The New York Times has another installment of their ‘Generation Faithful‘ series on youth in the Middle East. This edition focuses on Dubai, a city that “has everything money can buy, but it does not have a unifying culture or identity.” Dubai in its current form is a young city; the UAE came into being in 1971. Michael Slackman, the author, doesn't really discuss this.
All of the GenFaith pieces follow a format wherein they follow around a single young man, group of friends, or pair of people and from their draw conjectures about the youth of a country or race (Arab). This makes for good writing but probably weak cultural analysis. This one, “Young and Arab in a Land of Mosques and Bars,” stars Rami Galal, an Egyptian working construction in Dubai; its conclusion seems to be that while Mr. Galal has made sacrifices in coming to Dubai, he has ultimately gained social mobility, at least in theory. In Dubai, unlike Egypt, he can advance through his work; it is not glamorous but he has opportunity.
A few months ago, I wrote about the early stages of the conflict in Ukraine through the lens of Sun Tzu’s The Art of War. While it appears likely that the war will carry on into the foreseeable future, enough time has passed for us to make an honest assessment of each side’s relative […]
The Ukrainian Army has made dramatic strides in the last few weeks. Ukraine’s tactical commanders have outfoxed their Russian counterparts, and by issuing a feint towards the south the UA has been able to earn substantial gains in the north of their country. The impact of these efforts have been compounded by the steady stream […]
In mid-May the Irish political party, Sinn Féin, won the plurality of seats in the Northern Ireland Assembly. Many American readers might not fully understand the significance of Sinn Féin’s political victory- but rest assured that subjects of the United Kingdom and a wide range of political movements the world over have heard the message […]
The first wave of the Russian offensive in Ukraine has fallen short of Russian autocrat Vladmir Putin’s ambitions. Most analysts deduced that Putin had hoped to achieve a decapitation strike of the Ukrainian government- taking Kiev and replacing Ukrainian President Vladimir Zolinski with a pro-Kremlin voice. Kiev has been threatened repeatedly through the course of […]
On the weekend of March 26th, the notorious MS-13 gang went on a massive killing spree in El Salvador which left more than 70 people dead by Sunday. Even for a country where powerful gangs hold massive sway, this recent tragedy stands out considering that it was the bloodiest day on record since the civil […]
