tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-22261571.comments2024-02-20T10:31:15.121-05:00MEI Editor's BlogUnknownnoreply@blogger.comBlogger2489125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-22261571.post-38788114354479802392018-01-03T11:59:27.279-05:002018-01-03T11:59:27.279-05:00Jesus did not qualify as a tourist, but it is true...Jesus did not qualify as a tourist, but it is true that the Holy Family were among the refugees from religious and political repression who came to Egypt over the millennia. Instead of King Herod, think Bashar al-Asad,and ask who is closing the door to such refugees today? David Macknoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-22261571.post-66584760651027035402017-12-11T19:04:30.238-05:002017-12-11T19:04:30.238-05:00Allenby knew how to treat the moment in a solemn, ...Allenby knew how to treat the moment in a solemn, even humble way. What a contrast with the recent declaration by the supposed leader of the free world.David Macknoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-22261571.post-12957544545445542472017-12-05T18:04:46.062-05:002017-12-05T18:04:46.062-05:00Salih once said that governing Yemen was like danc...Salih once said that governing Yemen was like dancing on the heads of snakes. Whatever one thinks of his lack of scruples, he was a genius of political tactics. David Macknoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-22261571.post-19022940999733356242017-10-05T05:32:59.653-04:002017-10-05T05:32:59.653-04:00What a treasure!What a treasure!Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-22261571.post-25641088390985744432017-09-27T17:01:33.975-04:002017-09-27T17:01:33.975-04:00I attended the reception of KRG diplomatic mission...I attended the reception of KRG diplomatic mission Monday night. It was celebratory for the most part, with emphasis on anticipated large majority of Yes votes. Several of those present admitted to nervousness about the U.S.Government position (Won't they come around, just as they did with Israel? asked one.) Rumors of relatively low turnout in Sulaymaniya and opposition of Arabs and Turkmen in Kirkuk were also downers. David Macknoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-22261571.post-13004490488227399112017-09-18T00:37:50.969-04:002017-09-18T00:37:50.969-04:00https://www.bonhams.com/auctions/16080/lot/4001/https://www.bonhams.com/auctions/16080/lot/4001/Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-22261571.post-13341341284727777542017-09-17T16:17:28.697-04:002017-09-17T16:17:28.697-04:00Happy birthday!Happy birthday!Scott Zukehttps://www.blogger.com/profile/14373662691782101414noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-22261571.post-5496314847323452582017-09-13T18:53:35.345-04:002017-09-13T18:53:35.345-04:00A bad idea whose time has come? A bad idea whose time has come? David Macknoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-22261571.post-81101802726520074982017-09-09T09:29:46.412-04:002017-09-09T09:29:46.412-04:00Welcome back. You've been missed.Welcome back. You've been missed.John T.noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-22261571.post-72611437591192531302017-08-13T17:35:31.561-04:002017-08-13T17:35:31.561-04:00Thank you for this illuminating article on Toussou...Thank you for this illuminating article on Toussoun. I recently stumbled<br />upon his "Memoire sur l’Histoire du Nil." out of interest in<br />environmental history. It appears the data on the nile water levels at<br />Cairo is still used these days. I was astonished that a member of the<br />royal family would write such a tome of lasting relevance, and was glad<br />this blog-post helped me learn more about Toussoun's background.<br /><br />The monograph issued by Bibliotheca Alexandrina, mentioned in the post,<br />has been made available <a href="https://www.bibalex.org/Attachments/Publications/Files/201603081040324516_OmarToussounBook.pdf" rel="nofollow">online<br />at bibalex.org</a> (PDF).<br /> <br />@Elizabeth: According to that monograph, Toussoun had two daughters and<br />two sons, one son died rather early. You can find more details in the book.<br />Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-22261571.post-35190257754307486232017-08-05T11:00:06.642-04:002017-08-05T11:00:06.642-04:00Ahh, yes. This takes me back to 1964, when I was a...Ahh, yes. This takes me back to 1964, when I was a Fulbright Scholar. Stella inspired an Egyptian university student friend to introduce me to one of his innovative Arabic expressions one hot Cairo afternoon: "Yalla, David, nitbayyar." <br /><br />Salaamtak, ya Mike.David Macknoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-22261571.post-67548943260226751192017-07-14T10:57:34.531-04:002017-07-14T10:57:34.531-04:00Jack had warm feelings toward MEI, back when it wa...Jack had warm feelings toward MEI, back when it was mostly WASPs who welcomed his scholarship and participation as a speaker in MEI programs. His work revealing conscious and unconscious stereotypes fit well with the MEI educational mission.David Macknoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-22261571.post-63227568948329443022017-04-30T19:42:34.035-04:002017-04-30T19:42:34.035-04:00While the Turkish government has never moved beyon...While the Turkish government has never moved beyond its strict denialist position, the relative openness under the AKP for a few years allowed enough space for the Genocide to be discussed openly in the media and academia for the first time. The work of Armenian and Turkish scholars together have brought the facts to light, the murder of Hrant Dink and subsequent Turkish popular protest were turning points, as have been the books by Turkish authors, among them Hassan Cemal, grandson of Djemal Pasha and "My Grandmother, A Memoir" helped hidden Armenians and Turks and Kurds of partial Armenian ancestry feel it no longer necessary to hide their origins. Public memorial ceremonies on 24 April initiated by Turkish HR activists and the efforts of Kurdish-led municipalities in the southeast to honor the memory of a once multi-ethnic, multi-cultural society and take responsibility for their role in its demise were important to the political maturation of the country. Sadly, the very government that made this possible has moved backwards toward autocracy. The Turks who made the transition to a more open-minded worldview feel most betrayed.Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-22261571.post-91224113616737225522017-04-27T20:41:33.540-04:002017-04-27T20:41:33.540-04:00Recommend article in April 22 NYT: "Sherlock ...Recommend article in April 22 NYT: "Sherlock Holmes of Armenian Genocide’ Uncovers Lost Evidence." Taner Akcam, a Turkish scholar working in the U.S., has found smoking gun in form of copy of Ottoman document. His reason for continuing his long search is telling: “My firm belief as a Turk is that democracy and human rights in Turkey can only be established by facing history and acknowledging historic wrongdoings.” David Macknoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-22261571.post-53222637308051824782017-04-21T13:07:37.444-04:002017-04-21T13:07:37.444-04:00I believe the man in the second picture is Prince ...I believe the man in the second picture is Prince Said Toussoun, son of Prince Omar. It looks like Prince Omar had at least three children: Said, Hassan, and Amina.Sean (williamscold@gmail.com)noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-22261571.post-85598897420774487762017-04-14T17:20:18.134-04:002017-04-14T17:20:18.134-04:00The photos are priceless! Do we need more evidenc...The photos are priceless! Do we need more evidence that these great leaders should be in a retirement village.Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-22261571.post-53006814498058904902017-04-14T17:16:41.249-04:002017-04-14T17:16:41.249-04:00To question the source of the chemical weapons att...To question the source of the chemical weapons attacks in Syria is in no way a defense of the Assad regime; rather, it is to recognize that those butchers share the stage with equally vile adversaries who are characterized by varying degrees of religious fanaticism and have turned the lives of the people who lived in areas they control, such as Idlib, into sheer hell. Would this war end with those jihadi factions ruling one or more parts of Syria will condemn its refugees and IDPs to permanent exile from their homes. Following the earlier CW attacks, it was the DNI and Chairman of the Joint Chiefs who told President Obama that they lacked conclusive evidence of Regime guilt and that there were other alternatives. If the President was in error, it was by choosing to proceed with the worthwhile goal of getting the Assad supply of CW out of the country but not confronting the dominant narrative of the day. It is not unreasonable to seek, as many have called for, samples from the scene collected by scientists and having an undisputed chain of custody before accepting the opposition narrative. <br /><br />That the Syrian regime did bomb a target in Idlib that night is not denied, but whether it dropped the chemicals or led to their dispersal from a rebel weapons store is in question. As with previous attacks, there is the possibility that the jihadi rebels exploded the canisters themselves as suggested by some scientists. To say that the timing of such an attack that would sure to arouse international condemnation or worse is another question. Assad and company are guilty of an infinite number of war crimes and human rights violations that reaffirm that they are sadists, but does not make them stupid.<br /><br />I do not know who committed this atrocity in Idlib but after all the "evidence" that took us to war in Iraq, I'd like to find out before accepting the word of government officials and outside experts with their own agendas, much less the word of the rulers in the region who support their deadly proxies in Syria. One thing is clear, though, our media learned nothing from their complicity in the lead up to the Iraq war. In the case of Syria they totally ignore the question of just WHO these rebels are that control that region and have made the lives of its people unbearable. Like so many conflicts, this one has so many victims but no real heroes.Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-22261571.post-30216962926332007382017-04-12T01:30:17.158-04:002017-04-12T01:30:17.158-04:00not to my knowledge.not to my knowledge.Michael Collins Dunnhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/07398326467953722017noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-22261571.post-68864717628154776022017-04-08T13:28:08.149-04:002017-04-08T13:28:08.149-04:00Whoa. Has the mainstream media caught up with this...Whoa. Has the mainstream media caught up with this confusion of air bases? Or blithely moved on?David Macknoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-22261571.post-12924763284171203582017-03-17T02:13:26.636-04:002017-03-17T02:13:26.636-04:00http://www.jolpress.com/sites/default/files/styles...http://www.jolpress.com/sites/default/files/styles/article_content_big/public/field/image/bouteflika-caricature-election-presidentielle-4eme-mandat.jpgAnonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-22261571.post-21598692183272776502017-03-16T21:56:08.400-04:002017-03-16T21:56:08.400-04:00Quite right. Baghdad itself was founded to escape ...Quite right. Baghdad itself was founded to escape Kufa, and both Raqqa and Samarra to escape Baghdad. Michael Collins Dunnhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/07398326467953722017noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-22261571.post-65282068574540574232017-03-16T15:57:52.088-04:002017-03-16T15:57:52.088-04:00If I recall correctly, both the Abbasid Empire and...If I recall correctly, both the Abbasid Empire and the Ummayad Empire did similar things when conditions became uncomfortably crowded and socio-economic-political tensions arose in their original capitals at Baghdad and Cordoba. In the end, withdrawing to a safer distance from the masses did not save either empire. David Macknoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-22261571.post-3602548814577831792017-03-10T15:28:43.594-05:002017-03-10T15:28:43.594-05:00My former father-in-law, Jacob Marschak, was Minis...My former father-in-law, Jacob Marschak, was Minister of Labor in the Menshevik Transcaucasis Government at the age of 18 between the Feb and October revolutions. He escaped to Germany when the Bolsheviks took over.Dorothy Marschaknoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-22261571.post-57119400283634782152017-03-08T10:46:27.786-05:002017-03-08T10:46:27.786-05:00And now comes a film version of the romantic novel...And now comes a film version of the romantic novel "Nino and Ali" set in just this area in the WWI era and beyond. It is a love story between a Georgian girl and an Azeri young man who are caught up in the violence in their city of Baku. Written by someone with the pen name Kurban Said" the true identity of the novelist has been as intriguing as the story itself. <br /><br />The film was shot between Azerbaijan and Turkey and stars Palestinian actor Omar Bakri and a Spanish actress, with well-known Turkish and Azerbaijani stars and mostly Azerbaijani extras. It is available for screening on Amazon and perhaps Netflix. It will be interesting to see whether the film, which opened last year, is as burdened as the novel with Orientalist tropes.Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-22261571.post-64069009427771616902017-03-06T23:27:34.571-05:002017-03-06T23:27:34.571-05:00I was just thinking openly about this very scenari...I was just thinking openly about this very scenario, noting that the Turkish communications 'hinged' on Mount Amanus, and it seemed to me if they could be effectively cut that the Turks could have been made to forfeit everything outside of Anatolia. I was so excited that I looked Googled it and stumbled upon this awesome blog, your three part exposition on this question I found very illuminating and informative. The memoirs of Jemal Pasha make for an added bonus. Will be following this blog more. Lord Claremorrishttps://www.blogger.com/profile/04058814995345220704noreply@blogger.com