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Middle Eastern geopolitics: The only thing more unpredictable than legislative redistricting in the United States.

This post has been edited by Glenn Magus Harvey on 9th June 2011 19:44

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You can find me on the Fediverse! I use Mastodon, where I am @[email protected] ( https://sakurajima.moe/@glennmagusharvey )

Quote (Glenn Magus Harvey @ 9th June 2011 15:44)

Middle Eastern geopolitics: The only thing more unpredictable than legislative redistricting in the United States.

While the uprisings couldn't, and cannot still, be predicted, it's clear that the foreign policies of the Western powers would at some point have caused a backlash. You can't just invade Middle Eastern country after Middle Eastern country, and support dictators/illegal occupations without some type of negative consequences.

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Praise Be To Helix!

Quote (BlitzSage @ 9th June 2011 22:44)

Quote (Glenn Magus Harvey @ 9th June 2011 15:44)

Middle Eastern geopolitics: The only thing more unpredictable than legislative redistricting in the United States.

While the uprisings couldn't, and cannot still, be predicted, it's clear that the foreign policies of the Western powers would at some point have caused a backlash. You can't just invade Middle Eastern country after Middle Eastern country, and support dictators/illegal occupations without some type of negative consequences.

Good point. Speaking of consequences, I'm sick of having to deal with repercussions of previous generations, especially the last two generations. What just a handful of people can do to ruin the image or impression of an entire group of people or society is bloody annoying. I suppose it's the same wherever you're from, but recently I've been tired of what appears to now be a long-term, maybe not in our lifetime, reparation process.

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Scepticism, that dry rot of the intellect, had not left one entire idea in his mind.

Me on the Starcraft.

Quote (sweetdude @ 10th June 2011 13:04)

Good point. Speaking of consequences, I'm sick of having to deal with repercussions of previous generations, especially the last two generations. What just a handful of people can do to ruin the image or impression of an entire group of people or society is bloody annoying. I suppose it's the same wherever you're from, but recently I've been tired of what appears to now be a long-term, maybe not in our lifetime, reparation process.

Well, the sad thing is that we have no choice, in some cases at least. Having grown up in the US Southeast, I have realized that slavery and segregation have caused psychological scars that continue to influence daily life. A large percentage of people imprisoned and in poverty are black, and that has a lot to do with the negative choices the previous generations made. When people discuss ending affirmative action, they often look over the point that the reason there was affirmative action was that irrational hatred for blacks was/is deeply imbedded within many people's psyches. People must also realize that a great amount of time must pass for those illogical beliefs to abate.

In the situation at hand, you also see these psychological factors at play. Transgressions from the past and from current/recent decisions is leading to a lot of hatred, and I am sure that this will plague Middle East relations for the centuries to come.

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Praise Be To Helix!

Updates:

* Tunisia's former dictator, Ben-Ali, has been sentenced to prison in absentia.
* Libyan rebels have gradually been retaking towns and closing in on loyalist strongholds Tripoli (the capital) and Sirte (Gaddafi's tribe's hometown). A prominent security guard has been killed in Tripoli. Some amateur commentators have been wondering if Tripoli's going to revolt from within rather than be liberated from outside.
** That said, the rebels haven't been totally able to make use of oilfields and refineries that they've recaptured in order to raise revenue, even though Qatar had already agreed to buy their oil. This is partly due to the fact that many of the foreign workers haven't yet returned.
* Russia put out a statement dissuading the UN on trying to intervene in Syria.
* Syrian president Bashar al-Ass al-Assad made a speech in which he promised reforms and an end to corruption, but refused to step down. This was immediately greeted with massive protests across the country, leading to at least 16 deaths of protesters. Turkey, meanwhile, is bracing for even more refugees fleeing to their side of the border.
* There have been recent protests by ethnic Mongolians in Inner Mongolia in China.
* A woman in Saudi Arabia organized what seems to be a successful protest against a law that prohibits women from driving in that country. A number of female drivers drove on the streets on a recent day. The authorities have not yet responded to this. (Said organizing woman was previously detained but then later released.)
* Morocco's king laid out a set of reforms.

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Check the "What games are you playing at the moment?" thread for updates on what I've been playing.

You can find me on the Fediverse! I use Mastodon, where I am @[email protected] ( https://sakurajima.moe/@glennmagusharvey )

Syria has continued to have Friday weekly protests, and people have continued to be killed. A recent anti-government protest numbered in the hundreds of thousands across the country, including Damascus (the capital). Also, supporters of Assad's government recently protested intensely outside US and French embassies, injuring some embassy workers.

In Libya, the NTC is closing in on retaking Garyan in the mountains just south of Tripoli, and they have retaken Brega on the central-eastern front. Ras Lanuf is next on that front; both Brega and Ras Lanuf are key oil refinery towns that can help the NTC sell more oil to finance its operations, if I recall correctly. In the meantime, unexplained gunfire and explosions pepper the nighttime in Tripoli.

It's recently surfaced that Gaddafi was not very happy about the Tunisians ousting their dictator, and speculation wonders whether he may have been planning his own invasion of the country.

Re Saudi women driving: Some women have been arrested for driving. No further news on what about them yet.

Re Morocco's reforms: IIRC I think these constitutional reforms were largely accepted by the people. Though I'm not sure.

There have also been some clashes between ethnic minority Uyghurs and Chinese police in far western China, and I've also heard something about protests in Malaysia.

This post has been edited by Glenn Magus Harvey on 19th July 2011 14:57

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Check the "What games are you playing at the moment?" thread for updates on what I've been playing.

You can find me on the Fediverse! I use Mastodon, where I am @[email protected] ( https://sakurajima.moe/@glennmagusharvey )