This article examines the matrix of urban interventions and control through territorial and demog... more This article examines the matrix of urban interventions and control through territorial and demographic engineering by Israel to transform Jerusalem into a closer approximation of Zionist colonialist ideology by various means. These include the deployment of archaeological, cultural, socio-political, territorial, and urban design instruments to de-construct or re-narrate the other histories and characteristics of the city in order to preempt alternative sovereignties. Competing visions and discourses are visually evident in urban spaces and practices. This process is a conflict that chooses "identity" as its overt manifestation and its "protection" is consequently used as justification for legal and political discrimination. The construction of this particular form of identity was and is inherently inescapable due to the colonialist basis and practices of the state.
The United States always presents itself in exceptional terms. In the last thirty years, it has p... more The United States always presents itself in exceptional terms. In the last thirty years, it has presented itself as the beacon of democracy. As -leader of the free world,‖ the United States has taken upon itself the responsibility to spread (an implicitly-assumed) universally-desired liberal democracy. While it uses, and has used, war-euphemized as intervention, the global war on terror, or various operations of freedom-the US also relies on democracy promotion efforts that spread norms, procedures, and methods of pluralist governance. These include free and fair elections, universal adult suffrage, basic individual freedoms, free opposition parties, and rule of law, which ostensibly benefit all people. The narrative also insists that altruism is what drives US interest in seeing -American‖ values of freedom and -democratic peace‖ prevail in the international state system. This paper argues that claims of exceptionalism are crucial for constructing the myths necessary for sustaining and expanding American dominance over global capitalism and the international system of states. Democracy promotion is a means of constructing shared values and concepts, structures, procedures, and elites that subdue and channel mass popular demands arising from the socio-economic arena. Popular grievances are kept separate from the political sphere.
It is a sad state of affairs, but indicative of the times, that talk of sovereignty around the wo... more It is a sad state of affairs, but indicative of the times, that talk of sovereignty around the world is usually limited to the level of the state.
History is usually written by the strong. Yet, inevitably, the march of time entails the emergenc... more History is usually written by the strong. Yet, inevitably, the march of time entails the emergence of transformative concepts that challenge predominant narratives. Benny Morris" One State, Two States is largely a resistant response to changes that are occurring in the Palestinian-Israeli conflict. Instead of an objective account of the two main approaches to "resolution," it contains the last gasps of foundering ideas. Its main objective is to discredit both solutions in favor of a disguised version of the "Jordanian option." The only merit in this book is its possible use as a summary of the usual litany of Israeli positions.
There is much talk of "failed" states with reference to the Arab world these days. To what extent... more There is much talk of "failed" states with reference to the Arab world these days. To what extent is the Westphalian model of state sovereignty applicable in the context of the Arab world? The Western nation-state model that was imported and imposed on the colonized states of the Middle East is built around several assumptions. Externally, it assumes authoritative de facto and de jure control over a defined territory. Internally, it entails a form of social, political, and legal "contract" that endows the state with the legitimate authority to govern in the name of its citizens. It usually assumes homogeneous national identity and citizenship, a Weberian monopoly on the use of force within a sovereign territory, and uniformly rational political organization, economic activity, cultural expression, among other things. These attributes do not necessarily pertain in non-Western settings. i Gokhan Bacik offers an elegant theory with which to methodologically analyze the Arab state system, especially focusing on the challenges to sovereignty at the internal state-society level. He calls this "positive sovereignty" and differentiates it from "negative sovereignty" which deals with state-state interactions. (p.42) Bacik argues that the Western model is inapplicable in the region because using it as a yardstick inevitably produces judgments that proclaim Arab states "failed." He makes the cogent point that if the traditional model does not work in explaining state behavior, then the criteria must be changed.
Ziad Fahmy's Ordinary Egyptians is a lively, engaging, well-researched, sometimes penetratingly h... more Ziad Fahmy's Ordinary Egyptians is a lively, engaging, well-researched, sometimes penetratingly humorous, and valuable addition to the new historiography that aims to ‗write the people' into nationalist meta-historical narratives.
This article examines the matrix of urban interventions and control through territorial and demog... more This article examines the matrix of urban interventions and control through territorial and demographic engineering by Israel to transform Jerusalem into a closer approximation of Zionist colonialist ideology by various means. These include the deployment of archaeological, cultural, socio-political, territorial, and urban design instruments to de-construct or re-narrate the other histories and characteristics of the city in order to preempt alternative sovereignties. Competing visions and discourses are visually evident in urban spaces and practices. This process is a conflict that chooses "identity" as its overt manifestation and its "protection" is consequently used as justification for legal and political discrimination. The construction of this particular form of identity was and is inherently inescapable due to the colonialist basis and practices of the state.
The United States always presents itself in exceptional terms. In the last thirty years, it has p... more The United States always presents itself in exceptional terms. In the last thirty years, it has presented itself as the beacon of democracy. As -leader of the free world,‖ the United States has taken upon itself the responsibility to spread (an implicitly-assumed) universally-desired liberal democracy. While it uses, and has used, war-euphemized as intervention, the global war on terror, or various operations of freedom-the US also relies on democracy promotion efforts that spread norms, procedures, and methods of pluralist governance. These include free and fair elections, universal adult suffrage, basic individual freedoms, free opposition parties, and rule of law, which ostensibly benefit all people. The narrative also insists that altruism is what drives US interest in seeing -American‖ values of freedom and -democratic peace‖ prevail in the international state system. This paper argues that claims of exceptionalism are crucial for constructing the myths necessary for sustaining and expanding American dominance over global capitalism and the international system of states. Democracy promotion is a means of constructing shared values and concepts, structures, procedures, and elites that subdue and channel mass popular demands arising from the socio-economic arena. Popular grievances are kept separate from the political sphere.
It is a sad state of affairs, but indicative of the times, that talk of sovereignty around the wo... more It is a sad state of affairs, but indicative of the times, that talk of sovereignty around the world is usually limited to the level of the state.
History is usually written by the strong. Yet, inevitably, the march of time entails the emergenc... more History is usually written by the strong. Yet, inevitably, the march of time entails the emergence of transformative concepts that challenge predominant narratives. Benny Morris" One State, Two States is largely a resistant response to changes that are occurring in the Palestinian-Israeli conflict. Instead of an objective account of the two main approaches to "resolution," it contains the last gasps of foundering ideas. Its main objective is to discredit both solutions in favor of a disguised version of the "Jordanian option." The only merit in this book is its possible use as a summary of the usual litany of Israeli positions.
There is much talk of "failed" states with reference to the Arab world these days. To what extent... more There is much talk of "failed" states with reference to the Arab world these days. To what extent is the Westphalian model of state sovereignty applicable in the context of the Arab world? The Western nation-state model that was imported and imposed on the colonized states of the Middle East is built around several assumptions. Externally, it assumes authoritative de facto and de jure control over a defined territory. Internally, it entails a form of social, political, and legal "contract" that endows the state with the legitimate authority to govern in the name of its citizens. It usually assumes homogeneous national identity and citizenship, a Weberian monopoly on the use of force within a sovereign territory, and uniformly rational political organization, economic activity, cultural expression, among other things. These attributes do not necessarily pertain in non-Western settings. i Gokhan Bacik offers an elegant theory with which to methodologically analyze the Arab state system, especially focusing on the challenges to sovereignty at the internal state-society level. He calls this "positive sovereignty" and differentiates it from "negative sovereignty" which deals with state-state interactions. (p.42) Bacik argues that the Western model is inapplicable in the region because using it as a yardstick inevitably produces judgments that proclaim Arab states "failed." He makes the cogent point that if the traditional model does not work in explaining state behavior, then the criteria must be changed.
Ziad Fahmy's Ordinary Egyptians is a lively, engaging, well-researched, sometimes penetratingly h... more Ziad Fahmy's Ordinary Egyptians is a lively, engaging, well-researched, sometimes penetratingly humorous, and valuable addition to the new historiography that aims to ‗write the people' into nationalist meta-historical narratives.
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