Perhaps no Arab is better known as a public intellectual than the great late Arab American scholar Edward Said, whose writings and lectures resonated across the world. Said once wrote: “The role of the intellectual is not to consolidate authority, but to understand, interpret and question it.” Read more »
Archives for December 2010
A collection of citizen voices urges the GCC to cooperate
Every year, Gulf citizens collectively hold our breath, hoping that a specific 24-hour period ends in a better way than it started. This day starts tomorrow at the Gulf Cooperative Council summit in Abu Dhabi, where the last leg of the Formula One Grand Prix was held last month. But unlike the competitors in that race, we can all emerge winners from this upcoming event. Read more »
What We Can Learn From Abu Dhabi’s Soft Diplomacy
On December 2, 2010, the UAE began celebrating the countdown to its 40th anniversary as a federation. It is going to welcome its fifth decade in a few months as a mature diplomatic nation, due to a new phenomenon in the form of soft diplomacy. This report will review some of the recent milestones the UAE has witnessed in this field. Read more »