Gordon's assessment of Ted Kennedy, from Friday's Weekend Review section of Gulf News. (click here for complete article)
Gordon's column from Wednesday's Gulf News.
This has been the Summer of Anger here in the United States. How does one make sense of that? Gordon's column from Wednesday's Gulf News:
One might think the health care debate is a purely domestic issue - holding no importance for the Middle East. Nothing could be further from the truth. Click here to read Gordon's lead article, published on 31 July in the Weekend Review section of Gulf News.
The article seeks to explain, for foreign readers, America's unique - and uniquely fervent - gun culture. Please feel free to leave comments here in the blog section, or on Gordon's Facebook page. Gordon's column from Wednesday's Gulf News.
What was most surprising about Hillary Clinton's Iran comments was the lack of reaction they elicited here at home. Gordon's column from Wednesday's Gulf News. Gordon's column from today's Gulf News, published in Dubai:
The US president is probably best described as a figure of the centre-left who believes the country is drifting in his direction. Those of us who are not professional historians (and a few who are) tend to view the past through the wrong end of a telescope. We mark America’s independence on July 4, 1776, conveniently ignoring the fact that it took seven years of war and of peace negotiations before the declaration of Philadelphia became a reality. The French Revolution and overthrow of the monarchy are popularly associated with the storming of the Bastille on July 14, 1789. But on July 15 Louis the XVI was still very much king. It would be another three and a half years before he was guillotined. When questions about engaging with Iran come up at my talks and lectures I try to remind the audience that engagement is a two-way thing. Even before the present crisis I had seen little evidence the Iranian government was eager to engage with us. This does not mean we shouldn’t try – even now, we absolutely should – it does mean we need a back-up plan in case negotiations never get started in the first place. At the risk of being labeled a wet blanket at a potentially great and paradigm-shifting juncture of history, it needs to be said that American television news coverage of Iran ought to come with a warning label. |
AuthorGordon Robison has more than 25 years of experience living in and writing about the Middle East. Archives
February 2013
Categories
All
|