Globally Rational

You are browsing the archives of Middle East.

Many people in the US say that you should “support our troops” so that they don’t have to use a more controversial phrase like “support the war.” This leads to a sort of emotional connection between a person and the war in Iraq, and we tend to think something along the lines of “well, […]

Popularity: 31% [?]

People often tell me that Muslims deserve the treatment they get because we tend to produce more extremists than other religions. Let’s disregard all other factors (for example, the fact that Christian extremists have been common in the past, just not today) and take a look at one of the many incidences where a Jewish rabbi calls for extremist action. I don’t have a problem with every Israeli just because a few of them call for atrocities… so why do people have a problem with all Arabs just because a few of them do the same?

Popularity: 19% [?]

Mahmoud Ahmadinejad, the president of Iran, has literally threatened to punch the West in the face if they don’t stop pestering him about his nuclear program. His rhetoric has to be some of the most self-destructive that I’ve ever heard (if you don’t believe me, watch what he said when he spoke at Columbia […]

Popularity: 5% [?]

For the past year, my driving record has been clean and my insurance rates are about to go down. So you can imagine how I felt when a police officer lowered his window and tried to get my attention at a red light today. I didn’t know if one of my tail lights […]

Popularity: 6% [?]

Wikipedia defines “terrorism” as “violence against civilians to achieve political or ideological objectives by creating fear.” Here are some examples of accepted terrorist organizations:

Al-Qaeda, for obvious reasons.
The Irish Republican Army (IRA), which conducts violent attacks in an attempt to promote the independence of Northern Ireland from the UK.
Hamas, a political party that is said […]

Popularity: 7% [?]

Most Americans believe what they see on TV, and rightfully so. The following statements are true and the media loves to remind us that they’re true:

Palestinian “freedom fighters” occasionally kill Israelis (they ignore the fact that Israelis kill Palestinian civilians more often than Palestinians kill Israeli civilians).
Pakistanis often riot when the US’s favorite political […]

Popularity: 6% [?]

There’s a fact that I’ve always taken for granted; recently, I learned that it’s not common knowledge. It was always so obvious to me that I started to wonder why most people don’t know this.
Did you know that the Middle East is generally impressed with Western culture? People often think that the anti-American […]

Popularity: 6% [?]

A few days ago, I had the opportunity to fly over four major cities: Kuwait, London, Boston, and New York (in that order). Looking at them from the airplane window, I noticed that the layout of the different cities says a great deal about the many comparisons and contrasts that can be made:
-The outskirts […]

Popularity: 12% [?]