Saudi Arabia's Wahhabism and Nationalism: The Evolution of Wataniyya into Qawmiyya

For many scholars, the Arab Spring was actually an Islamic Winter, especially when ISIS rose up in Iraq and Syria, and the Muslim Brotherhood won democratic elections in Egypt and took control over the state. But in other unshaken regions in the Middle East, like Saudi Arabia and the GCC states, the Arab Spring or the Islamic Winter led to something different, which I will call “rethinking nationalism.” This article asserts that since Saudi Arabia's independence in 1932, the royal family has succeeded in forming Wahhabi nationalism, meaning that despite the fact that all Saudi civilians enjoy Saudi citizenship, only those who ascribe to the Wahhabism creed can be part of the nation in terms of political participation and policy decision‐making. Although some steps in affirmative action have been taken in recent years — also as a Saudi response to the Arab Spring — toward women and the Shi'a minority, these groups or sectors still are not perceived by the royal family as part of the nation, and probably not as equal citizens, for religious reasons that over the years have distinguished between real Saudi nationalist groups and Saudi civilians.     

Double‐Thinking and Contradictory Arrangements in Iranian Law and Society

Although thinking double thoughts and living dual lives are not specifically Iranian traits, Iranians have, nevertheless, become more susceptible to them for historical reasons, which may be traced back to when Persians became Muslims. The gradual normalization of double‐thinking over the centuries has given rise to social and political patterns of behavior and institutional arrangements which oscillate between opposing regimes of truths and different sets of ethical concerns, often without merging them into a new process. Once double‐thinking is normalized at the level of society, it helps people to cope with the cognitive dissonance they experience in circumstances where it is difficult to change attitude and behavior. It also affects the organization of society by making contradictory arrangements appear normal. It promotes reflexive thinking and subversive action as much as it facilitates misrecognition of sociopolitical suppression and legitimization of symbolic violence. This state of affairs generates a form of modernity which appears, at least on the surface, to be comfortable with contradictory social arrangements, while deep down it remains ill at ease with its inner contradictions.     

Environmental influences on skilled worker migration from Bangladesh to Canada

We conducted focus groups in Toronto with 44 recent skilled worker immigrants from Bangladesh to explore whether their decisions to migrate to Canada may have been influenced by environmental problems. Previous research has documented how floods, cyclones, droughts, and seasonal precipitation variations affect rural‐urban migration patterns within Bangladesh, and to its neighbours. Most participants had not experienced such environmental hazards, having lived in Dhaka prior to migrating. However, Dhaka's ongoing problems with air and water pollution, sanitation, lack of green space, and food adulteration were cited by 70% as being relevant considerations for the decision to migrate. The degree of influence varied considerably among participants. Roughly 16% said pollution was their primary motivation for leaving, household members having suffered from illnesses traceable to air pollution or poor sanitation. Another 54% stated that Dhaka's environmental problems were part of a wider range of quality‐of‐life concerns that had some influence on their decision. The findings suggest that current migration to Canada is not connected with environmental migration that takes place within Bangladesh, but that urban environmental problems combined with other social, economic, and political factors can help drive migration.     

Language Policy and State in Morocco: The Status of Berber

Moroccan society has had a long tradition of multilingualism. It is socially and linguistically diverse, and its cultural makeup is one of the richest in North African countries. Its strategic location at the crossroads of Africa, Europe, and the Middle East has made Morocco open to a variety of linguistic influences. Morocco has been invaded by Phoenicians, Carthaginians, Greek, Romans, Vandals, Byzantines, Arabs, Spanish, and French. All these civilizations have deeply influenced Moroccan language policy and cultural diversity. The cultural and linguistic context of Morocco is characterized by the significant use of Arabic, as well as the presence of Berber, French, Spanish, and English. Berbers are the indigenous populations of Morocco and have existed in North Africa since time immemorial. Despite its complexity, the language policy of Morocco reveals an overarching monolingualism, with the hegemony of Classical Arabic as the only official language of the country. Recently, however, language education policy in Morocco has attempted to accommodate multilingualism. The linguistic situation of Berber has taken a new twist as it has been incorporated into the realm of Moroccan schools. The new Moroccan constitution also represents a historical turn in that it has acknowledged Berber as an official language, a move that has raised several questions with regard to the real motivation behind it. Berber implementation policy was based on an entirely top‐down bureaucratic model of language policy. Moroccan policymakers and the state seem to be aware of how other dramas are playing out in Morocco and around the world as theories of multiculturalism and effects of globalization are influencing their decisions. However, this language policy encounters many hurdles, from the improvisation to lack of qualified teachers. This article is an attempt to understand the intricate diversity and plurality of Moroccan language situation and the role of the state in Berber language policy. It also examines the invisible politics behind implementing it.     

Threat,Victimhood, and Peace: Debating the 2011 Palestinian UN State Membership Bid

The Israeli–Palestinian conflict has been described as one of the most intractable in the world. This article first provides an overview of the sociopolitical events that led up to the Palestinian UN state membership bid in September 2011, and second, as a case study, it examines how the Israeli–Palestinian conflict was constructed in speeches delivered by Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas and Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu regarding the state membership bid to the UN General Assembly in September 2011. Despite their opposing agendas, there are some significant discursive similarities in the two speeches. The most salient shared discourses concern that of in‐group victimhood on the one hand, and that of out‐group threat on the other. It is argued that the speeches dispel support for intergroup reconciliation between Israelis and Palestinians by aggravating grievances on both sides and accentuating intergroup suspicion. This article highlights the importance of examining political speeches in order to better understand the Israeli–Palestinian conflict.     

Representations of Islam and Arab Societies in Western Secondary Textbooks

Since the terrorist attacks on September 11, 2001, the textbooks in Arab and Islamic nation‐states have been carefully critiqued for any content that Westerners view as promoting hate or violence against non‐Muslims. Very little has been said, however, about the portrayals of Islamic and Arab society in Western textbooks. This report investigates the perspectives and ideologies concerning representations of Islam and Arab societies in textbooks worldwide, and specifically in Western countries' national education systems. Seventy‐two textbooks from 15 Western countries and Israel were examined to investigate the included and excluded content related to Islam and Arab societies. This research found that those countries with either an immediate stake in the Middle East (e.g., Israel) or an immediate past stake in the region (e.g., the United Kingdom) were the most likely to include coverage of Islam and Arab societies in secondary textbooks. The major findings of this research, however, are that content related to contemporary Islam and Arab societies in Western secondary‐level textbooks is overwhelmingly related to terrorism and terrorists, the Arab/Israeli conflict, and the wars in Afghanistan and Iraq. The majority of content related to contemporary Islam and Arab societies represents Muslims and their communities as: 1) socially, politically, and economically repressed; 2) religiously and ideologically oppressed; and 3) both typically and frequently violent.     

An Analysis of Makovsky's Border Proposal in Light of Palestinian Needs

The border proposal of David Makovsky, who, served as an advisor to Martin Indyk during the recent Israeli‐Palestinian peace talks, is analyzed from the standpoint of viable contiguity — the degree to which the border, particularly where there is Israeli annexation of settlement blocs, offers provision for access, living space, and transportation infrastructure for the Palestinian population in adjacent areas. While at some locales his proposed border improves contiguity for Palestinians compared with the current situation unilaterally imposed by Israel, more attention needs to be given to the ways it would adversely affect the quality of life of the Palestinian population in the cities and villages adjacent to those settlement blocs. This leads to the suggestion that a more comprehensive solution to border issues will feature the establishment of joint economic zones and binational administrative authorities, which can manage the entanglement of roads and populations in ways that will maximize the potential for economic development.     

The Muslim Male Character Typology in American Cinema Post‐9/11

This article tries to discover whether filmic stereotypes of Muslims in general and Arabs in particular have undergone any changes since 9/11, and if they have, what new character types have been developed to reflect these images. In the course of this study, results from other researchers who have examined the presentation of Muslims on the screen both before and after 9/11 are referred to, with a view of highlighting the sustained, unchanging character features, as well as detecting new formations. A variety of films, which have been released since 2011, incorporating Muslim and Arab characters, are used in this research and the physical appearance attributes and behavioral attributes as described by Mastro and Greenberg have been utilized to help with the analysis. The most important finding is that in the 10‐year period following 9/11, although some familiar characterizations still hit the screen occasionally, there has been a tendency to reconstruct more convincing Muslim and Arab cinematic characters. Also noticeable is the fact that the narrative at times focuses on their ethnicity or economic status more than their religious beliefs. Continued research will show if this is a passing phase or the beginning of an end to Muslim and Arab stereotyping in American cinema.     

Development and Decline of the Bampur Valley,Based on the New Archaeological Evidence from Prehistoric Period

This paper consists of some of the findings of the authors during their research at prehistoric sites of Bampur and its surrounding areas in August 2011. These areas, which have been introduced as Bampur-related sites, comprise an area about of 5–10 kilometers and belong to the Bronze Age. The paper introduces, categorizes and analyzes the archaeological findings in relation to the Bampur collection. The archaeological findings show that: (1) unlike the previous belief, there existed a peak settlement dated back to the Chah Husseini period which was prior to Bampur I; (2) in fact, Bampur II–IV had larger populations due to growth of trade and commerce and their relations with Yahya and Mesopotamia; (3) the later periods of the Bampur collection show a decreasing number of sites at Bampur VI.     

Do We Need a GCC Bank to Facilitate the Economic Turnaround of the GCC Region?

Amidst the ongoing crisis of plummeting oil prices, the GCC (Gulf Cooperation Council) terrain has become a haunt of economists and financial analysts to tackle the ongoing challenges in the region. GCC constituents are gearing themselves with a robust political will that they hope could result in a turnaround of their economy by adopting a policy of economic diversification in nonoil‐based sectors. With this background supported by extensive qualitative scan of literature pertaining to the reforms proposed by the six members of the GCC to drive the economy forward amidst ongoing economic crisis, this article seeks to underscore the prospect of a shared initiative by the GCC constituents in institutionalizing a GCC bank as a potent innovative solution which may serve to provide an edifice for pushing forth the region's economy in nonhydrocarbon segments contingent upon the individual needs of the GCC constituents. As an exploratory study, this paper sheds light on these issues besides discussing the fundamental functions of the GCC bank.