Posts Tagged ‘Middle East’
Tourism to Kurdistan?
Granted, Iraq is not high on the list of places that most tourists are likely to consider when planning their next vacation. Nevertheless, the Iraqi region of Kurdistan is making a push to attract tourists, according to this recent USA Today article. Their argument is that the region of northern Iraq populated by the Kurds has long been more autonomous than [...]
The tribal culture of Iraq
There are many people who would have us believe that the challenges of Iraq are all about politics and terrorism. And, of course, those obstacles are very real and are difficult enough to overcome. But the hurdles involved in putting that country back together actually go much deeper, since a solution to the Iraqi quagmire isn’t really possible without taking into account [...]
Changing our stereotypes about Iran
As the Iran edges closer to becoming the new face of evil for many Americans, it wouldn’t hurt to remind ourselves that there is often a considerable difference between people and government. And the Iranian people, in fact, for the most part tend to be friendly towards America. That is the conclusion drawn by Steven Knipp, who wrote about [...]
Zoroastrianism, the forgotten religion
In light of the strength of Christianity, Islam and Judaism in the modern world, it’s easy to forget that another monotheistic religion that sprang from the Middle East was also quite influential at one time in history. The International Herald Tribune has an article today about Zoroastrianism, the religion of ancient Persia, and how its modern [...]
Islam and capitalism in Turkey
Anyone who likes to argue that Islam cannot exist in conjunction with either capitalism or democracy needs to take a closer look at Turkey. Not only does the country have a functioning democracy, but the region of central Turkey is fast developing into much more than an agricultural economy, as noted by this recent article in the [...]
Americans are pragmatists, Iranians are poets
If you want an example of how challenging it can sometimes be to communicate across cultures, I came across an excellent article that details some of the differences between the U.S. and Iranian styles of speaking. For example, do ‘yes’ and ‘no’ always mean what we think? “Speech has a different function than it does [...]
Sunnis and Shiites – differences within Islam
Any attempt to decipher the labyrinth of interests and alliances in the Middle East can be exhausting. There are interests that revolve around oil, interests that center on relations with the United States or Israel, and interests that are linked to religious differences. One of the most confusing battles might be the one between Sunni and Shiite Islam. Al Qaeda [...]
Honor and tribalism in the Middle East
Anyone who is interested in knowing how culture influences the conflicts in the Middle East would enjoy an op-ed piece by John Tierney in yesterday’s New York Times . Tierney describes the importance of honor in that region of the world and how it can affect everything from tribal and family loyalties to communication styles. In the [...]
The unintended benefit of an informal culture
One of the differences commonly used to differentiate between cultures is the degree of formality or informality exhibited by people in their speech, dress, etc. There was an interesting article this week in the NY Times that discussed how an Iraqi Olympic official took on some of the informal traits of the U.S. culture during a [...]
Boosting tourism from Beirut to Bahrain
Have an interest in traveling to the Middle East? The region has dramatic landscapes and friendly residents. So long as you avoid a few unsavory locales, it’s quite an interesting part of the world for travelers. Now, countries in that region are boosting their efforts to attract tourists. The International Herald Tribune reports on endeavors by Arab gulf [...]
Fighting terrorism with poetry?
No, it’s not a joke. In Yemen, poets are bringing a message of peace to people that the government cannot reach. Crammed into a mud-brick shop, his audience, some with their hands resting on their gold-trimmed daggers, listen to his verse denouncing violence and Islamic militancy. When he finishes, there is silence. Then the room erupts [...]
Saudi society on screen
It’s not every day that a big budget film is produced in a country where movie theaters are still considered illegal (because it promotes the mixing of the sexes). But that is exactly what is happening in Saudi Arabia, with a new movie by Saudi producers examining the conflict within a family when a young girl [...]
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Bob Riel is a writer and a traveler. Go here to read more about Bob, his work and the Travels in the Riel World blog.
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