One aspect of the recent WikiLeaks documents regarding Saudi Arabia that will deserve closer attention in time is what they reveal about Western media’s approach to news and governments in the Middle East, specifically the Gulf and Saudi Arabia. It has become […]
On November 30 my latest book is finally published and I just wanted to give a brief outline here of what it’s about. Titled Late Ottoman Origins of Modern Islamic Thought: Turkish and Egyptian Scholars on the Disruption of Islamic Knowledge, it […]
Here’s a link to my new book, Pop Culture in North Africa and the Middle East, with a detailed content list and limited access to many pages. The first iteration of this book in 2005 allowed the phrase ‘Arab world’ in the […]
The answer: a lot. I discuss it here: “To be clear, Salafism’s semantic victory in defining Late Orientalism’s constitution of Islam is not yet assured. Ideological and political disputes between Brotherhood Islamism and the Salafi trends, and their various Gulf Arab backers, […]
Preview of my upcoming book, Popular Culture in North Africa and the Middle East. Arab Culture – From Orientalist Construct to Arab Uprisings Tweet
The Islamic essentialism that’s taken over public discourse on the Middle East is striking and disturbing. Driven by regimes, think thanks and the broader rejection in academia of secular nationalism as a framework for understanding cultural blocs, the theory of Islamic essentialism […]
(First published by Italian think tank IPSI) Arab media has been a powerful tool in the hands of Arab states since the decolonisation period. The Nasser regime used radio, television and print media to mobilise support for Egypt’s Non-Aligned and Pan-Arab foreign […]
I just spent three days at the Rome Mediterranean Dialogues event, where I took part in a panel on media and cultural issues in relation to ISIS. Listening to the discussions from European and Arab politicians and policy-makers, a number of points of interest […]
(The following was written after trips to Mecca in 2004 and 2005 as Reuters correspondent sent to cover hajj) One of the jewels in the crown of the Saudi-Wahhabi state is its control of the holy cities of Mecca and Medina. When Abdulaziz […]
Salafism Infiltrates Turkish Religious Discourse Salafi discourse has made considerable inroads in Turkey over the past 30 years, making contributions to sectarianism in ways that have yet to be fully studied and understood. Although the military coup in 1980 was carried out […]