The Obama Effect

This morning, I was reading the news on the BBC's website and came across an interesting article. It was about how America is perceived by people outside of America. America's perception has rebounded considerably from an all-time low in 2007. So I thought I would take a minute to comment on this.

Most of our friends and family back in the States are surprised to hear that Barack Obama is adored overseas and that George Bush is almost universally disliked. It's certainly true in the Arab world. There are three reasons why this is true. First, foreign policy in the Bush/Cheney era was characterized by unilateral decisions that strained relations with European, Middle Eastern, and Asian allies (decisions like withdrawal from the Kyoto Protocol, withdrawal from the ABM treaty, the invasion of Iraq, etc.). You may remember that Time magazine famously characterized Bush/Cheney foreign policy as "Cowboy Diplomacy" for the administration's willingness to make decisions without a broad international consensus. You may agree or disagree with the Bush/Cheney policy, but people overseas disliked it. Period.

Second, in the Arab world, the nation of Israel is hated. And there is a low-grade, but noticeable resentment of America because it supports Israel.* So, when America backs Israel, it's perceived negatively in the Arab world. Barack Obama is the first US president in recent memory that hasn't given Israel a blank check to do whatever they want to Palestinians. So America looks better to Arabs when America pushes Israel to be more accommodating to the Arab Palestinians (for instance, by not building Jewish settlements in Palestinian areas).

Third, the Arabs would like to have the opportunity to sort out their own problems without Western nations imposing solutions here. So when America comes in and invades Iraq, for instance, it's perceived as meddling in a family dispute.

So Obama's Cairo speech to the Muslim world, his reversal of the Bush Doctrine's "preemptive defense", and his outreach to Europe are all steps in the right direction - at least as far as non-Americans are concerned.

I'm not trying to say that Obama is great - or even that Bush was bad. Foreign policy is only one part of a President's job. But what I am saying is that Obama's foreign policy is much more palatable to the rest of the world than George Bush's was. I hope that after reading this, you can see why that's the case.


*NOTE: Let me clarify something - Muslim Arabs have no issue with Jews living in the Middle East (or Christians for that matter). But the Arabs don't understand why there needs to be a Jewish nation - a political entity - Israel. You see, most of the Jews left Palestine (or what the Jews refer to as Judea and Samaria) in about 135AD after the Romans put down the Bar Kochba rebellion. The Jews dispersed through North Africa, Europe, and eventually North America. Then, within a period of about 15 years, culminating in 1948, the Jews suddenly decided to come back to Palestine. So after over 1800 years, they show up, kick the Arab Muslim and Arab Christian Palestinians out of their homes, and set up their country. To the Arabs, the Jews gave up their claim to Palestine by leaving for 1800+ years. That's why the Palestinians are fighting Israel. They perceive the creation of the nation of Israel as a Western-backed (UN-backed, US-backed) land grab.

On top of that, Israel is taking more land than the UN gave them in the 1947 Partition Plan for Palestine. Most Americans are surprised by this, thinking that Israel is in the right and that the Palestinians have seized land that is not theirs. This is not correct. Israel was granted a certain portion of land, and the Palestinians were granted a certain portion of land. Israel has occupied their own land as well as the land allotted to the Palestinians. [Check out a map - this map shows the area allotted to Israel in orange and the area allotted to the Palestinian Arabs in yellow. Israel presently occupies both portions. While you're viewing the map, note the ridiculous boundaries drawn by the UN in 1947 - is anyone surprised this never worked?].

Local Rankings

by Cindy

There was a fun article in the press this week. A (very non-scientific) survey was taken for certain sectors of our economy, presumably highlighting the brands for which UAE residents have a high affinity - our university is at the top of the list.

Global Days

Global Days is a two-day student organization fair at our University. Students had been telling us all year that it was amazing and that everybody looks forward to it all year. It was Thursday and Friday nights and so here's our report.

To call this a "student organization fair" doesn't do it justice. About 40,000 people visit campus for Global Days (including students, faculty, parents, and people from the community). So it's more like the county fair than anything else. There are probably 30 student organizations represented. For the most part, the organiztions are built around national identities - so we have an Emirati Cultural Club, a Russian Cultural Club, a Saudi Cultural Club, and so forth. Each club gets one or more corporate sponsors for their booth. Some organizations build their booths themselves and others hire contractors to help out.

HERE'S THE SAUDI BOOTH. THEY BROUGHT IN SOME NATIVE ARTISANS, TRADITIONAL DANCERS, AND SAUDI TOURISM OFFICE STAFF TO WORK THE BOOTH

THE IRANIAN STUDENTS HAD A GREAT BOOTH. GOOD FREE FOOD, TOO.

THE INDIAN STUDENT ORGANIZATION BOOTH

THE MAHARAJAH AND HIS BRIDE

There are also performances in the performance hall on campus by each of the groups. The Russians did a traditional Russian dance, the Indians did a few Bollywood song-and-dance numbers, the Sudanese did some traditional African dance, and so forth.

THE SAUDI STAGE: THIS IS A PERFORMANCE OF "THE SWORD DANCE" THAT IS PERFORMED BY THE MEN AT MAJOR CELEBRATIONS IN THEIR COUNTRY

AND HERE'S A PICTURE OF THE WHOLE THING. [SEE, I TOLD YOU THERE WERE 40,000 PEOPLE]

All in all, it was pretty impressive by any standard. I've never seen a student event on this scale anywhere in the States.

100 Most Powerful Arabs

by Cindy
I was reading about the 100 most powerful Arabs in a local magazine, Arabian Business, similar to Business Week. The list contained the types of people you would expect - owners of airlines, land developers, founders and CxOs of organizations, etc. The one that caught my eye was number 6 on the list - Ahmad Shugairi. I'm sure you have never heard of him but he's an Islamic TV evangelist! Yep, they have them here, too!

Easter in Dubai

Here are a few photos of our Easter sunrise service on the beach this morning. We had about 150 people there and it was a great time for all of us to be together.

Take it From Me, Parents Just Don't Understand

So one of my students met me outside of class this morning - she looked worried about something - and said hurriedly, "Professor, I'll be in class in a minute. I need to take care of something...." I'm a nice guy, so I told her it was no big deal, to come in when she was ready.

She looked a little agitated and distracted during class, so after we wrapped up and everyone walked out into the hall, I asked her if everything was OK.

"No, my mom's about to kill me."

"Really, what happened?"

"Well, I lost my phone in a taxi this morning....[pause]....and I've already lost a laptop and three other phones in taxis this year - mostly Blackberries. [Then, responding to my stunned look...] Yeah, I know I've got a problem. I'm trying to call around to find the taxi driver. I've got to find it before my mom finds out."

"Wow. I hope you find it. Good luck."

So you can see that even over here in the Middle East, parents are still unreasonable with their children. :)