The following is an article I wrote for the American Foreign Policy
Council. It was originally published by The American Spectator.
When President Obama delivers his long-awaited speech in Egypt on Thursday, he will be fulfilling his inaugural pledge to "seek a new way forward" with the Muslim world. But finding areas of mutual interest may prove far more difficult than the president imagines. That is because, in recent years, the Middle East has seen the crystallization of regional politics around two distinct ideologies. Call it the new bipolarity.
Sometimes the Fatwas (religious decrees) issued in the Middle East approach the surreal. “There is an urgent threat confronting the Arab nation and Muslims in general, yet you are oblivious to it. Didn’t you notice that Satan is everywhere?” Pierre Abi-Sa’b, a regular columnist for Lebanon’s independent pro-opposition newspaper Al-Akhbar, wrote on October 7.
For example, influential Saudi cleric and religious scholar Muhammad Al-Habadan issued a fatwa demanding that Saudi women wear a full veil or Niqab that reveals only one eye.
“Simply because ‘if a woman shows both her eyes then this might encourage her to wear eye makeup, which might cause seduction’, and seduction, as we all know, comes from the devil,” he commented.
His Royal Highness the Emir of Transjordan,
His Majesty the King of Iraq,
His Majesty the King of Saudi-Arabia,
His Excellency the President of the Lebanese Republic,
His Majesty the King of Egypt, the King of Yemen,
With a view to strengthen[ing] the close relations and numerous ties which bind the Arab States,
And out of concern for the cementing and reinforcing of these bonds on the basis of respect for the independence and sovereignty of theme Stated,
The British Library Worldwide Web Links
Finfo Global Links
Global Connections: The Middle East (PBS)
United Nations Document Center
The Gulf/2000 Project (Columbia University)
Humbul: Middle Eastern Studies
Le Monde diplomatique - Middle East: A special focus
Links to Resources on the Middle East (University of Michigan)
MENALIB: Middle East Virtual Library
Middle East Collections - Alphabetical list by title (Archive Editions-UK)
Middle East Collections (Leiden University)
Middle East & Islamic Studies Collection (Cornell University)
Middle East Documents and Background (Mideast Web)
MidEastWeb - Historical Documents (Mideast Web)
Middle East timeline (BBC)
Middle Eastern Studies Research Guide (Emory University)
Middle Eastern Studies Resources at Bobst Library
Middle East Subjects Guide (Archive Editions-UK)
Minority Group Assessments for Middle East and North Africa, CIDCM (U. Maryland)
Mölndals stadsbibliotek (Sweden)
Near Eastern Collection (Yale University)
Research Guide to Middle East Politics (Yale University)
Orentalistik (Bibliothek der Universität Konstanz)
University of Delaware: Resources for Middle Eastern Studies
Virtual Library: International Affairs Resources--Middle East
