Middle East

The task to reshape governments in the countries confronted with the Arab Spring prompts the question whether there are necessary conditions to realize a stable society that simultaneously seeks to eliminate the elements that have led to the uprisings. Acknowledging some constitutional rights seems indispensable in such a process. I argue that such a state of affairs is indeed the case, at least now that the ‘old’ justifications to differentiate between people do not suffice anymore. That is not to say that the countries involved will have identical laws in each respect, but merely that a common basis has to be realized, manifested in political and legal equality, so this given does not derogate from the fact that each country’s specific legislation needs to be shaped in the light of its own history. Such a basis has no ‘moral’ character, but is simply a necessary condition to prevent sedition.

Du croquis à la peinture à l’huile, restées à l’état original ou diffusées par l’intermédiaire de la gravure, seules ou en conjonction avec le récit viatique, les images du voyage en Orient véhiculent une image riche en contrastes et souvent ambivalente. Au siècle des Lumières, de l’Acropole et des Pyramides d’Égypte aux vestiges de l’Empire byzantin et aux prestiges de la Cour ottomane, il s’agit d’autant d’images apparemment disparates, mais qui proposent un regard nouveau sur l’Orient méditerranéen. Source d’inspiration et de réflexion pour les artistes et les architectes, les images viatiques, qui alimentèrent les débats artistiques de l’époque, sont un ensemble précieux et irremplaçable pour le géographe, l’historien, l’ethnologue et le littéraire. Dans une approche thématique de l’Orient méditerranéen, cet ouvrage traite successivement du paysage, de l’histoire naturelle, des vestiges antiques, de l’architecture moderne et des populations. Il s’attarde, en outre, sur les analogies, les divergences et la complémentarité des images viatiques françaises avec celles d’autres voyageurs notamment britanniques. Si l’iconographie viatique du XVIIIe siècle a repris et développé des stéréotypes existants, elle fut le témoignage d’un orientalisme précoce, original, coloré d’anciennes rêveries sur l’Orient des merveilles renouvelées par la civilisation ottomane et procurant aux restes de la Belle Antiquité le vernis de la nostalgie.

As the massive transformation process of the Arab Spring was held up in Syria, the issue of democracy in the Arab region came to the fore. Although the revolts succeeded in toppling a number of dictators and apparently free elections were held, enthusiasm toward democracy has been mounting. The parties who failed in the elections accuse the winners of cheating and falsifying the results. While this is not an attribute unique to elections in the Arab region, the opposition sparked a new spate of demonstrations aiming to topple or thwart the rule of the newly elected elites. On the other hand, the winners were accused of practices that are deemed to consolidate their own rule. This article will discuss this issue from a historical perspective, examining its viability as pertains to the current state of affairs.

Jörg Matthias Determann ist Doktorand der Geschichtswissenschaften an der School of Oriental and African Studies, University of London. Von 2009-2010 war er Gastwissenschaftler am King Faisal Center for Research and Islamic Studies in Riad, Saudi Arabien. Sein Forschungsschwerpunkt: Die Geschichte des Mittleren Ostens, insbesondere der Golfregion und Saudi Arabiens.

The Guantánamo detainees find themselves in a prisoner’s-dilemma-like situation characterized by uncertainty where they may incriminate others, remain silent, or disobey. We examine their behavior under these conditions and how it influences their chances of getting a release recommendation. We use JTF-GTMO-authored memoranda on 765 detainees to create a social network of the accusations between detainees and an attribute dataset, which we analyze using multivariate regression and Kolmogorov-Smirnov tests. We find that the distribution of incriminating statements obeys a power law. Yemenites and Saudi Arabians heavily over-contribute in terms of incriminating statements and disobedient actions, whereas Afghans and Pakistanis under-contribute. Disobedient behaviour does not affect the likelihood of getting released, except for hunger strike, which has a negative effect. By releasing information on others, detainees do not improve their own situation but impair that of those they talk about.

“Islamophobia” has been used as an umbrella term capturing different types of religious stigma towards Muslims. However, the operationalization of the term for research purposes varies greatly, where little attention heretofore has been paid on how islamophobia affects Muslim minorities’ lives. Against this background, we aimed to develop and validate the Perceived Islamophobia Scale (PIS). In the first study (167 German-Arabs, 184 German-Turks and 205 British-Pakistanis), exploratory factor analyses of a preliminary item pool gave support of a three-factor scale in all samples. Subscales were computed for each factor (i.e., perceptions of a general fear of Islam and Muslims, fear of islamization, and islamophobia in the media), which were reliable across the samples. In all samples, the PIS was positively related to psychological distress and in two samples this relation remained significant, after controlling for experiences of discrimination. In Study 2 (262 German-Turks, 277 French-Maghrebis and 249 British-Pakistanis), confirmatory factor analyses supported the structural equivalence of the scale’s three-factor solution. The PIS was positively related to perceived stress and discrimination. Lastly, PIS predicted higher levels of religious and ethnic identification, controlling for discrimination. The PIS seems to be a valid and reliable measure across different Muslim minority groups. The fact that perceptions of islamophobia in two samples negatively predicted psychological distress after controlling for experiences of discrimination, suggests that anti-discrimination laws may be insufficient in protecting Muslim minorities of the negative effects of stigma on psychological well-being.

In order to overcome the conceptual debacle facing both Nationalism Studies and Ethnic/Racial Studies, we have to make sense of the terminological ambiguities still hampering mutual comprehension. This short article will focus on the common ground shared by the two disciplines, both of which participate in a common interest in ethnicity. Most of my theoretical sources admittedly consist of nationalism studies and ethnic conflict literature. On the basis of explanatory weight, methodological affinities and a shared conceptual baggage, I shall stress the need to keep nationalism and ethnic/racial studies together.

This book chapter analyses two of the most widely circulated and notorious images of prisoners being inducted into the Camp X-ray prison at Guantanamo bay naval base initially published in a press release by the US Department of Defense. Drawing on photography theory and visual culture theory I discuss the way that images of the prison have come to communicate not merely the technical processes by which the US military detains selected prisoners of war, but the relationship of the USA with the rest of the world, a visual rendering of power – cultural, imperial, military, legal and physical. The chapter explores the complex and strategically blurred relationship between propaganda, publicity and photojournalism in contemporary visual culture.