Jon,
We are friends, much to the surprise of some of his friends and are due to meet next week I shall pass on your compliment.
Jon,
We are friends, much to the surprise of some of his friends and are due to meet next week I shall pass on your compliment.
davidbfpo
A reflective look at Syria and the wider region, one that is optimistic - not for today, but for the future:http://www.huffingtonpost.com/amil-k...b_5617178.html
The challenge for our Western governments (mainly I shoudl add as SWC has members beyond the West) is:For Western policy makers, getting ahead of the curve requires accepting the new reality and working with it to bring about stability and security built on rights and justice instead of repression.
davidbfpo
His latest short column:Link:http://www.londonstani.com/blog/2014...dy-israel-2014I want to talk about but the use of information and communications in war. There has been something different about the coverage of Israel's latest offensive against Gaza. Israel is usually understood to be a master at controlling the narrative. But, something has changed.
davidbfpo
A snappy title for his latest thoughts: 'Al Qaeda’s New Front: Jihadi Rap The suspected killer of James Foley represents a new, dangerous merger of gangsta hip-hop and Islamism'.
Within is this passage:Link:http://www.politico.com/magazine/sto...l#.VARK1qORcdVIt is clear to me that one of the main reasons that al Qaeda’s ideology is so powerful is that there is little else to counteract it. The majority of the Syrian opposition, activists and sympathisers as well as fighters, are still moderates seeking a state that respects the rule of law, protects the rights of its people and does not differentiate on the basis of ethnicity or beliefs. But these principles have not yet been developed into an ideology that can inspire, motivate and mobilise.
davidbfpo
.It is clear to me that one of the main reasons that al Qaeda’s ideology is so powerful is that there is little else to counteract it. The majority of the Syrian opposition, activists and sympathisers as well as fighters, are still moderates seeking a state that respects the rule of law, protects the rights of its people and does not differentiate on the basis of ethnicity or beliefs. But these principles have not yet been developed into an ideology that can inspire, motivate and mobilise
I am highly suspect of statements like this. How could the author possibly know this? Sharia is rule of law, but it doesn't provide equal treatment under the law to non-believers. If moderates are the majority in the opposition where are their successes? Where are their voices (predominately it appears those voices are Western editors who desire to see the moderates as the majority thus reflecting the old truth that perception is reality, but reality to them may not be reality on the ground)? There are tens of narratives out there seeking to be dominate the debate in describing the resistance in Syria, and facts seem to have little to do with it.
As to the author's point about the moderate principles not be developed into an ideology that can inspire, motivate, and mobilize they can turn to the great American propagandists during the American Revolution for inspiration, but even then at least half of the population remained loyal to the England. That isn't a popular narrative in the U.S., so it is seldom heard, but then again narratives don't have to reflect the truth, they only have to reflect the world the way we desire to see it.
Bookmarks