets Middle East blog by Bitte H was probably the first and today Dagens Nyheter also writes about them.
Svenska Dagbladets Middle East blog by Bitte H was probably the first and today Dagens Nyheter also writes about them.
Happy holiday season
In my world looking out from the Gulf, the holiday season begins already now. The UAE celebrates 37 years tomorrow, and next week is Eid Al-Adha. After that comes Lucia, Hanukkah, Christmas (in different versions) and New Year. Busy monthcelebrating, I guess!
My warmest wishes to those of you celebrating all or any of the above (or anything else I may have overlooked...).
My warmest wishes to those of you celebrating all or any of the above (or anything else I may have overlooked...).
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