Hichem Karoui…Papers

Hichem Karoui

The Gulf Today, November 20, 2010

Whatever the Obama administration proposed to Benjamin Netanyahu as incentives in return for only 90 days settlement-freeze (they talk about an extra $3 billion worth of advanced F-35 fighter aircraft, apart from the annual $3 billion military subsidy Israel receives from Washington), you know what might happen next: the Israelis would take the subsidy and loiter 90 days, maybe less, about a peace deal that they would do their best to turn into a farce.

It is a pity, because after eight years of quasi limbo for the Palestinians, we have today a US president with a militant past, quite sensitive to the sufferance of the Palestinian people, and willing to work for peace; but on the other side, I am afraid there is no partner for peace in the Israeli government. Read more

Hichem Karoui

The Gulf Today, November 13, 2010

The Paris-based European Union Institute for Security Studies issued a volume titled The Obama Moment: European and American Perspectives, containing varied views of several scholars and experts from both shores of the Atlantic.

The Obama moment refers to the particularity of this era as essentially different from the Bush foreign policy. As Alvaro de Vasconcelos (director of the EUISS) explains in his introduction, it is “a radical departure from the confrontational style of conducting foreign policy that characterised the Bush era,” and a moment echoing Bill Clinton’s “assertive multilateralism,” providing Europe with more hope to participate positively in shaping a “better world.” Against the sceptics and the ultra-conservatives who champion a one-sided reality of power (necessarily predominance of force over diplomacy), there is here a reference to what the French philosopher Edgar Morin called “world patriotism.” Globalisation has not only linked together, through economic interdependence, people who had for thousands of years always lived in separated spheres, but at the same time — I think in complete opposition to Huntington’s thesis — it made  global cultural interaction possible for the first time since Man appeared on earth. Read more

Hichem Karoui

The Gulf Today, November 6, 2010

The October issue of the neo-conservative magazine Commentary contains an article titled: “The Other Existential Threat” whose author is Daniel Gordis, senior vice president of the Shalem Centre in Jerusalem. The author believes strongly that neither Benjamin Netanyahu, nor Tzipi Livni, nor Ehud Barak “would willingly permit Iran to go nuclear.” He concluded: “It is therefore critical that the world understand what is at stake for Israel. Should Israel strike first, the international community will need to understand what motivated that strike.” Then he addresses (indirectly) Barack Obama who is earnestly asked to “understand” to which extent Israel feels threatened at the heart of its existence. Maybe then will he accept “to do what must be done.” Read more

Hichem Karoui

Entelequia. Revista Interdisciplinar, 12, Fall 2010. Pages 27-40.
Available from Internet: <http://www.eumed.net/entelequia/en.art.php?a=12a02>

Abstract:

Since there is no definition of “terrorism” upon which all the world nations agree, this article proposes to approach the phenomenon on the basis of normative concepts widely recognized by social scientists. We think the issue would be more manageable if we use terms like “deviance” and “dissent” to describe terrorism to those people who are suffering from its consequences (Iraq, Pakistan, Afghanistan, Israel-Palestine, etc.), without alienating them: that would move the problem from the field of fear and passivity quite anchored in the minds, to put the stress more on the politically and morally unsocial behavior. On the level of the media and the public diplomacy, this approach may reveal to be rewarding, over time.

Keywords:	Terrorism, Democratization, Middle East, global jihad, neo-fundamentalism, Durkheim, Merton, Talcott Parsons, Jesse R. Pitts, Robert E. Park
JEL code:	Z19
	Download the full article in PDF format

Hichem Karoui

The Gulf Today, October 30, 2010

On Oct.22, I read in a newsletter from “Media Matters for America” under the headline “Wishing for Obama’s assassination won’t get you fired from Fox News” the following:

“The media topic of the week was the firing of Juan Williams by NPR over his remark that he gets ‘nervous’ around ‘people who are in Muslim garb’ on airplanes. Williams’ firing comes weeks after CNN canned Rick Sanchez for remarks about Jon Stewart and Jews in the media. In both cases, news organisations made personnel moves in response to perceived violations of their editorial standards.” Read more