Journal of Georgetown University-Qatar Middle Eastern Studies Student Association - Current Issue

I am delighted to be able to introduce this second issue of the MESSA Journal: delighted because it shows that what began as an ambitious experiment has proven itself and is growing into an institution; because the Journal - and the associated conference - are the result of a sustained pattern of student-led intellectual engagement that speaks directly both to our SFS remit and to our location; because it represents so well the range of social science interests (and methods) we ourselves at SFS-Q pursue; and because it brings together an impressive set of SFS-Q students with outstanding colleagues both from Qatar (from our Education City partner, Northwestern University Qatar) and the US (from our ‘mothership’ on the Hilltop in Washington), as well as from Harvard and the University of Southern California.

The theme - ‘narrowing the gap: conversations between governing and the governed’ - is of ever greater importance in the Middle East, even if, or precisely because, its practice has been so often constrained or even repressed. As economic and demographic challenges multiply and political and economic governance models have been found less than adequate, and as conversations about implied social contracts become inescapable, engagement in research and thinking about such matters is a matter of the highest importance. It is especially welcome that the

The dynamic between the ‘governing’ and the ‘governed’, of course, does not only appear at the national, state level (as, for example, in the article on Egypt as a ‘conflict state’, or, in a very original way, that on the repurposing of reggae music in Palestine): it suffuses formal and informal relations throughout society, from gender issues (see the articles on women’s status in Morocco, Iran and Somalia), to the politics of identity (the article on Jordan’s Black September and its impact), and the source and control of norms (see the article on Islamic authority being usurped by ulama and the state). At the same time, it also comes in regional or international flavors: see the articles on Nasser’s use of Sawt al-Arab to spread (Egypt-dominated) Pan-Arab norms (simultaneously affecting state-level dynamics between governed and governors elsewhere!), the divergent effects of historical quasi-colonial relations on oil governance, and the imposition of international sanctions on Sudan. Intra-societal debates on domestic and foreign policy can also reflect historical (and regional) factors and experiences - as shown in the article on the effect of the Iran-Iraq war on today’s Iran.

These pages offer a rich menu of exploration, and one that is not only of academic relevance!

Islam is not merely a religion; it expands beyond that to include almost everything. Politics and Islam have always had a fickle relationship, yet a somewhat more stable one in the past. This was due mainly to the fact that Islam existed as an underlying foundation to societal life and basic political interactions;1 today, things have developed in such a manner that Islam has been institutionalized into either state-inclusive bodies that exist on a political bargain or de-facto opposition basis, or criminal groups that are deemed to be enemies of the state. Islam as an all-inclusive way of life for people is now merely a reflection of whatever these new Islamic institutions dictate. The way in which these Islamic institutions came into existence and their political relationship with the state presents us with a very interesting yet “locked” paradigm of existence, whereby a huge gap forms between the state and society. In order to understand how this paradigm came into being, this paper will go through the process of explaining and analyzing the different groups, mechanisms and structures that changed the application of Islam in the Middle East. Using the work of Anwar Majid's Freedom and Orthodoxy as a theoretical framework, the paper will first examine the rise of the Ulama class and their role in the process of Islamic state institutionalization. The paper will then move on to show how Islamic legal authority was transferred from society and given to the state, with the Ulama class being the new keepers of this authority, and how the colonial encroachment of Western laws was the vehicle of this transfer. That is not to say that pre-colonial Islamic societies were model ones and that colonialism is the direct cause of this transfer. Finally, the paper will examine the process

The Iran-Iraq War is one of the most influential conflicts in the history of the modern Middle East. It is well-known that it has affected the geopolitics and security policies of regional powers such as Iran, Saudi Arabia, and the other Gulf States. However, the role of the war's legacy in domestic politics of these nations is significantly less understood. This paper analyzes public statements and newspaper editorials from prominent Iranian political figures to assess the different ways in which the Iran-Iraq War is understood in the Iranian domestic context, and to determine how it impacts political rhetoric in the Islamic Republic. The argument is made that Iranian policymakers hold similar views towards the war in regards to foreign policy, but differ significantly when discussing economic policy.

The Somali government under President Mohamed Siad Barre was the first to introduce laws and policies that promoted gender equality. One of the most radical laws that came out of this state-driven advancement of women’s rights was the Family Law of 1975. This paper examines Somali women's relationship with the state and how they gained or lost from policies that targeted them. The majority of Somali women were unable to exercise many of the newfound rights that were bestowed upon them by Barre’s regime. The Family Law, in particular, may have been more harmful than beneficial to women’s rights and public perception on gender equality.

Under the rule of Gamal Abdel Nasser from 1956 to 1970, The Voice of the Arabs or Sawt Al-Arab–a radio broadcasting program created by Nasser himself–played a prominent role in strengthening the Pan-Arabian identity, fueling anti-colonial sentiments and nationalist ideologists. This paper looks into the factors that led to the success of the radio as a medium of mass media, followed by a close analysis of the methods and forms of propaganda employed by Nasser through the radio program to promote and maintain these ideologies. Radio thrived within the Arab world as it was considered as an extension of cultural features rooted in the Arabic culture and one which complimented the tradition of oral communication. The region's familiarity with this media platform led them to overlook Nasser's true intentions. Such associations only masked the capacity for the people to recognize methods of propaganda which dominated the airwaves, in an effort to strengthen the gap between the state and society. Ultimately, this paper seeks to prove that The Voice of the Arabs played a significant role in enabling Gamal Abdel Nasser to maintain Pan-Arabism in the Middle East, as it was employed as state apparatus to spread propaganda, fueling an atmosphere of anti-colonial discontent and, amongst other ideas, the dissemination of nationalist ideologies.

Egypt has experienced a very turbulent four years since the eruption of the Arab Spring in January 2011. Millions of Egyptians have demonstrated across the country dozens of times, resulting in the ouster of two presidents and Egypt moving from a state of ‘transition’ to a ‘fragile state’ by the OECD's annual standards. This paper will analyze the current political situation in Egypt through the lens of the OECD’s definition of fragility. It will then seek to explore the merits of moving Egypt to a ‘fragile state’ by examining the primary conflict and fragility factors, the historical context by which these factors arose, and finally, it will consider the impact on the current ability to deliver services to the people.

This paper examines the relationship between the United States (US) and the Republic of Sudan (Sudan), the complicated nature of which is an end result of the US’s ongoing sanctions on Sudan. The paper also provides a careful analysis of the legitimacy of the US Department of State’s label of Sudan as a sponsor of terrorism. Additionally, the paper will examine the implications of the US sanctions on the livelihoods of everyday citizens in the country across a variety of different sectors, while also providing a glimpse into how the Sudanese government and its top officials have managed to thrive. The paper will then conclude by looking at alternative solutions, on the basis that the sanctions are an inherently ineffective tool of diplomacy.

With the coming to power of King Mohamed VI, the feminist movement in Morocco has aided the process of democratization as well as the politicization of women's issues in the country. A key success in the acknowledgment of women's rights and a significant attempt to empower women and increase their agency in both the public and private spheres has been the enactment of the new Family Code of 2004. This paper aims at exploring the ways in which the Family Code has increased women's freedom within the family despite the persistence of tradition, and has enhanced their voice in regards to reproductive health, and the number and spacing of their children. Furthermore, the paper analyzes the limitations that women face within the labor force, giving emphasis to the problems of mobility and the two-fold effect of economic globalization on women in Export Processing Zones.

The landscape of the global sector has undergone a massive transformation as “Big Oil” has been replaced with national oil companies, but one issue remains in question: the role of the West. Controlling approximately 70 percent of the world’s proven reserves, the national oil companies that comprise the Organization of Petroleum Exporting Countries (OPEC) must reconcile the legacy of their colonial past with their future success in the post-colonial world. OPEC’s two largest exporters, Saudi Arabia and Iran, have a starkly different relationship with the West that has ultimately affected present-day realities of their oil companies as well as the ability of these petro-states to govern. This article first examines the impact of Western influence on Saudi Arabian and Iranian nationalization narratives and identifies key drivers that have encouraged Saudi Arabia’s open cooperation with the West, while simultaneously fostering Iran’s isolationism. The paper subsequently analyzes the impact of these relationships on Saudi Arabian and Iranian oil governance, ultimately suggesting that greater Western influence tends to better overall governance. With the rise of national oil companies the shift towards symbiotic mutualism has become a necessary means for national oil companies to establish sustainable oil governance in a post-colonial context.

This paper seeks to examine the revolution in women’s clothing in Iran under different systems of governance, starting from the time immediately before the Pahlavi dynasty to modern day Iran. This is to show how the ever-changing systems of governance of the country coerced Iranian women into dressing in accordance with the political agenda at the time. This paper showcases women taking a stand against the system of governance before, during, and after the Iranian Revolution (18th to 21st century) by developing a subculture that does not confine them to certain kind of clothing. Instead, they mixed their personality with what they chose to wear, often identifying themselves as ‘bad hijabis’ for defying the status quo to make their own political statement.

Since the events of the Arab Spring, the Middle East has seen a significant rise in media that express resistance to oppression. Protestors and artists alike have made use of music to advance their political interests. The six-decade-old Palestinian-Israeli conflict significantly predates the Arab Spring, but it is not immediately clear if the events of the Arab Spring may have impacted the ways in which Palestinians express resistance. Palestinian reggae music draws our attention to the phenomenon of repurposing a foreign genre to create something separate, but meaningful, to Palestinians. In this study, we explore the Ministry of Dub-Key, a Palestinian reggae group. Through the analysis of their song ‘Dumyeh Plastikieh’ (Plastic Doll) as well as interviews with the band members, this research explores links between the band and the events of the Arab Spring.

The events of Black September were a turning point in the development of Jordanian identity. As a result of the attempt on King Hussein's life on 1st September 1970 and the subsequent bloody civil war that played out between the Palestinian Resistance Movements that had acted as a “state within a state” inside Jordan, the Hashemite government expelled from the country the Palestinian Liberation Organization and other Fedayeen groups that comprised the Palestinian Resistance Movements. A second consequence of the war was the increased distrust of Palestinians and the crystallization of a distinct Jordanian identity as a reaction to the developing Palestinian identity. After a brief overview of the events leading up to Black September and the war itself, this paper describes the period of “Jordanization” that the government, the military, and the public sector experienced under Prime Minister Wasfi al-Tall. It then discusses the expanding societal divisions of the period immediately following, during which the state restructured itself at the expense of the Jordanians of Palestinian origin. Finally, the paper discusses social manifestations that resulted from the government's construction of a Jordanian national identity, such as the linguistic assimilation of Palestinian males, and the use of the Kafiyyeh to denote ethnic identity and political stances.