Live, From the Revolution

There are people who are qualified experts on the political happenings of various places around the world, because the study of that place is central to their work. They can offer valid and valuable insight into the events, the causes, and key players in major events within their sphere of expertise. My discussion with David Patel of Cornell University who specializes in Middle East politics and political culture was invaluable in helping to sort out the key players in the protests that resulted in the ouster of Hosni Mubarek from Egypt, for example.

At the time, he told me, "A lot of people have incentive to make sure the military comes out, as a whole, in a strong position, economically, perhaps even more importantly than politically." That statement has proven to be quite accurate as the military is now running the country, most recently it appears with as firm an iron fist as Mubarek ever did.

Sometimes, however, the only expertise needed for an accurate assessment is having eyes and ears in the right place at the right time. How do average people living in Egypt see the new regime? How have things changed? Do they feel as if they've had the revolution stolen out from under them? These are questions that can only be answered by the people of Egypt.

Toward that end, I am working on contacting a number of ordinary people who are not only in Egypt right now as a new set of protests threatens the country's stability once again, but who were also present during the first set of protests in January and February of this year.

Debt ceiling crisis interview

My latest published interview was with an economist who told me that the debt ceiling crisis was the result of "an accident of history." He also said he thoguht the Tea party had fallen under the spell of groupthink and was unable to see the consequences of their actions. Whatever happens, if the Tea party gets what it wants or if they block the debt ceiling increase, it looks like they will cause a double-dip recession, putting more people out of work in America.

Here's the link to the complete debt ceiling article.
Part 2 of the interview: "How a U.S. government debt default will affect the average American."

Imprisoned by Moammar Gadhafi

This interview was one of my favorites because I felt it had great emotional content. I arranged to interview a former Libyan national for comment on the uprising in Eastern Libya during its early days, before much real fighting took place, and, in fact, weeks before the U.S. and allies decided to use air power to defend the rebels from potential massacre. I didn't know until I got into the interview that the interviewee, Dr. Fathi Finaish had actually been imprisoned, albeit briefly, by Gadhafi as a young man in the 1970's. Furthermore, Dr. Finaish had family still living in Tripoli from whom he had not heard since the start of the uprising.

Moammar Gadhafi with military hat drawn low over

 his eyes in 1969 shortly after taking power in Libya.

Public Domain photo from the Online Museum of Syrian History

At first, during the interview, Dr. Finaish seemed a bit closed in his attitude. He responded very briefly to my questions, often with one word or a single brief sentence. Once I got some basic background information, I mixed in more open-ended questions to draw him out, but sometimes a short succinct answer can have a powerful impact. For example, I asked, "Is there any discussion or dissent allowed against policies or government edicts in Libya? The answer was short and to the point: "No. If you talk, you will pay for it, dearly." That simple sentence speaks volumes and really helped me to understand why, at this time, so many Libyan people were willing to risk their lives with few weapons and little, if any, training to try to wrest back their children's destiny from Gadhafi.

I'll also point out that although he spoke English very well, it was not Dr. Finaish's first language. Although I could not transcribe his accent, I did try to keep some of the phrasings and hesitations that might appear out of the ordinary to a native English speaker to try to capture more of the emotion and character of the interview and the interviewee.

You can read the full published interview at this link...

As an aside, this was also interesting from a writing standpoint because it is an example of the shifting vagaries of English spellings of foreign names and words. The spelling "Moammar Gadhafi" was in vogue with Yahoo! News when I wrote this interview, but it is often spelled quite differently by different news organizations, making it difficult for users of search engines trying to find information about the Libyan leader.

Israel, Iran and Middle East uprisings

The so-called Arab Spring, the public uprisings against existing governments in much of the Arab world this year will have lasting repercussions on the relationship between the U.S. and these countries, indeed, the effects will be felt throughout the world. There may be few nations that have a stronger interest in the outcomes than Israel. In it's ongoing conflict with Iran and others, it has few regional allies. Egypt, under Mubarek, was one of them.

To help sort it all out, I spoke with Ross Brann, professor of Judeo-Islamic studies at Cornell University. In addition to having studied in both Israel and Egypt, Prof. Brann is also the former chair of Cornell's Department of Near Eastern Studies. The discussion was particularly focused on the strategic relationship between countries.

To read the full article click here...

The Death of Osama Bin Laden

Photo by Abdul Rahman bin Laden (son of Osama bin Laden) released to Hamid Mir

Creative Commons Attribution S.A. 3.0

OK, Osama bin Laden is dead, but what does that mean for America's War on Terror? Does it weaken Al Qaida? What are the overall strategic implications of bin Laden's death? I wanted to know the answers to these questions so I spoke with a renowned expert on terrorists and terrorism, Dr. Adam Lankford, who is also an assistant professor of Criminal Justice at the University of Alabama. Dr. Lankford is the author of Human Killing Machines: Systematic Indoctrination in Iran, Nazi Germany, Al Qaeda, and Abu Ghraib, a book which examines the recruitment and psychology of suicide terrorists.

You can find my full interview about the strategic implications of bin Laden's death by clicking here...