Qifa Nabki
Syria
Selling Foreign Intervention (in Syria & Lebanon)
The debate over Syria in the Arab media and social networks has essentially become a debate about foreign intervention, and the most commonly encountered argument on the pro-regime side goes something like this: “The Syrian opposition is a foreign-funded, foreign-armed conspiracy to topple the Assad regime and strike a blow against the Resistance Axis. The … Continue reading
Sectarianism in the Eye of the Beholder: Shehadi Responds to Landis
And the hits keep coming. Nadim Shehadi articulates much better than I do the fundamental point of contention with Josh Landis regarding the question of Lebanese and Syrian sectarianism. I’m hoping MESA can be persuaded to host an installment of this very interesting exchange in Denver later this year. See below. * This is another attempt … Continue reading
Joshua Landis and Nadim Shehadi on Syria
Two very smart friends — Josh Landis and Nadim Shehadi — had interesting things to say in the comment section of the last post. I hope neither of them mind me bringing those comments up to the main page so that other readers can weigh in. The exchange was touched off by an interview that … Continue reading
Who is Right on Syria?
Greetings from dissertation-land. I’ve tried my best to keep my head down over the past few weeks, hence the long spell between posts. Since the comment section is stirring with a discussion about the events in Syria, though, I thought I’d throw a quick post up with some of the most interesting bits and pieces … Continue reading
Lebanese Parliamentarians’ Salaries & Benefits
I can’t resist plugging my father’s recent appearance on Al-Fasad, a great evening talk show in Lebanon that addresses political and economic corruption. Abu Elias addressed, among other things, the issue of parliamentarian compensation in Lebanon, which is scandalously high. This was the second installment in a series on the subject. See here for his … Continue reading
Qifa Nabki 
And the people say…