Name: Russian Societal Tensions Are Mirrored In Putin’s Orthodox Church by Mideastsoccer
Duration: 8 min
Description: The Russian Orthodox Church blesses rather than fires weapons. In doing so, it has emerged as a powerful weapon in its own right in President Vladimir Putin’s civilisationalist arsenal.

The Russian Orthodox Church blesses rather than fires weapons. In doing so, it has emerged as a powerful weapon in its own right in President Vladimir Putin’s civilisationalist arsenal.

Russian Societal Tensions Are Mirrored In Putin’s Orthodox Church

It goes without saying that the Palestinian issue touches many across the Greater Middle East. 
Israel and the world’s inability or unwillingness to help Palestinians secure their rights and Palestinians’ sense of not being accorded the dignity and respect accorded to others mirrors a quest for recognition and dignity across the region.

The Greater Middle East Is A Ticking Time Bomb (Part 2)

This episode explores the link between technology, warfare and nationalism. Turkey and Israel are two countries in the region who have developed their technological capabilities for both domestic and international conflict. We speak to two researchers who have been tracing the use of military technologies and the effect they have had on a sense of nationalism amongst their populations. 

Digdem Solaytin Colella speaks to the regime-boosting effects of drone production in Turkey whilst Sophia Goodfriend provides a more granular analysis of how military technology has transformed a new generation of Israeli soldiers’ views of Palestinians and Israeli occupation. 

Digdem is Assistant Professor of Politics and Public Policy at the University of Aberdeen. Her research concentrates on the politics of corruption, mechanisms of state capture and regime survival, autocratic bureaucracies & illiberal governance, and Southeast European and Turkish politics. 

Sophia is a PhD candidate at Duke University’s Department of Cultural Anthropology and Fulbright-Hays Dissertation Fellow. Her academic work examines the ethics and impact of new surveillance technologies in Israel and Palestine.

War Tech and Nationalism in Turkey and Israel

For more than two decades, jihadists took pride in place as symbols of extremism and illustrations of the need for religious reform. They made Islam the focus of post-9/11 calls for religious change and moderation.
Today, Islam no longer stands alone. One of the world’s foremost faiths, Islam has been joined by most major religions that have long flown under the radar.

The Quest For Religious Reform Goes Global.

Israel’s territorial claims, West Bank policies, and Gaza war conduct shine a spotlight on problematic Jewish religious legal precepts, much like the 9/11 Al Qaeda attacks did with Islam.

Antisemitism Threatens Jews, And Occupation Threatens Judaism

Jordan's King Abdullah is caught between a rock and a hard place.

King Abdullah Of Joran Caught Between A Rock And A Hard Place

This webinar was a launch of 'Industrial Policy in Turkey: Rise, Retreat and Return' by William Hale, Mustafa Kutlay and Mina Toksoz published by Edinburgh University Press.

At a time when many advanced and emerging economies are adopting more active industrial policies, this book provides an in-depth historical–empirical account of industrial policy in Turkey – its rise, retreat and return.

This study adopts a multidisciplinary approach and covers the role of the state in Turkey’s initial industrialisation to the current period of restructuring and potential technological upgrading of its manufacturing base. The analysis traces how industrial policy has been shaped by state capacity, the waves of reforms following economic crises, the dearth of long-term finance for industrialisation and, more recently, the need to address issues such as low-tech industrial structure and pre-mature de-industrialisation.

The book aims to answer questions of what worked and what went wrong with previous policies. It asks how current policies could be shaped to overcome the problems of cronyism and corruption, and also achieve new objectives of technological upgrading and socio-environmental sustainability.

William Hale is an Emeritus Professor at SOAS, having retired as Professor of Politics with Special Reference to Turkey in 2006. His main interests are the modern politics and international relations of Turkey.

Mustafa Kutlay is a senior lecturer in the Department of International Politics at City, University of London. His current research focuses on the comparative politics and political economy of developing countries (with particular reference to Turkey, Turkish politics and foreign policy), institutions and development in the global South, and political risk analysis.

Mina Toksoz is an International Economist having worked at the Economist Intelligence Unit variously as Editorial Director of the Middle East, Europe, and the Country Risk Service.

Arda Bilgen is a Research Officer at the LSE Middle East Centre, where he works on the PeaceRep project ‘Surface Water Changes in the Euphrates-Tigris Basin since 1984 and their Governance Implications for Iraq’, led by Dr Michael Mason. His work mainly focuses on water politics, transboundary water resources management, and hydraulic infrastructure development.

Industrial Policy in Turkey: Rise, Retreat and Return

Innocent Palestinians bear the brunt of Israel’s Gaza war, but they are not the only victims of the conflict. So are freedoms of expression, the media, and academia in the West, as well as Arab autocracies.

Israel And Its Supporters Turn Palestine Into A Litmus Test Of Democracy.

As of April 2024, according to UN experts, over 80% of schools have been damaged or destroyed by the Israeli assault on Gaza, with 5479 students, 261 teachers and 95 university professors killed and many thousands injured. Every university in Gaza is partially or wholly destroyed, whether by bombing or demolition. Amidst the systematic destruction of lives, communities and environments what possibility, if any, is left for education? What does learning mean under conditions of 'scholasticide'? 

Meet the speakers

Ahmed Abu Shaban is the Dean of the Faculty of Agriculture and Veterinary Medicine at Al-Azhar University — Gaza and an Associate Professor of Agricultural Economics. Abu Shaban spent two years as a Visiting Professor in the Department of Environmental Sociology at the University of Wisconsin. In addition to his academic experience, Abu Shaban has conducted several consultancy studies on the socioeconomic assessment of national water and environmental infrastructure programs. He has extensive research and consultancy experience in analysing economic development in the Gaza Strip and designing intervention strategies for humanitarian, early recovery, and development programs.

Esmat Elhalaby is an Assistant Professor of Transnational History at the University of Toronto. He works principally on the intellectual history of West and South Asia, particularly colonial and anti-colonial thought. His writing has appeared in Modern Intellectual History, American Quarterly, Michigan Quarterly Review, Boston Review, The Baffler and elsewhere.

The Palestinian University and Scholasticide

How did the radio, a major technological development in the history of sound and music, change the social, cultural and political landscape of the region?  

In this last episode of the season, we speak to audio curator Hazem Jamjoum, and Elias Anastas and Saeed Abu Jaber, two of the co-founders of the Palestinian radio station Radio Al Hara. We find out more about the history of the radio in the region and also it's present – specifically looking at how this new technology was used by imperialists, technocrats, intellectuals and liberation groups to broadcast and connect groups. Through Radio Al Hara's activity, we learn how radio works in similar ways to this day. 

Hazem Jamjoum is an audio curator and researcher with an interest in history of audio and music recording in the Arab world 

Elias Anastas is a co-founder of Radio Al Hara. He is an architect based in Bethlehem, Palestine and runs an architectural studio with his brother Yousef called AAU ANASTAS. They also run Wonder Cabinet, a not-for-profit cultural platform. 

Saeed Abu Jaber is one of the founders of radio al hara. He is a graphic designer and runs a studio called Turbo in Amman, Jordan.

https://www.radioalhara.net/

The Power Of Radio

The coming week or two could determine Prime Minister Binyamin Netanyahu’s political fate and reshape the Biden administration’s support for Israel’s Gaza war.
That is, if Mr. Netanyahu fails to comply with war cabinet member Benny Gantz’s demand that the prime minister produce a plan for the post-war administration of Gaza by June 8 and Mr. Gantz makes good on his threat to resign.

Next Week Could Be Make Or Break For Binyamin Netanyahu

Dr. James M. Dorsey is a senior fellow at the S. Rajaratnam School of International Studies, co-director of the University of Würzburg’s Institute for Fan Culture, and co-host of the New Books in Middle Eastern Studies podcast. James is the author of The Turbulent World of Middle East Soccer blog, a book with the same title as well as Comparative Political Transitions between Southeast Asia and the Middle East and North Africa, co-authored with Dr. Teresita Cruz-Del Rosario and  Shifting Sands, Essays on Sports and Politics in the Middle East and North Africa.

Russian Societal Tensions Are Mirrored In Putin’s Orthodox Church

Mideastsoccer

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