tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-132520298120231193.post6568261021726853587..comments2023-12-23T02:10:09.875-05:00Comments on howl at pluto: The U.S. and the Middle East (Coda) LFChttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13551197682770555147noreply@blogger.comBlogger7125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-132520298120231193.post-3468577554683506022015-03-09T10:33:18.044-04:002015-03-09T10:33:18.044-04:00That Pew chart for 2014 is quite interesting. Than...That Pew chart for 2014 is quite interesting. Thanks for linking.LFChttps://www.blogger.com/profile/13551197682770555147noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-132520298120231193.post-24247624655387217972015-03-09T05:19:17.832-04:002015-03-09T05:19:17.832-04:00In the Middle East overall, yes. But still ahead o...In the Middle East overall, yes. But still ahead of Egypt, Turkey, Pakistan and Jordan as of 2014.<br /><br /><br />http://www.pewglobal.org/database/indicator/1/<br /><br />Interestingly, ahead of Palestine: hope springs eternal....Peter Thttps://www.blogger.com/profile/13289172253358199028noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-132520298120231193.post-88996183171249447122015-03-08T22:00:54.182-04:002015-03-08T22:00:54.182-04:00Just noticed this lead graph on a WaPo story:
&quo...Just noticed this lead graph on a WaPo story:<br />"More than 80 percent of Russians have a negative view of the U.S., and observers say anti-U.S. sentiment has surpassed any time since the Stalin era."<br /><br />So that exceeds, I think, the negative-view-toward-U.S. percentage in M.East. <br /><br />Planning to read js's link tomorrow. (Have a cold etc. and have been feeling fairly miserable today.)LFChttps://www.blogger.com/profile/13551197682770555147noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-132520298120231193.post-65900791097125775502015-03-07T06:00:12.271-05:002015-03-07T06:00:12.271-05:00JS
That's a good link. I don't think the ...JS<br /><br />That's a good link. I don't think the ME is more complex, but it is tied in a very complex way to the west: too close to go its own way, too different to integrate, too conscious of a separate and equal destiny to capitulate. And this makes it immensely difficult for ME states to build a strong base. Bit like Russia vis-a-vis Western Europe, or Mexico and Central America vs the US. Though maybe a bit closer to god than Mexico.<br /><br />Peter Thttps://www.blogger.com/profile/13289172253358199028noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-132520298120231193.post-84614763885331660042015-03-07T00:22:25.950-05:002015-03-07T00:22:25.950-05:00Just happened to read this over at Arabist. Though...Just happened to read <a href="http://arabist.net/blog/2015/3/3/the-islamic-state-through-the-looking-glass" rel="nofollow">this</a> over at Arabist. Thought I'd drop a link here because I think it dovetails pretty nicely with a lot of points you've made.<br /><br />At the same time, while I don't agree with all of it, at points reading the article, you get the sense that regional elites in the Middle East are barely any better at being able to follow a relatively consistent medium- to long-term strategy than the US (or the West more generally). And looking at the overlapping alliances, oppositions, etc., one does sort of start to wonder whether the region, at least as it exists now and has existed in the recent past, is really more complex than SE Asia or Latin America, say. Not in some mysterious, Orientalizing way, but just as a result of its particular history (in which of course the West played a nice little hand).JShttps://www.blogger.com/profile/12633990428944524679noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-132520298120231193.post-83710035523273837872015-03-05T20:43:14.629-05:002015-03-05T20:43:14.629-05:00Responding to anonymous (and with the caveat that ...Responding to anonymous (and with the caveat that I didn't write this post), I think the neocons are only one <i>portion</i> of the US fp establishment and not the most powerful one at the moment. Still, the overall pt may be well taken, and certainly w/r/t Bush admin and 2nd Gulf War. <br /><br />Though I think there are other differences too. Haven't worked it out in any esp coherent way so I'll leave it at that.LFChttps://www.blogger.com/profile/13551197682770555147noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-132520298120231193.post-76549505328076243752015-03-05T19:52:17.731-05:002015-03-05T19:52:17.731-05:00"What explains the difference?"
Israel ..."What explains the difference?"<br /><br />Israel and the U.S. neocon foreign policy establishment. Anonymousnoreply@blogger.com