من واشنطن

The District of Columbia sends its warmest regards. I'm currently blogging from the eighth floor of Mitchell Hall at the George Washington University, a scant three blocks from the White House in the heart of Foggy Bottom and my home for the next couple of months.

The NCUSAR program is well underway. The National Council's director, Dr. John Duke Anthony, really broke the human mold. An Arabist in the purest (and most dignified) sense of the term, he's done it all, seen it all, and probably met them all too ("So I said to this room of generals, the junior of which had recently attained the rank of three-star..."). Not to mention he's got a Virginian accent to rival Robert E. Lee, a brow that preaches fire and brimstone, and the quirkiest, most eloquent, most old man bag-o-phrases and rhetorical constructions the likes of William F. Buckley five times over. Dr. Anthony will either present seminars himself or host guest speakers (as well as be an all-around badass) for the NCUSAR interns two nights a week. In addition, we'll have some kind of field trip every Wednesday afternoon. Next week is lunch at the Saudi Royal Embassy. Eat my shorts, captain.

I'm thrilled to report that the office work portion of my internship for the summer will be at the Washington bureau of Al Jazeera -- Arabic, not English (note the link).*

Al Jazeera, in many Americans' minds, is synonymous with terrorist propaganda and anti-Americanism in the Arab world. Though the station was praised in the US after its 1996 founding for giving voice to a whole host of opinions and challenging the lack of regional democracy, that attitude shifted post-9/11 when politicians and commentators focused on Al Jazeera's broadcasting Osama bin Laden's tapes (a new one was released just a few hours ago) and graphic footage from Iraq, Palestine, etc.

This is obviously a gross misunderstanding/over-simplification of the station -- obviously, or I wouldn't be working there -- that prides itself on the slogan "the opinion, and the other opinion." If you're interested more about Al Jazeera's role as really the first independent, pan-Arab news channel, and about its complex relationship to the United States (particularly during the invasion of Iraq), check the following.

The documentary Control Room comes as recommendation number one. The film follows several personalities at the station's Doha headquarters and their interactions with U.S. military liaisons, touching on issues of media bias, Arab public opinion, and the sanitation of televised war (as Al Jazeera English programmer Riz Khan described, "other channels show the missiles being fired; we show them landing"). You can watch it online in its entirety.

Next, listen to "The al-Jazeera Effect" on Open Source with Christopher Lydon. The program poses a great question: "if al-Jazeera is a good measure of how the Arab world talks to itself — about itself and about us — shouldn’t we be listening? Very carefully?" This episode features a few names you might recognize from this blog, including Marc Lynch (Abu Aardvark), As'ad AbuKhalil (the Angry Arab), and Abderrahim Foukara, who happens to be my main contact as Washington bureau chief at the station.

And speaking of Marc, read Voices of the New Arab Public: Iraq, al-Jazeera, and Middle East Politics Today [and for those strapped for time, this interview with Mother Jones]. His blog (linked above) also closely follows trends in the Arab press.




* I should note that Al Jazeera was not my original placement. NCUSAR first had me working at the PLO (yes, Palestinian Liberation Organization) Mission in Washington. However, a new ambassador is arriving this summer with his own staff of Fatah lackeys elbowing me out of a desk. While it would have been revolutionarily cool, Al Jazeera is equally exciting.