25 Thursday Oct 2012
Posted in LB Culture, Lebanon, MB Culture, Media Monitoring, MicroBlogs, Press, Social Media
Tags
annahar, arab spring, Citation, Lebanese Blogging, Lebanese Blogosphere, Lebanese people, lebanon
Today Lebanon Spring blog has been featured in the Lebanese daily Annahar. You can check Reine Abu Moussa’s post on this blog here. So thanks to her.
Also, I have an article in Arabic that was published with a title “Muddling The Arab Spring”. I plan to publish an English translation of it, but you can check the current Annahar version here.
12 Tuesday Jun 2012
Posted in Arab Spring, Arab World, Politics
Tags
arab spring, Arab Spring is a Black Swan Moment, Black Swan, Black swan theory, Citation, Huffington Post, Middle East, Nassim Nicholas Taleb, Nassim Taleb
The Arab Spring has been described and associated with such a wide variety of symbolic designations that at times, the term chosen to describe the series of protests that have swept across the MENA (Middle East and North Africa) region may indicate a person’s political position on the wide and highly polarized spectrum. The term ‘Arab Spring’ has even been criticized by some who support the pro-democracy (or anti-regime) protests, citing this description as being Orientalist and therefore inappropriate.
30 Wednesday May 2012
Posted in LB Politics, MB Politics, Media Monitoring, MicroBlogs, Politics, Press
Ana Maria Luca from NOW Lebanon wrote an interesting article ‘The Sunni Streets’, following up on the clashes that took place last week in Tarik Al-Jadideh in Beirut. She interviewed me about the events and quoted me in her piece.
04 Wednesday Apr 2012
Posted in LB Politics, Lebanon
Tags
Citation, Hassan Nasrallah, Hezbollah, Huffington Post, Iran, lebanon, Middle East, syria, The Rise and Fall of Hezbollah
A cut version of this piece was published in The Huffington Post on 3rd April 2012. This is an extended version, which I chose to publish here. I hope they convey the same message!
Once considered to be one of the strongest non-state military factions in the entire Middle East, we are now witnessing the decline of Hezbollah. Though it may seem to be at the peak of its career of might, in reality the popularity of Hezbollah in the Arab world — the bedrock of its legitimacy outside its Shiite core — is at an all-time low.
09 Thursday Feb 2012
Posted in LB Culture, Lebanon
This post was written for LBC Blogs, and published on 3rd February 2012. Please click here to check out there.
We have experienced a sudden frenzy over safety in Lebanon in the last couple weeks triggered by the sad building collapse in Achrafieh. This aberration initiated again the endemic worries over the infamous Jal Al-Dib flyover bridge, the extensive media coverage, and the activism of some local authorities and parliamentary committees who originated the discussions on how they can improve the general public safety.
25 Wednesday Jan 2012
Posted in LB Social, Lebanon, MB Social, MicroBlogs
In reference to the recent collapsed building in Achrafiyeh in Beirut, and frenzy over Jal al-Dib bridge in northern suburb of Beirut, Stephen Dockery wrote a good story in The Daily Star about Lebanon’s collapsing structures. Stephen quoted me in his article.
I told Stephen:
I wouldn’t say Jal al-Dib is bad in its structure or design, it just wasn’t followed with maintenance.
We desperately need routine maintenance regimes in place for public assets, rather than reactionary plans. Moreover, construction projects, which could have adverse impact on the nearby structures, should go through rigorous approval procedures, not only for their permanent designs but for their temporary designs that serve them for the duration of the construction period.
The aim of any law should be protecting public and private assets, and maintaining the public health and safety – which are really low on the Lebanese agenda.
Please click here to read the full story in The Daily Star.
