Rachel Jourdan-Aufiery-"Special Report on the Ara World"

One particular idea that was discussed in the article explained why the Middle East is so prone to wars. Reasons such as oil, the terrible Arab and Iranian conflict with Israel, and the actual nature of the Arab states is causing much tension. Also, a lack of democracy and other political instability is affecting the Arab nations. The devastating wars that the Arabs have survived in the last few decades have affected at least hundreds of thousands. The article goes on to discuss the description of being Arab difficult to define. The description of an Arab person can change depending on where they are from. The author explains that there are 22 countries with about 350 million people with different politics and backgrounds that make up the Arab world. Furthermore, the prominent religion of the Arab world, Islam provides both a sense of belonging and conflict among followers. Moreover, strategies Arab regimes implement in order to maintain power and control are discussed. There is one authoritarian leader or there is a royal family that has much power. This was very interesting and new to me; there is also a mukhabarat, or an intelligence service that is made up of specialized workers to assist the leader. Also, government bureaucracy is another form of control. For instance, the line of power can be unclear between the ruler and the state because there is not a stable change in leaders. Another is that many Arab countries have what appears to be a democracy and fair elections. However, the elections are rigged so that the incumbent leader remains in power. Although national constitutions have been drafted and sometimes there are formal elections held in Parliament, they deceive the public. Another form of control over the public is the control over the media. For example, The Syrian Media Centre informed Reuters that the Syrian authorities blocked 225 internet sites such as Amazon, Youtube, and Facebook. in the year 2008. This increased from 159 internet sites in 2007. Freedoms among men and women still remain unequal and I wonder if they will ever have the same liberties.