On the Causes of Terrorism, Part 1: A Thought Experiment

Someone recently told me that they could not imagine what would compel a terrorist group to do something as abhorrent as targeting civilians. It was a very reasonable statement, and indeed targeting civilians is a horrible thing to do.

I do not wish to demonstrate the audacity required to say that I could explain such a decision, since I’ve never been in a situation where such a decision needed to be made. However, I think a short thought experiment would be useful to at least attempt to put oneself in the mindset of desperation required to turn to such a method. I won’t draw any parallels to any specific group or country, in order to keep the concept as universal and objective as possible.

The Dubious Moral Differences Between States and Terrorist Groups

“The basic aim of a nation at war in establishing an image of the enemy is to distinguish as sharply as possible the act of killing from the act of murder by making the former into one deserving of all honor and praise”

Jesse Glenn Gray, philosopher and soldier

An Ode to Journalism

Journalists have always held a special place in my heart – noble pursuers of truth, keeping the electorate informed and providing a sense of community; thankless guardians of democracy, holding any and every holder of power accountable for their actions; a voice for the voiceless, providing the last best hope for countless victims of tyranny and injustice; the Fourth Estate, of no less value than the legal system.

Vampires and Butterflies

For one human being to love another: that is perhaps the most difficult of all our tasks, the ultimate, the last test and proof, the work for which all other work is but preparation.

– Rainer Maria Rilke

On The French Veil Ban

© Stefan Wermuth/Reuters

On July 13, 2010 the French National Assembly overwhelmingly voted in favour of a bill prohibiting the wearing in public of clothing which conceals the face, with 335 votes for the bill and one against (most of the opposition boycotted it). In the following September, the bill easily passed through the Senate by 246 to one, and the Council of State ratified the law in October, despite previously warning the government that it could not find any legal basis in support of the ban, and that it would likely violate both the French constitution and the European Convention on Human Rights. On April 11, 2011, the ban came into effect. Violations of the ban incur the penalty of €150 or the humiliating attendance of French citizenship classes. This ban has nothing to do with secularism, and nothing to do with clothing. It is about politicians catering to voters who have been infected with a growing epidemic of Islamophobia. It is unjust, prejudicial, and dangerous.

Concerning Middle Eastern ‘Backwardness,’ Part 3: Political Islam

No one is born a radical. One is driven to radicalism, cornered by conditions which are so extreme that they can only lead to extremism. So it has gone in the Middle East. The western world, and in particular the Americans and the British, have instituted policies in this ‘troubled’ region which have led to the emergence of radical, political Islam in two ways.

Concerning Middle Eastern ‘Backwardness,’ Part 2: Post-Colonial Foreign Exploitation

This is the second article in a series designed to counter the argument that some sort of Arab exceptionalism is responsible for the so-called ‘backwardness’ of the Middle East, or that the Arabs should stop the “tired old narrative” of blaming foreigners for their problems. At first glance, it does indeed seem to be an intellectually lazy, evasive argument to simply blame foreigners for all of your problems, but upon closer study of the modern history of the region, it is simply difficult to come to any other conclusion. Merely dismissing colonialism or any other form of external meddling as “a thing of the past” is naïve, and claiming that it is not useful to dwell on such matters is ridiculous, and very easy for someone who comes from a country which has never suffered from the venom of colonialism. One must study the root of a problem in order to reach a successful solution. The dismissive American English expression “that’s history,” is a telling example of how many North Americans fail to take into account powerful historical factors when considering contemporary issues.

Concerning Middle Eastern ‘Backwardness,’ Part 1: European Colonialism

When studying global democracies from a regional perspective, it becomes immediately apparent that there is a large undemocratic stain on the map in the irrelevantly demarcated region known as the Middle East. One cannot help but wonder why this stain has not yet been cleansed. It is an old stain that has already been purged from most of the rest of the world (Of 194 countries in the world, there are 116 classified as democracies, and 89 classified as ‘free’ according to the watchdog organization Freedom House). Perhaps the fabric on this particular spot is very difficult to clean? Or perhaps someone not from this region left the stain, and failed to clean it before they departed. The recent and still ongoing populist uprisings throughout much of the region present us with an opportune moment in which to examine this subject.

WikiLeaks: Summarization and Significance

Cartoon by Emad Hajjaj, Jordan

It is the contention of this article that the significance of WikiLeaks (henceforth WL) itself, as an organization, has been exaggerated. Conversely, the significance of the documents released by WL has actually often been largely understated.

On Expats

There are two types of expats – The Tourist and The Traveller.