I just returned earlier today from volunteering at a local Jewish Community Center. Besides being able to help with parking for two huge events that were held there today, I was able to help the center run an entertainment station for the kids that were present. It was good working with people who have such close ties to their home country in the Middle East. I learned though that it is so crucial not to associate the news coming out of the region with those that might have roots in the region but do not necessarily live there. Looking at the Israeli flag flying next to the American one, I could not help but think of the Palestinian bid for full statehood at the UN earlier this week. More on that a little later though. This week I will try to focus my approach a little more and pick quality over quantity of analysis. Some of the links I was not able to cover in detail, but that I think are important nonetheless can be found at the bottom of the post.
More Rights, Yeah Just Kidding
Earlier today the BBC published an article outlining the newly acquired right of women to finally vote and run in elections in the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia. This was seen by many as a great step towards more rights for women in this very conservative society. Let’s view this through the pragmatic idealist lens though. Saudi Arabia just in the past decade introduced municipal level elections in an attempt to appease the masses call for more freedoms. Yet, how much freedom do you really enjoy when you only get to vote for half of the municipal council members and the other half is still appointed from Riyadh, the capital? If women get to have part in this already semi-representational system that only includes municipal offices, it does not represent a great increase in the rights of women. The article also outlines the fact that women will now be allowed to serve on the King’s advisory council called the Shura Council. Yet again, this might sound like great news, but let’s take a peak across the Persian Gulf and see how women’s participation has worked out in other highly religious societies. In Iran women are allowed to serve in state offices as high as the ministerial level. However, and this is where the catch is, those who are “selected” to serve are so pro status quo that they essentially have no impact on improving women’s rights further. So does this mean that the changes in suffrage and municipal elections in Saudi Arabia are a positive development? Yeah, I would say so, but I would not be too quick to praise this as an outstanding development when it is too easy to fill those new positions on the municipal and Shura level with conservative/brainwashed females. As always we will have to see how this new framework will actually be put to use by the King and the people.
Past the State Level
Deutsche Welle had a great article that gave a good look into the consequences that Bashar Al-Assad’s crackdown in Syria might have on regional power politics including sub-state actors. According to them, Syria is so deeply intertwined with Hezbollah, the predominant Shiite Islamist movement in Lebanon, and Hamas, the officially elected Sunni Islamist movement in Gaza, that if the Syrian regime goes down, the reputation and future of Hezbollah and Hamas might be threatened. Both Hezbollah and Hamas are listed as terrorist organizations by the US and the EU. So if looked at it from the angle of this sub-state actor power play, the current length and intensity of the uprisings in Syria might actually help to topple not just the reign of a dictator, but also the influence of two very powerful, terrorist organizations in the region.
Both the BBC and Al-Jazeera English had articles about Turkey’s worsening ties with Syria. PM Erdogan and the rest of the leadership of Turkey has grown increasingly frustrated with the Syrian regime’s crackdown and has now promised to intercept any arms on the way to Syria that are in transit through Turkish waters or airspace. The policies that PM Erdogan has been pursuing are a personal obsession of mine. The Realpolitik he pursues in his attempt to move Turkey in the position of regional hegemony is impressive. His policies are unique in that they are aimed towards winning the hearts and minds of the people living within the borders of neighboring states, not the hearts and minds of its oftentimes questionable leaders. This long-term thinking will pay off as populations replace their leaders with more legitimate regimes. Anyone know where I can get a poster of this guy? Anyways, moving on to the next topic.
In a Perfect World
Let’s stop for a second and think about a world where the UN actually serves as the Parliament of Man, able to grant membership and thus statehood to anyone it saw fit to join its ranks. Palestine could be granted membership and the Palestine-Israeli Crisis would be resolved. Easy as that (besides of course negotiations that would have to follow the granting of membership about territory). Someone once said, that the UN is only as strong as its members want it to be, and the members do not at this point want it to be strong enough to create a new state even though they previously gave the UN those powers with the creation of the State of Israel in 1948. Both BBC and Al-Jazeera English showcased the proceedings that took place this week with the opening of the 66th session of the General Assembly in New York City. After officially handing in the paperwork for the request for full membership of the Palestinian Authority in power in the West Bank by its leader Mahmoud Abbas, he went on to defend Palestine’s right to full membership with the words: “"I do not believe that anyone with a shred of conscience can reject our application for a full membership in the United Nations and our admission as an independent state.” Yet, the international system is not ready for the UN to grant statehood (again), especially when some international actors like the United States, see this move as an attempt to escape the stalled peace negotiations. As much as I would like to see the suffering of the Palestinian people end, I do think that people with a “shred of conscience” can reject the Palestinian application for full membership. Anyone with a shred of conscience would agree peace is the final solution in the Middle East and that sudden full Palestinian membership in the UN would not lead to peace between the Israelis and Palestinians (especially as long as Hamas is still in power in Gaza, but as explained earlier that might change soon too). Nevertheless, if the Palestinian request for full membership is viewed as legitimate, but still a little premature by the international community Mahmoud Abbas has already won a significant victory for the Palestinian people. This move will hopefully put more pressure on the Israeli PM Netanyahu and spark new interest in the resolving of this conflict that has almost been around as long as this (still) imperfect Parliament of Man has.
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