From the desk of George Handlery on Mon, 2011-01-24 19:56 In a perused weekly, a picture depicting a posing bin Laden has caught your correspondent’s attention. The man is shown with his crutch, which is a Kalashnikov. Properly so. Without the philosophical and theological arguments that the gun supports, the ideas of the movement would not score on the free market place of ideas. The struggle to implement heaven on earth according to the taste of the Prophet, would be unlikely to succeed if its best supporting claim would be discarded. At this juncture, through an association, another “impossible” comes to mind. A system with bin Laden’s preferences as its basic guideline would have never developed his essential Kalashnikov. Swords are slightly out of date since the time of last-ditch banzai attacks on tropical islands. Therefore, that assault rifle is the precondition of the global attention the Prophet’s warrior now commands. Oddly, to have it he had to import it. That from a culture whose most outstanding fundamental spiritual products, which are its driving force, he consciously condemns and rejects. From the desk of Elaib Harvey on Mon, 2011-01-24 18:30 Interesting post by Nicu Popescu, on whether the EU's soft power is merely freeloading, on the European Council on Foreign Relations website. The EU is proud that it is a ‘soft power’ (when you make others what you want through attraction, rather than coercion). It also thinks this is the most sophisticated and benefic way to exercise power (‘post-modern’ in other words). It might be true, but seen from the outside the logic of soft power might not be that appealing for others. In fact if you sit in Dushanbe, Caracas or Karachi why would you care for someone’s soft power? From the desk of Lucien Oulahbib on Mon, 2011-01-24 16:49 Contrary to what the Algerian ambassador in Paris told RTL radio today, the defining criteria for a democratic regime are not different from country to country. This is what ambassador Missoum Sbih said this morning in an interview by Jean-Michel Aphatie:Islam, Force and Violence
Europe's Venusian Dreams Of "Soft Power"
Is Algeria Next?
Monday, 24 January 2011
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