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Orientalism is a much maligned concept. While geared to the service of the
Western colonial sense of superiority, Orientalism is, at base, a loose set of
symbols and motifs that is more geared towards an introspective critique of the
West itself. It represents certain internal antagonisms and Western
anxieties that emerge in confrontations with the East over
gender and sexuality. This becomes evident when it comes to Western science
fiction (written and filmed) among other popular genres and specifically when
applied to Arabs and Muslims (the "classical" East). Hitherto, most literature
on the Orientalism evident in Western SF has focused on the Far East, via
Techno-Orientalism and Cyber-Punk. The growing strength of Arab and Muslim SF,
however, can counter these Orientalist tendencies in the genre; taking Egyptian
SF as a test case. Western SF, moreover, can set its own house in order in the
meantime, since SF allows for symbolic substitutes to existential threats
traditionally posed by the East in the Western imagination.

Mainstream social science has struggled to explain the appeal of suicide terrorism to so many Muslim youths, relying as it does on standard socio-economic indicators and research meant to identify suicidal tendencies. The existential emphasis is missing. This commentary is inspired by the work of clinical psychologist Erich Fromm (1900-1980) and his investigation of the social psychology of modernity, as well as how this intermingles with existential fears related to mortality (death-related fears) and the passage of time (the end of the world or apocalypse). Modernity, explained Fromm, makes one feel small, insignificant and isolated in the larger scheme of things. This demands a violent response, often involving self-sacrifice, to reassert the balance, which allows Islamists to take advantage of death-related anxieties and exaggerate the sense of confrontation with the world through apocalyptic prophecies. Current psychological research on death and studies of terrorism and religious extremism both confirm many of Fromm's findings and expand on them. In this commentary I argue that the religion of Islam, far from being a source of suicide terrorism, has historically restrained both suicidal tendencies and political violence directed at civilians, but it is the slow yet sure encroachment of modernity that has eroded these theological and communitarian defences. Other problems, such as household politics, gender roles, and theological teachings concerning death likewise feed this process, as documented by Arabic researchers in contexts other than political violence. ; peerReviewed ; publishedVersion

Mainstream social science has struggled to explain the appeal of suicide terrorism to so many Muslim youths, relying as it does on standard socio-economic indicators and research meant to identify suicidal tendencies. The existential emphasis is missing. This commentary is inspired by the work of clinical psychologist Erich Fromm (1900-1980) and his investigation of the social psychology of modernity, as well as how this intermingles with existential fears related to mortality (death-related fears) and the passage of time (the end of the world or apocalypse). Modernity, explained Fromm, makes one feel small, insignificant and isolated in the larger scheme of things. This demands a violent response, often involving self-sacrifice, to reassert the balance, which allows Islamists to take advantage of death-related anxieties and exaggerate the sense of confrontation with the world through apocalyptic prophecies. Current psychological research on death and studies of terrorism and religious extremism both confirm many of Fromm's findings and expand on them. In this commentary I argue that the religion of Islam, far from being a source of suicide terrorism, has historically restrained both suicidal tendencies and political violence directed at civilians, but it is the slow yet sure encroachment of modernity that has eroded these theological and communitarian defences. Other problems, such as household politics, gender roles, and theological teachings concerning death likewise feed this process, as documented by Arabic researchers in contexts other than political violence.

The author centres out the role of changes in the media in the Egyptian uprising of 2010. The growth of satellite TV, he argues, contributed to a broad cultural shift among middle-class Egyptian youth. At the same time, Facebook, Twitter, and other new social media allowed them to create their own virtual communities and link them to activities on the ground. Adapted from the source document.

This article examines the erosion of America's soft power reserves in international relations -- its ideological-cultural appeal & its image abroad -- during the Bush administration. Soft power, which refers to the ability to achieve desired outcomes through means other than force (military & economic coercion) through public diplomacy (explaining current US policy) & cultural diplomacy (academic exchanges, etc), can be very effective. The case of replacing Muwafaq Harb, the unpopular director of Al-Hurra & Radio Sawa, with CNN's Larry Register exemplifies long-term soft power policy, although in this case, the diplomatic plan was diminished by the criticism of the US media by an American guest on an Al-Jazeera broadcast. It is concluded that in the long run, the US must reassert itself -- whether by reversing the wave of globalization or re-employing more classical realists & area studies specialists -- to reverse the costly situation in both the US & the Middle East. S. Stanton

The author investigates why Orientalist stereotypes are being dredged up by non-Orientalists, & why proper Orientalists have compromised their true opinions to present a more accurate representation of the conceptual schema behind Orientalism. The author locates the source of Edward Said's thesis in the medieval Christian attempts to disprove Islam as documented by Daniel. Dissection of the Orientalist discourse identifies repeated political considerations & Armstrong's identification of a sexual polemic used as a propaganda tool to pit the irrationality of Islamic doctrine against scripture & "natural law." The change from a defensive to an offensive approach paralleled the transformation of Europe as the proverbial Third World, & continued through the developmental dualism of the West as advanced & the East as backward. The concealing of the political continuity of antagonisms inherent in the political tradition were expanded to Catholics in Weber's Protestant Work Ethic, Young Hegelians characterization of Judaism, & Kipling's representation of Muslims. The current ignorance about Islam & Arabs in Bush circles exemplifies the two dynamics of Orientalism, opening the possibility that Orientalism maybe it a chimera as a psychological substitute for what academics value the most-the respect of their peers. J. Harwell

FROM THE ARTICLE: Just as the war was grinding on, I got hold of this study of what was going on in Lebanon, in global political economy perspective . . . from two of the most reliable and insightful researchers it has been my good fortune to read -- Jonathan Nitzan and Shimshon Bichler's 'Cheap Wars'. . . . It is a bit irritating that both of them are Israelis and as usual are way ahead of us Arab journalists and our conspiracy theories -- me included -- but there's no harm in getting an inside account of what went wrong with the Israeli war. . . . And they figured it out before the war even 'went' wrong!

FROM THE ARTICLE: As you (should) know by now, I'm a big fan of the Nitzan-Bichler analysis of Middle East politics on the basis of the global political economy of oil, turning standard Marxist, neo-colonial accounts of petro-politics on their head. Here's my latest installment based on information I'm more privy to as a Middle Easterner. (If there is such a thing to begin with, bearing in mind also that Nitzan and Bichler are both Israelis, so your guess is as good as mine if they count!) I speak of the three interviews of Sheikh Ahmed Zaki al-Yamani on Al-Jazeera with all of the very interesting revelations he made, the general gist of which fits in with the Nitzan-Bichler thesis. While heavily involved in the mechanics of the 1973 October War 'oil weapon', he has to come to conclude thanks to subsequent events, that raising the price of oil was not in the interest of the Arabs but the US and the oil companies.

FROM THE ARTICLE: "Last year two very gifted researchers, Jonathan Nitzan and Shimshon Bichler, argued that the Iraq War would not make oil plentiful and cheap at all, but scarce and expensive with the leading oil companies profiting greatly from the new environment of heightened instability and soaring oil prices. Nitzan and Bichler had been making predictions of this kind for quite some time, from before the invasion in fact, but to no avail. I'm happy to say that we finally have confirmation of their claims, thanks to BBC Newsnight Greg Palast."