Tuesday, June 16, 2009

What Comes Around Goes Around

Changes in American policies and rhetoric are already triggering intriguing responses from different parts of the Middle East, as we can see in four separate issues: Lebanon, Palestine-Israel, Iran, and American attitudes toward Islam and Muslims, says Rami G. Khouri
BEIRUT -- One of the fascinating developments taking place before our eyes these days is the evolution of American power and presence in the Middle East -- though it remains to be seen if this is a truly constructive change in policy or merely a temporary cosmetic repackaging of failed old ways. Nevertheless, two important points should be noted: American power is a constant factor in the Middle East, regardless of whether one likes or dislikes how it is applied; public perceptions of the United States throughout the Middle East are not fixed in stone, but rather respond in tandem to evolving American policies.
Changes in American policies and rhetoric are already triggering intriguing responses from different parts of the Middle East, as we can see in four separate issues: Lebanon, Palestine-Israel, Iran, and American attitudes toward Islam and Muslims.
Many analysts have suggested that President Barack Obama’s speech in Cairo a week ago played a role in promoting the ascendancy of “moderate” or “pro-Western” voters in the elections in Lebanon and Iran this week. There is a link for sure, but I suspect the cause-and-effect relationship is the opposite of what many American and Arab commentators are saying.
If we look at public opinion in this region and the policies and words of the US leadership, we find that change has occurred first and more clearly in the United States than it has in the Middle East. The more accommodating tone and some adjusted policies by the new US administration are largely a response to realities on the ground.
The signs of change are real, if still limited in scope: Sending rhetorical love notes to Iran -- and dropping uranium enrichment-linked preconditions on talks with Iran -- sending envoys to Syria, lowering the rhetoric on Hizbullah in Lebanon, speaking out forcefully on the unacceptability of continued Israeli settlement activity, and making dramatic public diplomacy gestures on American relations with Islamic societies.
Sincere people can disagree on whether the changes in US policy are a sensible reconfiguration reflecting acknowledgment that the old policies did not work in America’s interest, or are a response to the widespread opposition to the United States that defines large swaths of public opinion in our region. My guess is that it is a combination of the two.
A more realistic, less ideological bunch of political managers in Washington surveyed US policy in the Middle East, saw it was not working well, and recognized the ability and willingness of people and governments throughout the region to stand up to the United States and its proxies. So they started to make changes that could respond more rationally to the interests of the United States as well as the principal parties in the region -- namely the Arabs, Iran, Turkey and Israel.
As the United States started to adjust its rhetoric and policies, people and governments in the Middle East reciprocated the capacity to act sensibly. Even Hamas leader Khaled Mashaal, in his statements in Cairo earlier this week, acknowledged the new tone in Washington’s language and approach, and spoke more about diplomatic possibilities than eternal resistance.
In Lebanon, where the US-backed March 14 alliance won last week’s parliamentary elections, analysts disagree on whether Obama’s lofty and loving rhetoric on Islam and Arab-Israeli peace-making played a role in the victory. My sense of US attitudes toward Lebanon is that both the Obama speech and the recent virtual visits to Beirut by Hillary Clinton and Joe Biden revealed a clear toning down of public rhetoric against Iran, Syria and Hizbullah. As the United States changed its attitude toward Iran and Syria and started talking to them, it also pulled back to some extent from its brass knuckles-style diplomacy of threats and dire warnings in Lebanon.
A more relaxed regional context in which, most notably, the United States, Syria, Iran and Saudi Arabia spent more time recently exploring diplomatic opportunities -- rather than plotting new bombing targets and sanctions -- has triggered both the toned down rhetoric from Washington and the revived dynamism of centrist politics in the Arab world and Iran. (Though as I write, Iran appears to be producing an Iranian version of the 2000 US election.) Life on the edge, in a world of perpetual brinksmanship and confrontation, has proven both uncomfortable, and widely unsustainable, for most players in the Middle East. So, wisely they are exploring other ways.
It is comforting to witness the capacity for real change in the United States and among Arabs. It is also refreshing to hear so many in the region wonder whether the softer, gentler Obama approach is eliciting reciprocal common sense from different parts of the Middle East. Transformative moments like this remind us how important it is to acknowledge two key realities: public opinion, popular perceptions and foreign policies are intimately linked in a perpetual embrace that sees them evolve together, and, it is both immature and inaccurate to ascribe all good or bad things to one side or the other.
Rami G. Khouri is Editor-at-large of The Daily Star, and Director of the Issam Fares Institute for Public Policy and International Affairs at the American University of Beirut, in Beirut, Lebanon.
Copyright © 2009 Rami G. Khouri – distributed by Agence Global
SOURCE:http://www.middle-east-online.com/english/opinion/?id=32772

What Comes Around Goes Around

Changes in American policies and rhetoric are already triggering intriguing responses from different parts of the Middle East, as we can see in four separate issues: Lebanon, Palestine-Israel, Iran, and American attitudes toward Islam and Muslims, says Rami G. Khouri
BEIRUT -- One of the fascinating developments taking place before our eyes these days is the evolution of American power and presence in the Middle East -- though it remains to be seen if this is a truly constructive change in policy or merely a temporary cosmetic repackaging of failed old ways. Nevertheless, two important points should be noted: American power is a constant factor in the Middle East, regardless of whether one likes or dislikes how it is applied; public perceptions of the United States throughout the Middle East are not fixed in stone, but rather respond in tandem to evolving American policies.
Changes in American policies and rhetoric are already triggering intriguing responses from different parts of the Middle East, as we can see in four separate issues: Lebanon, Palestine-Israel, Iran, and American attitudes toward Islam and Muslims.
Many analysts have suggested that President Barack Obama’s speech in Cairo a week ago played a role in promoting the ascendancy of “moderate” or “pro-Western” voters in the elections in Lebanon and Iran this week. There is a link for sure, but I suspect the cause-and-effect relationship is the opposite of what many American and Arab commentators are saying.
If we look at public opinion in this region and the policies and words of the US leadership, we find that change has occurred first and more clearly in the United States than it has in the Middle East. The more accommodating tone and some adjusted policies by the new US administration are largely a response to realities on the ground.
The signs of change are real, if still limited in scope: Sending rhetorical love notes to Iran -- and dropping uranium enrichment-linked preconditions on talks with Iran -- sending envoys to Syria, lowering the rhetoric on Hizbullah in Lebanon, speaking out forcefully on the unacceptability of continued Israeli settlement activity, and making dramatic public diplomacy gestures on American relations with Islamic societies.
Sincere people can disagree on whether the changes in US policy are a sensible reconfiguration reflecting acknowledgment that the old policies did not work in America’s interest, or are a response to the widespread opposition to the United States that defines large swaths of public opinion in our region. My guess is that it is a combination of the two.
A more realistic, less ideological bunch of political managers in Washington surveyed US policy in the Middle East, saw it was not working well, and recognized the ability and willingness of people and governments throughout the region to stand up to the United States and its proxies. So they started to make changes that could respond more rationally to the interests of the United States as well as the principal parties in the region -- namely the Arabs, Iran, Turkey and Israel.
As the United States started to adjust its rhetoric and policies, people and governments in the Middle East reciprocated the capacity to act sensibly. Even Hamas leader Khaled Mashaal, in his statements in Cairo earlier this week, acknowledged the new tone in Washington’s language and approach, and spoke more about diplomatic possibilities than eternal resistance.
In Lebanon, where the US-backed March 14 alliance won last week’s parliamentary elections, analysts disagree on whether Obama’s lofty and loving rhetoric on Islam and Arab-Israeli peace-making played a role in the victory. My sense of US attitudes toward Lebanon is that both the Obama speech and the recent virtual visits to Beirut by Hillary Clinton and Joe Biden revealed a clear toning down of public rhetoric against Iran, Syria and Hizbullah. As the United States changed its attitude toward Iran and Syria and started talking to them, it also pulled back to some extent from its brass knuckles-style diplomacy of threats and dire warnings in Lebanon.
A more relaxed regional context in which, most notably, the United States, Syria, Iran and Saudi Arabia spent more time recently exploring diplomatic opportunities -- rather than plotting new bombing targets and sanctions -- has triggered both the toned down rhetoric from Washington and the revived dynamism of centrist politics in the Arab world and Iran. (Though as I write, Iran appears to be producing an Iranian version of the 2000 US election.) Life on the edge, in a world of perpetual brinksmanship and confrontation, has proven both uncomfortable, and widely unsustainable, for most players in the Middle East. So, wisely they are exploring other ways.
It is comforting to witness the capacity for real change in the United States and among Arabs. It is also refreshing to hear so many in the region wonder whether the softer, gentler Obama approach is eliciting reciprocal common sense from different parts of the Middle East. Transformative moments like this remind us how important it is to acknowledge two key realities: public opinion, popular perceptions and foreign policies are intimately linked in a perpetual embrace that sees them evolve together, and, it is both immature and inaccurate to ascribe all good or bad things to one side or the other.
Rami G. Khouri is Editor-at-large of The Daily Star, and Director of the Issam Fares Institute for Public Policy and International Affairs at the American University of Beirut, in Beirut, Lebanon.
Copyright © 2009 Rami G. Khouri – distributed by Agence Global
SOURCE:http://www.middle-east-online.com/english/opinion/?id=32772

Etihad Airways sign mega deals at Paris Air Show


UAE airline has agreed 5.2-billion-dollar engine and maintenance deal with GE, Engine Alliance.
LE BOURGET - United Arab Emirates airline Etihad Airways on Tuesday said it had agreed an engine and maintenance deal with GE and Engine Alliance worth 5.2 billion dollars (3.7 billion euros).
The biggest order was with US giant conglomerate giant GE, which will supply Etihad Airways with engines for 35 Boeing 787s and 10 Boeing 777s alongside a maintenance contract in a deal totalling 3.9 billion dollars.
Etihad Airways chief James Hogan also announced a deal to supply 45 engines plus a maintenance contract for 10 Airbus A380 superjumbos worth "more than 1.3 billion dollars in total with Engine Alliance," a joint venture between GE Aircraft Engines and Pratt & Whitney.
The announcements came on day two of the prestigious Paris Air Show.

Carter: Palestinians treated like 'animals' under Israeli siege


Former US president 'holds back tears' after seeing 'deliberate destruction' of Gaza by Israeli F16s.
GAZA CITY - Former US president Jimmy Carter on Tuesday met democratically elected Hamas leader Ismail Haniya in the Gaza Strip, where he called for a lifting of Israel's blockade, saying Palestinians are being treated "like animals."
Following the talks, Carter called for an end of "all violence" against both Israelis and Palestinians.
"This is holy land for us all and my hope is that we can have peace... all of us are children of Abraham," he said at a joint news conference with Haniya, prime minister of the Hamas government in the Palestinian enclave.
Carter was expected to pass on a letter from the parents of Gilad Shalit, an Israeli soldier seized by Gaza resistance including Hamas in a cross-border raid almost three years ago, and who remains in captivity.
Earlier Carter denounced the Israeli blockade and the destruction wrought by its 22-day military offensive against Gaza in December and January.
"My primary feeling today is one of grief and despair and an element of anger when I see the destruction perpetrated against innocent people," Carter said as he toured the impoverished territory.
"Tragically, the international community too often ignores the cries for help and the citizens of Palestine are treated more like animals than like human beings," he said.
"The starving of 1.5 million human beings of the necessities of life -- never before in history has a large community like this been savaged by bombs and missiles and then denied the means to repair itself," Carter said at a UN school graduation ceremony in Gaza City.
The United States and Europe "must try to do all that is necessary to convince Israel and Egypt to allow basic goods into Gaza," he said.
"At same time, there must be no more rockets" from Gaza into Israel, said Carter, who brokered the historic 1979 peace treaty between Israel and Egypt.
"I have to hold back tears when I see the deliberate destruction that has been wracked against your people," he said at a destroyed American school, saying it was "deliberately destroyed by bombs from F16s made in my country."
"I feel partially responsible for this as must all Americans and Israelis," Carter said.
Shortly after entering Gaza, Carter's convoy of white UN 4x4 vehicles stopped briefly in the area of Ezbet Abed Rabbo, one of the most ravaged during the Israeli onslaught at the turn of the year.
The massive destruction in the area has made it a regular stop for the succession of foreign dignitaries who have come to Gaza since the war.
As Carter briefly emerged from his vehicle to look at the damage, one resident ran up, yelling that he wanted to talk to the former US leader, and getting into a brief shoving match with bodyguards.
"They all come here and look at us like we're animals and then they go home," said Majid Athamna. "We're not animals, we're human beings."
"If he wants to come and visit us, he has to listen to us."
In an interview with an Israeli daily published earlier in the week, Carter urged Israel to lift its blockade and stop treating the 1.5 million aid-dependent residents of the Palestinian territory like "savages."
"To me, the most grievous circumstance is the maltreatment of the people in Gaza, who are literally starving and have no hope at this time," Carter told the Haaretz newspaper in an interview published on Sunday.
"They're being treated like savages. The alleviation of their plight to some means I think would be the most important (thing) the Israeli PM could do."
Israel's war on Gaza killed nearly 1,400 Palestinians, mainly civilians, and wounded 5,450 others.
Among the dead were 437 children, 110 women, 123 elderly men, 14 medics and four journalists.
The wounded include 1,890 children and 200 people in serious condition.
The war also left tens of thousands of houses destroyed, while their residents remained homeless.
Israel, which wants to crush any Palestinian liberation movement, responded to Hamas's win in the elections with sanctions, and almost completely blockaded the impoverished coastal strip after Hamas seized power in 2007, although a ‘lighter’ siege had already existed before.
Human rights groups, both international and Israeli, slammed Israel’s siege of Gaza, branding it “collective punishment.”
A group of international lawyers and human rights activists had also accused Israel of committing “genocide” through its crippling blockade of the Strip.
Gaza is still considered under Israeli occupation as Israel controls air, sea and land access to the Strip.
The Rafah crossing with Egypt, Gaza's sole border crossing that bypasses Israel, rarely opens as Egypt is under immense US and Israeli pressure to keep the crossing shut.
Fatah has little administrative say in the Israeli-occupied West Bank, and has no power in Arab east Jerusalem, both of which were illegally occupied by Israel in 1967.
Israel also currently occupies the Lebanese Shabaa Farms and the Syrian Golan Heights

Mubarak: No other choice for Israel but two-states


Egyptian President insists solving Palestinian question is key to resolving other conflicts in region.
CAIRO - Egyptian President Hosni Mubarak said Israel was bound to agree to a two-state solution in the Middle East because there is "no other choice," during a television interview to air later on Wednesday.
"Israel will agree to a two-state solution because it has no other choice," he told Egyptian television in an interview, trails for which were broadcast ahead of the programme.
"I told (hardline Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin) Netanyahu there is no choice, the two-state solution is bound to happen," he said, adding that solving the Palestinian question was key to resolving other conflicts in the region.
"Any peace process for the Palestinian question means peace and stability for the entire region," he said.
Netanyahu refuses to publicly embrace the principle of a Palestinian state.
Over the past few months tensions between the United States and its staunchest ally have risen to levels not seen in 20 years as Washington presses Netanyahu to publicly back the principle of a Palestinian state and freeze all settlement activity on Palestinian occupied land occupied by Israel since 1967.
In a speech in Cairo last week, Obama repeated his call for a complete halt to Israeli settlements and said the creation of a Palestinian state was the only solution to the conflict

Cost-Effectiveness and Retention are Big Factors

New research suggests that email marketing in the US will reach $2 billion by 2014. This isn't exactly in line with research from JupiterRearch earlier this year, which suggested $2.1 billion in 2012, but it's looking good for the industry nonetheless. What are your thoughts on the future of email marketing? Give us your take. This new research comes from Forrester Research, who says that falling CPMs (cost per thousands), higher ROI (return on investment) and growing consumer use of social email accounts will all contribute to the use of email by direct marketing professionals. The firm says that in five years consumers will opt-in to receive over 9,000 email marketing messages annually. Forrester's research cites the following as key growth areas for shaping the future of email marketing:
- Retention email — email that recipients have blessed with their permission — will continue to replace paper communications and will make up the largest share of marketing messages. Retention emails will account for more than a one-third of all marketing messages in consumers’ inboxes by 2014, representing increased competition for marketers.- While the bulk of the market will continue to deploy email marketing on a self-service basis, the growing complexity associated with data integration and new tactics to increase relevancy will drive healthy growth in use of email service providers.- Spending on opt-in ad-sponsored or ad-supported newsletters will double over the next five years as traditional print publishers face falling circulation and ad revenue.
iEntry, Inc. which is the parent of WebProNews, has been a leading source of B2B email marketing for ten years.
"iEntry Network clients continue to see great results today. It only makes sense for more dollars to be spent on email since agencies and companies are seeing the value of building rapport with their target audience," says Susan Coppersmith, Director of Sales at iEntry, Inc. "Companies that have the most success within our B2B network opt for more complex email campaigns, which include follow up sponsorships, banners and dedicated email. They understand that they need to invest in their target if they want their target to invest in them."
"Keeping in front of decision makers on a regular basis with information, benefits and features of a product or service is vital in making sales and taking market share," she adds. "As for Social Media and email they are a natural fit. After all email was the first form of Social Media."
Social media has brought an interesting new element into the world of email marketing. This element brings with it both opportunities and challenges. "The use of email in social networks will be one of the biggest challenges for direct marketers," says Forrester Research Vice President and Principal Analyst David Daniels. "Over the next five years, marketers must bridge the gap between social and traditional inboxes with social sharing tools."In an interview for SmallBusinessNewz a few months ago, I discussed the relationship between social media and email marketing with Steve Adams, the VP of Marketing for email marketing firm Campaigner.
"As social media becomes more integrated into the lives of consumers, you will see email marketing services building more types of features and functionality into their offerings, enhancing users’ interactivity and social experiences," Adams said. "It’s likely that you will see the integration of email with other social media communications on the rise – giving subscribers the option to receive email marketing promotions via RSS, updates from Twitter or to their actual email inbox. Many businesses have already been integrating video and podcasts into their email marketing campaigns. It’s an exciting time for small businesses and marketers to reach out to their audiences with a mix of online tools and services at a very low cost."There is no denying that social media-specific marketing has been talked up relentlessly over the past year or two, and it sometimes seems that the emergence of the new strategies that come with it have overshadowed the more established channels like email marketing, but email marketing is clearly still a bread-winner. "Although social media marketing is becoming more and more popular, recent studies are finding that people still like and want to receive emails," explained Adams. "For example a study by Epsilon and ROI Research entitled 'Beyond the Click: The Indirect Value of Email' found that 84 percent of recipients liked receiving email from companies with whom they’ve subscribed to their e-newsletters. Another stat to note is from an Aberdeen report which states that email marketing is ranked the number one recessionary marketing tool. Although there are other marketing techniques gaining popularity, email marketing is here to stay, especially for small businesses." (emphasis added)In April, Ball State University, the Email Marketer's Club, and ExactTarget shared results of another study, which found that only 13% of email marketers were integrating social media into their campaigns, though 46% of them intended to do so this year. This is just a testament to how the need for complimentary campaigns among different channels exists to those looking to reach the largest amount of potential customers, and highlights the evolution of online marketing in general. If you want another testament to how effective an email marketing campaign can be, look at this Hitwise data showing how Circuitcity.com jumped following a big campaign:
FOR MORE DETAILS O THE TOPIC VISIST:
http://www.webpronews.com/topnews/2009/06/15/email-marketing-is-going-to-keep-growing
http://www.cafepress.com/kershah
The lifelong process of caregiving is the ultimate link between caregivers of all ages. You and I are not just in a phase we will outgrow. This is life—birth, death, and everything in between...The care continuum is the cycle of life turning full circle in each of our lives. And what we learn when we spoon-feed our babies will echo in our ears as we feed our parents. The point is not to be done. The point is to be ready to do again.
- Paula C. Lowe

The Three Magic Questions

On this finally glorious spring day, I had lunch in the park with Adam Bucko, co-founder of the Reciprocity Foundation, a five-year-old New York City-based organization that helps homeless youth heal from trauma, gain skills, and develop full-fledged careers. The group especially helps kids who want to do creative/media work like fashion, design, writing, and PR--plus many of them want to make a difference by entering arenas like green business and socially conscious entrepreneurship.
And there's a holistic element involved--the org does its best to address mind, body, and spirit with things like regular yoga classes. In this vein, they ask the approximately 300 students they work with a year three questions. This is from Adam (pictured above standing in the middle):
"We use these questions to help homeless youth get in touch with their purpose in life. I developed these questions based on my own journey and practice of coming to my authentic self and my mission in the world (the second question was inspired by Andrew Harvey's sacred activism). I discovered that when we work with these questions (not so much trying to answer them but to live them) something very authentic awakens in our students and their lives change. They move from wanting to have a career to discovering their true vocation."
These are fantastic queries for just about anyone on the planet, especially those of us whose life compass often feels broken. Here they are:
(1) What makes you truly alive?
(2) What breaks your heart?

(3) Who inspires you and why?

Feel free to share your answers in the comments box below. To learn more about and or support Reciprocity Foundation--their goal is to be helping homeless youth in cities throughout the country--go to their website, here: www.reciprocityfoundation.org

How to Find Personal Success Every Day


Members share their pride in even the "smallest" moments of everyday triumph and victory.
document.write(curPage.Body);
One day in our forums, Beliefnet member deep within shared this invitation: "I used to say "You did that!" to my youngest when he was a toddler - meaning, 'Wow!' or 'Check it out!' I realized how great it would be if every time I finished the laundry or just stayed patient all day at work, someone would say, 'Wow, you did that!' Let's think of the little victories, and celebrate them together. Because so often, it's hard for those that aren't in our skin to know that the 'little' tasks are hard won for many of us." It's true - every day, we accomplish something. Reminding ourselves, "I did that!" is one way to let the small "ups" help us get through the big "downs." From getting the laundry done to hosting a party, here are some of the daily triumphs our readers shared.
Begin your journey toward personal success