President Obama's Homegrown Diplomatic Conundrum

President Obama is doing fine. As he pointed out:

1. No flag burnings or Anti US rhetoric in Egypt.

2. Bringing together a broad based coalition involving, Europe, the Middle East, and Africa.

3. Setting a precedent for future cooperation among disparate nations and cultures--perhaps for peaceful rather than military purposes.

4. Showing that Ivy league types can handle global diplomatic and military matters.

Now, the only problem is dealing with the surfeit of professional pundits who've raised the task of asking question to the level of high, intellectual discourse.

Since when did "I don't know...." and "I don't understand..." serve to repudiate another person's opinion?

How many times does one have to ask a question when the answer is intuitively obvious to the casual observer?

Regards,

Slim


Copyright (c) Slim Fairview

Mail slimfairview@yahoo.com

Oppressed People Can't Revolt

"Oppressed people can't revolt: They are oppressed. Only freed people can revolt. That freedom came with the Internet: Facebook, Twitter, et. al" Slim Fairview


Regards,

Slim

Mail: slimfairview@yahoo.com



Copyright (c) 2011 Slim Fairview

Monographs: Understanding the Future of the Middle East

To Cover the Subject of The Middle East

For a better understanding of what is going on in the Middle East, ask the question: "Will the Facebook Revolution Spread to China? Probably Not."
http://slimviews.blogspot.com/2011/02/will-facebook-revolution-spread-to.html

However, there is more to understanding the shift in the paradigm of Global Affairs with respect to the Middle East.

Transnational Business: From Distopistan to Netopistan.
http://slimviews.blogspot.com/2011/02/tansnational-business-from-distopistan.html

What is to Come in The Middle East
http://slimviews.blogspot.com/2011/02/what-is-to-come-in-middle-east.html

Egypt and the Failure of Global Diplomacy
http://slimviews.blogspot.com/2011/02/egypt-and-failure-of-global-diplomacy.html

The Business of Egypt is Business
http://slimviews.blogspot.com/2011/02/business-of-egypt-is-business.html

Regards,

Slim

Mail Slimfairview@yahoo.com

Copyright (c) Slim Fairview 2011

Transnational Business: From Distopistan to Netopistan

To: Fellow Linkedin member:

Perhaps Mr. _________ is seeking the collective input to help him to address the changes he will have to make in his strategy as a consultant in Egypt. He can, if he chooses, find opportunities here for Business leaders who did not read my ppt. presentation Global Management, a shift in the paradigm of corporate America.

More to the point, We will create a metaphor.

Hey, Mr. Big American Company Guy, you can no longer rely on the Big Company Guys of Distopistan who are protected by the Distopistanian Army because the King of Distopistan makes big bucks (through private transactions) via The Big Company of Distopistan.

Distopistan is in the midst of change. Tomorrow, the King of Distopistan will be gone. Tomorrow the country will be Netopistan. The Netopian Nation is now an ally. To do business in Netopistan (Formerly Distopistan) you will have to connect with the Netopian people.

"How do we do that?" asks the Big American Company Guy.

Answer:

Meet with _________ _________. He will teach you how to do business in the New World Order. A world without borders. (unabashedly lifted from and alluding to my blog which coincidentally goes by the url http://slimviews.blogspot.com

Regards,

Slim
Mail slimfairview@yahoo.com

P.S. Mr. ________. Carpe Punctum. And good luck.

Copyright (c) 2011 Slim Fairview

What is to Come in the Middle East

What is to come in the Middle East.

Those who forget history are doomed to repeat it. Santayana

Those who never learned history are doomed—period. Slim Fairview

What is going on?

We’ve watched history unfold by way of anamnesis.

Most of us can remember, “The Sun never sets on the British Empire”. It collapsed for various reasons, but collapsed non-the-less. India, Canada, Hong Kong, Australia, National Public Television, Scotland….

We watched what Ronald Reagan once referred to as the Evil Empire collapse. Actually, one-by-one, two-by-two, Eastern block satellite-nations fell from orbit.

At first, the British expanded their empire. Then, those who lived under the British Raj, along with others living in nations of the empire, evolved to a metaphorical awareness analogous to the awareness made available by the internet today. They freed themselves from foreign rule.

After World War II, the Soviet Union expanded into Eastern Europe. Soon: five-hundred million people ground beneath the boot-heel of communist military occupation. It wasn’t long before the people of Eastern Europe liberated themselves—the result of watching the Soviet influence wither. Today, even Russia is no longer occupied by the communists’ forces.

Today, we have the internet. First, the Tunisian people rose up. Then, the Egyptian people rose up. All throughout the Middle East, we can see the events of change unfolding before our eyes. Still, we discuss the events rather than acknowledge them. Just as Iran extolled the actions of the people of Egypt, is it impossible that people in Arab nations saw large tea party demonstrations? Is it impossible that people in Arab nations were aware of the change in our House of Representatives? A change heralded as the largest shift in power in 39 years.

To understand what other people understand, it is necessary to understand propaganda. Do you remember Antigone, heralded, perhaps, by Sophocles? She was put to death for burying her brother in defiance of the law. However, do you remember Antigone, heralded by Anouilh? She was the spirit of the French resistance when France was occupied by the Nazis. During occupation, books had to be approved by the Nazi censors before they could be published. Why did the Nazi censors approve the publishing of Antigone? To show the people what happens to those who defy authority. What was the result? There are no unintended consequences. Only unwanted consequences.

World leaders, who may have extolled the Tea-Party movement as an example of unrest in America prompted by the peoples’ dissatisfaction with America’s government, with the American way of living, could not have predicted what would come. People who’ve extolled the Egyptian people for their rising up against their government, an ally of the United States, probably did not predict that their own people would say, “Hey, I’ve got an idea.”

Then, there is the internet. The Blogosphere. Netopia. Not Laptopistan as is was referred to in the New York Times. Laptopistan refers to the people with their laptops. Netopia refers to a virtual land that really does exist. Like the wind, you cannot see it. You can only see and feel its effects.

http://slimviews.blogspot.com/2011/01/egypt-and-others-new-world-order-world.html

http://slimviews.blogspot.com/2011/01/internet-disconnect-no.html

Regards,

Slim

Mail slimfairview@yahoo.com

Copyright © 2011 Slim Fairview