The FPA’s must reads (February 7 – February 14)

Is the Internet good or bad? Yes.
Medium
By Zeynep Tufekci

Zeynep Tufekci, a scholar of social media and an eyewitness to last year’s massive demonstrations at Gezi Park in Istanbul, attempts to reconcile the Internet’s revolutionary potential with its most threatening capabilities in the hands of NSA and more nefarious government agents.

How to Build a Perfect Refugee Camp
New York Times
By Mac McClelland

Near its border with Syria, Turkey has taken the initiative to accommodate the massive influx of Syrian refugees in some of the most comfortable refugee camps ever constructed. McClelland explains on what Turkey hopes to accomplish by impressing its visitors and the unintended potential consequences of its success.

In the Darkness of Dick Cheney
The New York Review of Books
By Mark Danner

In this fourth installment of a series of articles exploring the Bush administration, Mark Danner describes how Dick Cheney’s unequivocal confidence came to dominate many of the foreign policy decisions of the 2000s, including nearly launching a strike on Syria on uncertain intelligence in 2003.

The Sochi Project
The Sochi Project
By Arnold van Bruggen and Rob Hornstra

Rob Hornstra and Arnold van Bruggen have worked since for over seven years to put together one of the most comprehensive pieces of journalism on the Sochi region and its transformation into an Olympic venue.

Whose Turkey Is It?
New York Times
By Suzy Hansen

In this thoughtful essay, Hansen provides context and perspective to the corruption scandals that have rocked Turkey and threatened to unseat Prime Minister Erdogan and his party.

Blogs:

The Iranian Revolution at 35: A Candid Discussion with James Buchan by Reza Akhlagi
Tunisia seeks symbolic closure to climate of insecurity by Ilyana Ovshieva
What is to be done about Syria? by Aryeh Neier
Pakistan or “the country in question”? by Hannah Gais
From Beirut to Jerusalem Turns 25 by Michael Crowley

Podcast:

Ilan Solot on Turkey hosted by Sarwar Kashmeri