Nemat Sadat is emerging expert on Afghanistan and Climate Change

[OP-ED] Echoes of past in Ground Zero mosque controversy

2010-08-20T13:58:00.000-07:00

Seems like the Ground Zero mosque story is not going away anytime soon. But what is the uproar against building a 13-story, $100 million Islamic community center really about? Are we punishing Muslims because they are from the same faith as the September 11th hijackers? The opponents have a point about revering the victims of the World Trade Center. But let's also realize that dozens of Muslims were killed in the September 11th attacks and worldwide Muslims constitute the largest number of victims of terrorism. How would not building a mosque at Ground Zero defeat terrorism or cause Al Qaeda and their affiliates to fail? It won't.

The dogmatic rhetoric, linking of a Muslim-owned establishment to a national security debate, reminds me of the 2006 DP World (DPW) controversy, in which a state owned Emirati company wanted to manage six major US ports. Back then, President Bush, like Mayor Bloomberg today in the Ground Zero deal, argued vigorously in favor of the DPW deal. Guess Bush and Bloomberg, both Harvard Business School alums learned a thing or two about the harmful effects caused by an intolerant business climate.

I'm not a Harvard MBA, but I do know enough about business to tell you that in the world of global commerce, there is no tolerance for religious preference or putting up artificial barriers to capital flows. In the end of the day, it is markets and public relations that determines the winners and losers. The anti-Arab, anti-Muslim sentiment has been bad publicity for the US and has sent a cascading chilling effect to our allied partners and their capitalist class.

Coincidentally, DPW deal was one of the few times I actually agreed with Bush. Despite the backlash by large swaths of the US public, I was even more shocked when US Congress intervened with legislation against the DPW deal.

Four years later, now living in Manhattan, I still don't get what all the anti-Muslim fuss is all about. As a Muslim-born American, I am asking myself are we really at war with terrorism or Islam? Shouldn't we be empowering bougie Muslims anyways-so they can be integrated into our social fabric?

Having pro-American Muslims as revered role models in the Islamic world is better for all of us than having rogue figures who praise Al Qaeda and their dangerous affiliates. While the enemy despises the American way of life, there is no difference in ideology between Muslim bourgeoisie or entrepreneurs and those from other faiths-essentially all share the same goal to accumulate wealth, participate in free market enterprise, and live the good life. What makes me happy about this controversy is that no one is turning their backs on the victims of 9/11.

That brings me back to the Islamic community center. What makes rejecting the Ground Zero mosque fair? Imam Feisal Abdul Rauf's project which calls for an auditorium for a performing arts center, a library, a swimming pool, among other tony amenities sounds like, not an insular madrassa, the shaping of a modern cultural institution. To restrict religious freedom and privilege only a monolithic Judeo-Christian society is not only unfair but goes against the every strands of American exceptionalism.

Muslim American immigrants have been trying to assimilate into public life for a very long time. September 11th was a game changer. The American Muslim community has become one of the pantheons of scapegoats: they have endured an enormous amount of pressure, constantly being questioned about their patronage or justifying their loyalty as citizens.

America has always been a land of religious liberty. And New York is the idiosyncratic land, where rich cultural and religious diversity makes us stand apart from the rest of the world. The biggest losers when the Ground Zero mosque is built will actually be the terrorist enemy who's propaganda machine will go in idle mode. So let's show our patriotism, take pride in the American tradition of inclusion by welcoming the Cordoba House into the fabric of the city's future.

Does violence against women in Afghanistan reframe the war?

2010-08-10T01:03:00.000-07:00

A Time cover forces us to confront difficult questions

The controversial Time magazine cover featuring a badly disfigured 18-year-old Afghan woman, Bibi Aisha, raises questions about using visual images to arouse emotions and shore up support for an increasingly unpopular war in Afghanistan.

Despite the shock value and the odd coincidence of appearing immediately after Wikileaks exposed the Afghan war documents, I am delighted that Time magazine is broadening the discussion from the all-too-common "surge or withdrawal" frame to posing an expansive question with "What happens when we leave Afghanistan?"

Now, thanks to Time magazine (and Wikileaks), we have more wiggle room in the Afghanistan debate. So I'd like to add to the discussion. Is Bibi Aisha a saint or sinful for her actions?

Adela Gondek, Columbia University Professor who teaches ethics courses at the School of International and Public Affairs, says, "It would be nice if our children, parents, spouses, and even enemies never did anything that was embarrassing or shameful to us. People will tend to think more about how things seem in the eyes of others, than about how things really are."

Making value judgments also depends on your cultural lens and the country you are acculturated in. In a collective society, like Afghanistan, it is difficult to maintain one's honor given that a close relative or kin who acts in a way that makes one "looks bad" can actually brings shame for the entire clan. In Afghanistan, women are considered a source of pride and one of the pillars in the core values of zan (women), zar (wealth), and zamin (property)-all of which have the power to incite blood feuds. While traditional Afghan customs elevate women's value and status in society, the Taliban have convoluted tribal customs with their austere brand of Islam-creating a culture of impunity and a violent cocktail for those they punish.

But who is virtuous and who has committed vice is often difficult to judge. Was Aisha's husband who cut off Aisha's ears and nose, upon the Taliban commander's order, the one who acted morally by punishing his wife for dishonor? Or was Aisha's initial escape from her abusive in-laws, despite "violating" the Pashtunwali tribal code, acting justly by defending her universal human rights?

These ethical questions will need time for reflection. What is clear is that the radical Taliban worldview poses a moral conundrum for the international community that is united under shared values of freedom and equality. The Taliban resents these values and has no tolerance for secular laws.

But for Bibi Aisha, a victim of barbarism, there is light at the end of the tunnel. This past weekend, thanks to the Grossman Burn Foundation, Aisha arrived in Los Angeles to undergo reconstructive surgery. While the global conflict between modernity, tradition, and the uncivilized continues to be waged in Afghanistan, Aisha's will to survive, after being disfigured and abandoned for death, has resulted in a second chance to live an honorable life.

With thousands of Afghan already victims of domestic abuse and millions vulnerable to a similar fate, we have no choice but to empower Afghan civil society and stabilize the region before any retreat from Afghanistan is possible.

Lithium Mining as Afghanistan's Savior? Think Again

2010-06-17T00:08:00.000-07:00

Ever since The New York Times unraveled the old story about Afghanistan's trillion dollar mineral deposits, major publications and their pundits have spun the news release in every direction.

What is clear is the U.S. government is trying desperately to reinvent Afghanistan to shore up support for the war effort. I'm doubtful, though, if transforming the "Graveyard of Empires" into the "Saudi Arabia of lithium" is going to help rebrand Afghanistan. Comparing Afghanistan to the oil-rich kingdom with an atrocious human rights record and the land where most of the 9/11 hijackers and Osama bin Laden's family resides is probably not going to lift Afghanistan's image.

Afghanistan cannot and does not need to be compared to Saudi Arabia, South Korea, or Switzerland to become popular in the collective imagination. Afghanistan is Afghanistan-it has its own unique qualities than can be cultivated. Take for example, its unparalleled hospitality, an authentic gourmet cuisine, majestic scenery, and a fusion of Eurasian cultures-something that even glamorous Dubai cannot boast.

As a native Afghan who is aware about his ancestral homeland's glorious past, I have a better idea. Why not reinvigorate the entrepreneurial spirit by re-inventing the Silk Road superhighway?

From the 10th century up until the time European maritime powers took to the seas and discovered the New World, Afghanistan was the crossroads of the Old World. Ancient Afghanistan was a cosmopolitan hub of information exchange and the focal point of an expansive trade network that criss-crossed through the heart of the continent. Capitalizing on Afghanistan's geostrategic location to re-create what once previously existed makes better sense to me than playing out the movie Avatar in real life.

No minerals can be extracted from Afghanistan's hard-to-reach barren mountains when you have insurgents capable of disrupting production and trade. Neither can the natural resources enrich the lives of the average Afghan when you have a culture of bribery. What Afghanistan needs is for young leaders of the next generation to be empowered to transform the land into an incubator for knowledge transfer and engine of regional trade. A majority coalition based on "merchants" and a "creative class" is more likely to honor loyalty to nation.

Entrepreneurship is a cross-cross cultural phenomenon. In his new book, "The Rational Optimist," Matt Ridley discusses how entrepreneurship is innate to human nature. The idea of selling Afghan entrepreneurship is more realistic today than envisioning a "mining" promised land.

Afghanistan needs a change in perception, but envisioning a "mining" promised land where Afghanistan is imagined as the Shangri-La is not believable when the country is plagued with deadly violence and ranks second to poorest, according to the UN human development index.

There's a famous Dari proverb that says "drop by drop makes a river." So let's take baby steps for quantum leaps to happen.

Let's start out by replacing the "made in Afghanistan" brand to no longer mean export of opium, refugees, and terrorism. Before Afghanistan erupted into turmoil more than three decades ago, it was self-sufficient agrarian society. So let's start by buying Afghan-made pomegranates, saffron, and world-class rugs-all of which it already produces and doesn't require massive drilling. And let's create a surge towards Afghanistan's human capital-a sure bet you can make to rid the land of corruption, extremism, and poverty. Once a functioning political class is established then we can talk about bidding mining contracts and extracting Afghanistan's vast mineral wealth.

Will Arab Miss USA rebrand America and its Muslims?

2010-05-18T10:22:00.000-07:00

Since last Sunday night’s MISS USA crowning of 24-year old Rima Fikah, Arab-American Muslim of Lebanese origin, the controversy over her cultural heritage and possible terrorist links is surging as the national talk of the town. The Atlantic online has even dedicated an “Outrage by Miss Arab USA” blog: http://www.theatlantic.com/

I’m not Arab-American (I’m Afghan born) but as a Muslim immigrant myself, I am excited about the 2010 MISS USA. While I may not go out and aspire to compete for Mister USA or Mister Universe—if there one exists—Miss Fikah gives people originally from my part of the world—a desperately needed make-over from all the ugly clichés. Beyond the sensational hype and visual stimulation of seeing a pretty Muslim woman in a bikini, Miss USA just might also be a boon for the economy.

It's no secret that during the Bush Administration, the US failed miserably to rebrand America especially in the eyes of the 1.3 billion Muslims worldwide, many who still perceive the US as fighting a War against Islam. While anti-Americanism is still fixated on US foreign policy mishaps in the Middle East, the rise of rock-star President Barack Obama, who hails the “Hussein” middle name, lived in the most populous Muslim country, and hails from a patrilineal Muslim ancestry, has softened the widespread American hatred that existed during the Bush years.

Perhaps when Advertising Age announced Obama in October 2008 as their “national brand” choice of the marketer of the year they were on to something. It turns out the in first year as President, Barack Obama boosted the value of “Brand America” (the value of U.S. goods, services, and people, and even the country’s landscape) by just over $2 trillion, according to the National Brand Index.

If perception becomes reality, then it doesn’t take a rocket scientist or billionaire entrepreneur to estimate the unique selling power and novelty of having a very beautiful Muslim immigrant crowned Miss USA—as an enticing PR campaign to entice “brand America” on the global market. It’s hard to know if this is exactly what Donald Trump and other judges had in mind when they made their selections. But what is certain is that choosing the native “Phoenician” cosmopolite, over the nativist Oklahoma contestant, Morgan Elizabeth Woolard, who represents American isolationism with her endorsement of Arizona’s insular immigration laws, definitely was a triumph for globalization.

Miss Fikah is an example of why America should also be judged for its best—and not always for its worst. Fikah, a resident of Michigan, which has the worst US unemployment rate, may just be the best spokesperson to publicize her home state on the international stage. Michigan, coincidently also has the largest concentration of Arab-Americans, with approximately half a million people, according to Zogby International polls.

Beyond what Miss USA will do for American capital investments, Miss USA’s win is also symbolically meaningful for the millions of Muslim Americans who have seen their community denigrated in the post 9/11 “fear mongering” headlines or used as scapegoats of “smear” during election cycles.

After nearly a decade of relentless Muslim bashing, I’m excited that the national media spotlight recognizes Muslim Americans not with suspicion or a dangerous threat to national security but as an appealing and attractive icon—even being depicted as chic objects of sexual desire is positive step in the right direction. In the eyes of the larger American population, Muslims maybe for once viewed through a glamorous kaleidoscope--one that eventually paves the way for greater acceptance of Muslims into all aspect of public life. That’s certainly a win-win deal for American interests and its evolving Muslim community.

Biography Tag Line: Nemat Sadat is a candidate for the master’s degree in Negotiation & Conflict Resolution at Columbia University. He currently blogs for OhMyGov.com. Sadat also has a master's degree in Journalism from Harvard University.

Harvard commencement speech 2010

2010-04-20T18:07:00.001-07:00

An Immigrant’s Search for Community
by Nemat Sadat

Dear fellow alums:

No words can describe how happy I became when I moved to Cambridge to pursue my master’s degree in Journalism in 2008. I was ecstatic to study within the gates of Harvard Yard, a place that has nurtured secular ideas, has inspired many Novelists, and has revolutionized science. And to live in the state of Massachusetts which has been a pioneer in promoting freedom and liberty was a source of pride for me.

I come to you from Orange County, California by way of Kabul, Afghanistan. My homeland, Afghanistan, is a nation where for more than two decades, first under Soviet occupation and then under the repressive Taliban regime, the people’s voices were sanctioned and silenced. But today, we read a different story: about malnourished Afghan girls going to school despite the threats of acid-spraying attacks and bomb blasts. I am moved when I see the hunger for education and the struggle to fight against all odds.

Today, I live with a deep sense of survivor’s guilt; having the privilege to escape war and poverty while leaving my fellow country people behind. But I have no regrets though. Call me naïve and idealistic, but I came to Harvard because I hope to change the perception of my homeland and to help Afghanistan rise above the ashes.

When I arrived at Harvard I realized how lucky I am to live and study in an inclusive and tolerant community. I am forever grateful to the exceptional instructors who showed me how to emerge as a professional writer and to all my fellow classmates who have enriched my life. When I ran for President of Harvard Extension Student Association last year, I realized the meaning of friendship and solidarity. While I did not win, I still earned the opportunity to meet a large number of our students and learned about who we are as a holistic community. What I found out is that students attending Harvard Extension School are life-long learners with a bold spirit and eager to evolve as the critical thinkers and problem solvers of tomorrow. We are dynamic individuals and in our own way rekindling the American Dream by investing in the promise of academia.

But beyond the idyllic life at Harvard, there is an uncomfortable story about one-sixth of humankind trapped in abject poverty. The disastrous earthquakes in Haiti last January are a reminder of the silent devastation occurring elsewhere.
World leaders have been telling us that humanity is at peril—that we face multiple risks from climate change, a burgeoning world population, and the inability for the global economy to absorb the hundreds of millions of laborers entering the workforce each year.

A generation ago, a high school diploma ensured a middle-class life in America. But today even an advanced degree from Harvard neither guarantees job security nor a decent quality of life. This is why our generation will have to pioneer new ways to shore up our economy, and to take the initiative to do so in a more humane and sustainable manner.

As we go out into the workforce or start our own enterprise, we will do so in an increasingly globalized world. Whether we pursue a career in public service, express ourselves through the arts, or lead the corporations of tomorrow, our generation will be put to the test to protect our “unalienable rights” of life, liberty, and pursuit of happiness in an age of market instability and trans-national terrorist movements.

My journey to speak in front of you today began as a child when I used to stutter and was unable to complete a sentence without mumbling. I was often teased and got frustrated when I was not understood. Growing up I prayed that one day I would be able to communicate clearly and thoughtfully. So speaking to all of you today is also a personal victory for me. Thank you for making my wish my come true.

Congratulations to the Class of 2010. I am proud to be celebrating this special day with you and hope that we will continue our effort to make a better world. Blessings to all of you in the road ahead!

Estimated Time: 5 minutes

2009-12-11T17:36:00.000-08:00

Climate Change: Small Islands, Rising Seas from the United Nations Chronicle.

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article:http://www.un.org/wcm/content/site/chronicle/cache/bypass/lang/en/home/archive/Issues2009/pid/5069?ctnscroll_articleContainerList=1_0&ctnlistpagination_articleContainerList=true

“You know that with a sea-level rise of over 1.5 metres, hundreds of millions of people would be dead. They would simply be wiped out,” President Mohamed Nasheed of the Republic of Maldives told the UN Chronicle just two days after he addressed other world leaders at the 2009 UN General Assembly Summit on Climate Change.

The threat posed by rising sea levels has been the centrepiece of climate change negotiations, the main issue emphasized by Small Island Developing States, also known as the SIDS.

With less than a month to go until the December 2009 United Nations Climate Change Conference in Copenhagen, many who regard global warming as some vague phenomenon are perhaps beginning to wonder how their lives might be affected down the road. But there is no need to look into the future to see that SIDS are already threatened by escalating tides, cyclones, flooding, damaged crops, increased disease, the inundation of coastal areas and the loss of freshwater supplies. SIDS are indeed on the “front lines” of climate change. The post-industrial age of mass fossil fuel consumption has dramatically accelerated the amount of carbon dioxide (CO2) to dangerous levels, damaging the environment and infrastructure of many SIDS and other low-lying regions.

The poorer countries flanked by large bodies of water—who have contributed the least to global warming, including rapid sea-level rise—now find themselves at the precarious mercy of the historical polluters. Developed neighbours in the global North are losing their credibility very quickly, Ambassador Ronny Jumeau, Permanent Representative of the Seychelles to the United Nations told the UN Chronicle. “Let’s say my neighbour flooded my house entirely on his own, while I didn’t contribute. Yet, I have to now borrow money from him, then pay him interest for the rest of my life, in order to clean the mess in my house that he is responsible for. This is dishonest.”

The Seeds of an Alliance
At the United Nations, 43 of the world’s smallest island and low-lying coastal countries, representing the Member States most susceptible to change in climate, forged a coalition called the Alliance of Small Island States (AOSIS). While AOSIS represents more than one quarter of the world’s countries, together they account for less than one per cent of global carbon emissions. Once the former President of the Republic of Maldives, Maumoon Abdul Gayoom, gave a dramatic speech referred to as the “Death of a Nation” at the Commonwealth Heads of Government Meeting and at the UN General Assembly in October 1987, the idea of a bloc of island nations gained momentum. Three years later, the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) published its first assessment on climate change coinciding with the 1990 Second World Climate Conference in Geneva, and SIDS was born. Ambassadors of small island States refer to President Gayoom as the “brainchild” of their coalition. Twenty two years later, in the UN General Assembly Hall, President Nasheed told world leaders that they must “discard the habits that have led to 20 years of complacency and broken promises on climate change,” made in 1990.

Negotiating Positions vs. Interests
At a press conference at UN Headquarters in July 2009, Ambassador Desama Williams, Permanent Representative of Grenada to the United Nations and the current chairperson of AOSIS, stressed the need to reduce the level of temperature increases to a figure less than 1.5° Celsius, both as short and medium targets. She said, “Without adequate global commitments to make deep cuts to temperature increases caused by greenhouse gas emissions, small islands would be the first to be washed away into the sea.”

To prevent islands from sinking into the ocean, each Member State should put aside the stand-off surrounding the thorny adaptation and mitigation issues and focus on their collective global interest. Thus far, positional arguments, a term in negotiations referring to arguing over precise numbers, have brought little success. What’s needed now to overcome the political challenges is an enduring and practical solution that all Member States can rally behind—a realistic and substantive climate policy that ensures economic growth and sustainable development in all regions of the world.

But how can tiny islands like Comoros or Palau carry enough bargaining chips to convince the international community to make this issue a call to action? The cruel irony, according to Ambassador Jumeau, is that SIDS find themselves in a tough bind if they talk any louder than they do: “We can’t go on a crusade around the world. The more noise we make, the more we scare away investors and tourists and destroy our own livelihood,” the Ambassador said.

While these countries face limitations on how much they can blame the industrialized North, Ambassador Jumeau pointed out that “the climate change debate doesn’t happen in a vacuum. We maintain good relations with our former colonial masters, France and the United Kingdom, so we cannot just come out and bash them tomorrow. And we don’t have natural allies in the South either; even that requires fierce negotiations. So what you have is a group of increasingly frustrated States.”

The Beacons of the World
But while frustration may be prevalent among SIDS, they have been crucial drivers in pushing climate change on to the United Nations agenda and instrumental in reaching international agreements in the past. One example is the role Papua New Guinea played by bringing the Reduced Emissions from Deforestation and Degradation (REDD) into discussions during the December 2007 UN Climate Change Conference in Bali, Indonesia. Essentially, the REDD forests-for-carbon credits initiative is meant to reduce emissions in developing countries by funding conservation, reforestation and poverty reduction while fighting climate change.

Professor Graciela Chichilnisky of Columbia University, who was involved in the drafting of the Kyoto Protocol told the UN Chronicle, “While Papua New Guinea is a very tiny nation, it essentially pulled the United States into the Kyoto process with its intervention and accepted reforestation in exchange for carbon credits”. On the last day of the Bali conference, Kevin Conrad, a member of the Papua New Guinea delegation, responded after Paula Dobriansky, a U.S. delegate, noted any unwillingness by the U.S. to support the Bali Road Map. (The Map charts the course for a new negotiating process designed to tackle climate change, with the aim of completing this by 2009.) Mr Conrad interjected, “There is an old saying: if you are not willing to lead, leave it to the rest of us. Please get out of our way.” The room flooded with applause and several minutes later, Ms Dobriansky reversed the position of the U.S.

As a unified voice backed by the UN system, AOSIS is exemplary in the way it wields clout to reverberate its position and the way it strategizes on climate policy. Professor Chichilnisky explained the crucial role AOSIS plays in drafting climate policy. “Any agreement that the island States accept would be difficult for the G-77 (group of developing countries) to reject. So in that sense they have the decision-making power.” In an interview with the UN Chronicle, Ambassador Ahmed Khaleel, the Permanent Representative of Maldives to the United Nations said: “The success of AOSIS is that we share a common passion and have been strict about speaking with one voice and sticking with one voice. We don’t give in on key principles of climate change.”

The Global Security Element
Speaking to the UN Chronicle, President Nasheed warned that the conflict over climate change could escalate, causing disruption to many parts of the world. “Countries are now under threat because of climate change and because of the stress climate change has on resources. It’s not just an environmental issue; it’s now about a global security issue.”

President Nasheed spoke about the global security element as a consequence of a significant milestone that a regional group of small island developing States from the Pacific reached last June when the General Assembly passed a resolution recognizing the possible security implications of climate change. While the resolution, co-sponsored by all AOSIS members, is non-binding, it does represent a symbolic victory to establish moral weight and move climate change onto the agenda for the more powerful UN Security Council.

In an interview with the UN Chronicle, Caleb Christopher, legal advisor to the Permanent Mission of the Republic of the Marshall Islands to the United Nations, said his country’s position is that climate change is a threat to national security and global stability. The argument is that, essentially, if you lose one country that is a member of the United Nations, that in and of itself poses a serious international issue. Mr Christopher contended that “based on the language of Article 1 of the UN Charter, there isn’t much of a distinction between a military army invading and sea-level rise sinking an island into extinction.” The relevance of climate change as a security matter is also important in how resources will be focused to reduce vulnerability to climate change.

Imminent Danger: Point of No Return
With climate change emerging as a security issue, one thing is certain, that the international community in 2009 has reached a global consensus: the scientific argument about whether global warming is real, is over. “With the effects of climate change real and immediate, those with dissenting views about the implications of global warming now have their head stuck in the sand,” Raymond Wolfe, the Permanent Representative of Jamaica to the United Nations told the  UN Chronicle. “For the Caribbean region, hurricanes present a clear and present danger; they are occurring more intensely and at alarming levels.” In fact, the cost of Hurricane Ivan which struck the Caribbean Island of Grenada destroyed 90 per cent of built infrastructure—nearly twice the value of the country’s annual gross domestic product (GDP). In addition to hurricanes, Ambassador Wolfe said, “We’ve also been hit by a triple tsunami—a food, energy, and financial crisis—all of which have been exacerbated by climate change.”

The Boomerang Economy
The economy of the Maldives has been greatly affected by the 2004 tsunami caused by the Indian Ocean earthquake; the environmental refugee crisis is the latest battle in their fight to prevent extinction. The tsunami that took a devastating toll of human life in other countries in the Indian Ocean luckily spared the inhabitants of the Maldives due to the country’s lack of a continental shelf, which prevented the high-speed build-up of waves crashing intensely onto its shores as it did in neighbouring India, Sri Lanka and elsewhere. Ambassador Khaleel said, “While human toll of the tsunami resulted in 120 people dead, economically, Maldives was hardest hit. We lost six seaports and our main source of freshwater. Over 68 per cent of our GDP was wiped out within two minutes.”

The lasting effects of the tsunami are an indication of how damaging rising sea levels actually are. After four years of recovering from the tsunami, evacuating people from sinking islands and saddled with a high debt to income, Maldives experienced another round of assault when the food crisis hit two years later, followed by the global financial crisis. Yet, despite all these setbacks, Maldives has been adapting strict environmental codes and is going green. President Nasheed told the UN Chronicle, “We are investing money in capturing carbon with a bio-charge project and putting more money into renewable energy plants—wind mills and solar panels—that we can harness.” Explaining how more than 30 per cent of global carbon emissions come directly from buildings, President Nasheed said, “We have been enforcing strict building codes that are reducing energy and increasing efficiency. In a sense we will develop a survival kit that will also achieve our objectives.”

The global financial crisis may further affect the resilience of small islands. In the first quarter of 2009, high-end tourism in Maldives plunged 11 per cent, according to Ambassador Khaleel. But not all well-heeled tourists will cease to visit their favourite holiday spots. Climate change will stop tourists from visiting long before any enduring financial crisis. “Every crisis has a silver lining though,” Ambassador Khaleel said, adding “time is something we cannot afford. We need things to be done as quickly as possible. For us, it means do-or-die.” Even with so many issues to grapple with, an economy so heavily reliant on tourism, Maldives is doing a variety of things to become the first carbon-neutral country by 2020. President Nasheed said, “There is no reason why no other country cannot do the same. We understand the costs involved to replace existing energy. We want to focus on what you should do, not what we shouldn’t.”

Mitigating Human Issues
The humanitarian issues facing the people of small island States who are internally displaced or evacuating their island are being ignored by the international community, according to Ambassador Khaleel. Even with the threat of mass migration and litigation against major greenhouse polluters, the problem of climate change refugees has been left unresolved. Ambassador Khaleel observed that a “lack of fresh sources of water is a major issue that is creating tensions and causing refugees.” Under international law, people displaced by climate change are not recognized as a group with defined rights or as a group in need of special protection. They do not fall within the definition of the 1951 Refugee Convention and therefore lack the same legal rights.

After intense lobbying by Maldives, small islands achieved a breakthrough on human rights in March 2008, when the UN Human Rights Council passed a resolution that climate change “poses an immediate and far-reaching threat to people and communities around the world.”

“The message is that hope is not lost,” said Mr Christopher, as he explained how the UN High Commissioner for Refugees issued a report to the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC) last May about the statelessness of populations on sinking islands. While climate change refugees may not have refugee rights, they are recognized under Article 1 of the 1954 Convention relating to the Status of Stateless Persons, which defines a stateless person as: “A person who is not considered a national by any State under the operation of its law. Should a State cease to exist, citizenship of that State would cease, as there would no longer be a State of which a person could be a national.” The question is then the extent to which climate change could affect statehood.

The Diplomatic Confrontation
Back in New York, negotiators of SIDS who are increasingly looking to the West to take the lead are realizing that the focus of the developed world is primarily on China and India. Like the powerhouses in the East, Brazil is the third largest emitter in the developing world, and it has similar concerns as China and India regarding climate change negotiations. Speaking to the UN Chronicle, Paulo Chiarielli, First Secretary at the Permanent Mission of Brazil to the United Nations said, “Brazil has mitigated climate change by investing heavily in renewable sources of energy, such as ethanol. We can provide an example to other countries on how to build a low-carbon economy. But, in order for developing countries to get there, financial and technological support from the developed countries is required.” But questions of financial resources and technical support are where the negotiation stalemate is. Singapore is one AOSIS member concerned about the core issues that affect the SIDS. Ambassador Vanu Gopala Menon, the country’s Permanent Representative to the United Nations, told the UN Chronicle, “We believe that the biggest burden should be placed on countries that have polluted the most in the past. In particular, developed countries should help developing States, especially small island States.” The developed countries want firm commitments from developing countries before making any concessions. But Ambassador Menon said, “If you want the developing world to come on board, you have to make financing and technology available. It cannot be just a case of you (the developed countries) developing the technology and sending it to developing countries, expecting them to buy from you and attain the standards you want them to achieve.”

While there has been engagement of the international community on climate change, no one is willing yet to put actual numbers on the table. Mr Christopher said, “Annex I countries[1] don’t want to be nailed without knowing what other countries are doing. This is the major reason why no one is agreeing on the text and what the exact table is going to look like.” According to Mr Christopher, the two rounds of negotiation talks in June 2008 and again in August 2009 in Bonn, Germany, amounted to the narrowing down and streamlining of the 200-plus pages of draft text. There was no quid pro quo. A few thousand square brackets remain as points of contention.

AOSIS believes that Annex 1 countries must not engage in economic opportunism when dealing with climate change. Referring to these countries, Ambassador Wolfe said, “When it suited you, you endlessly polluted the Earth with greenhouse emissions to generate wealth and strengthen your economies, now you need to set the example and take the lead before you demand we take radical cuts.” Ambassador Jumeau said, “Where are these guys coming from? When poor countries come out as the villains it’s truly a sad state of affairs. We just don’t see India and China in the same light. Pollution per capita in both [of these countries] is fairly low. What is the carbon footprint of each Chinese compared to a person in the United States or elsewhere in the North?”

Ambassador Jumeau went further to explain how countries in the North use per capita when it is most convenient for them, especially when figures are stacked up against them. One of the challenges in using per capita figures for small islands is that while they remain the most vulnerable to climate change, many will be graduating to a middle-income country, which means a lot of benefits will cease to exist, making their ability to adapt to climate change all the more daunting. Ambassador Khaleel said, “We are graduating in January 2010, but that doesn’t reduce our vulnerability. It just makes matters worse.”

In an interview with the UN Chronicle, Ambassador Carsten Staur, the Permanent Representative of Denmark to the United Nations said, “Of course, the problem has been created by industrialized countries. Now we are asking everybody to participate in resolving it. We know it’s a tall order. On the other hand, even if there were no further emissions from countries to the Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD), we would still not be able to limit the increase in global temperature to 2° Celsius. So developing countries and emerging economies will have to be part of the solution, with our support, of course.”

But developing countries approach climate change around the principle of “common but differentiated responsibilities”, which informs the UNFCCC and recognizes the differences in the historical contributions of developed and developing countries to global environmental problems. Ambassador Jumeau said, “If you are in a position to do something about climate change, lead by example. People with the means and capacity live in the West,” explaining how it would sound to turn around the developed world’s argument: “Since we are polluting the least, we should do the least,” he said.

The Crux of Globalization
UN Secretary General Ban Ki-moon refers to a time of “multiple crises” where sudden hikes in fuel and food prices, the financial crisis, and the outbreak of flu are exacerbating the ability to safeguard against climate change. But there is nothing inherent in global politics, technology, or the sheer availability of resources on the planet to prevent the social and ecological crises resulting from climate change, according to Jeffrey Sachs in his book Common Wealth. It is, according to Mr Sachs, the barriers in the limited capacity to cooperate on a global level that is preventing a substantive agreement. Mr Sachs writes, “The paradox of a unified global economy and divided global society poses the single greatest threat to the planet because it makes impossible the cooperation needed to address the remaining challenges.”

Climate change is the most evident example of rapid globalization, according to Caleb Christopher. “This is a highly complex issue, probably the most challenging and unique issue of our time. Global cooperation is needed in order to succeed,” he said. UN Secretary General Ban, in his keynote speech to the World Federation of United Nations Associations, stressed that “we have less than ten years to halt the global rise in greenhouse gas emissions if we are to avoid catastrophic consequences for people and the planet.”

Paradise Life after the Meltdown
In the context of the aftermath of the financial crisis and the current global recession, “climate change is now a threat multiplier,” Ambassador Staur told the UN Chronicle, adding that “the cost of changing the ‘business as usual’ to a low-carbon society will require the commitment of all of us. But it will also be an opportunity for a new growth trajectory for the future.”

Small islands have no choice but to commit themselves to an agreement. Many SIDS import 80 to 90 per cent of what they consume, do not have enough land for agricultural self-sufficiency, are even more prone to global shocks, and don’t have the luxury to write themselves a bailout stimulus cheque. Ambassador Jumeau said, “The financial crisis has weakened our resilience and ability to address climate change issues. At this critical juncture of survival, SIDS no longer have the capacity to respond to humanitarian evacuations, reconstruct their economies, and simultaneously deal with new battlegrounds created with sea-level rise.” Mr Christopher explained that, bound by the UN Law of the Sea, rising sea levels would create far greater uncertainties that just islands and nearby coastal States. Many countries would experience a shift in their outer boundaries of the zones of valuable ocean territory, which could induce conflicting claims to ocean resources and rights. Even if SIDS could build sea walls to buttress their islands from escalating tides, they still would not be able to adapt to global carbon emissions forever, before they get swallowed into the sea.

Negotiating for a Survival Kit
AOSIS leaders say that they lack the geopolitical leverage and economic powerhouse that other influential UN Member States bring to the negotiating table. Ambassador Jumeau asked, “What do we have? Yes, we are holiday spots, but if you lose one, there will always be another one to travel to. What else do we have? Tuna. Well that will probably disappear before we do anyway.” This is why AOSIS advocates that the world has a moral obligation to make sure “no island State is left behind.” After negotiations, if the AOSIS proposal is considered, the immediate task will be to limit temperature increase for both short- and medium- term targets to less than 1.5° Celsius; for the long-term, it will be to redesign the system to a sustainable pattern of low-carbon economic growth.

In the meantime, AOSIS countries are reaching the tipping point. “This is the mountain we are climbing. We are not scared. The deal won’t be perfect but the best deal is possible”, said Selwin Hart, First Secretary at the Permanent Mission of Barbados to the United Nations. “But if you listen to SIDS on climate change, you will get the best deal possible. By guaranteeing the existence of small island States, you save the entire global existence.”

Op-Ed: Why Afghanistan is the new post-Cold War Berlin

2009-10-30T14:15:00.000-07:00

Why Afghanistan is the new post-Cold War Berlin From the OhMyGov! Op-Ed page By Nemat Sadat Oct 30 2009, 11:04 AM. Pleas click on link to view website article:

http://ohmygov.com/blogs/general_news/archive/2009/10/30/why-afghanistan-is-the-new-post-cold-war-berlin.aspx

Twenty years ago today, the fall of the Berlin Wall, brought German re-unification, revolutionary marches throughout Eastern Europe, and the Soviet Union's disintegration. While the war of ideas that shattered the Iron Curtain was waged in Europe, Afghans fought the bloody battle against communism and demoralized the Brezhnev doctrine.

The Afghan vs. Soviet proxy war paralyzed Afghanistan with a million dead, millions of displaced refugees, and countless millions disabled. As the Red Army withdrew forces, the U.S. in turn shifted its attention away from Afghanistan. Who would have imagined that sole remaining superpower would return to Afghanistan and find itself bogged down in a long military conflict? Or that this landlocked nation would become the new schwer punkt, the new focal or resistant point of the post-Cold war battle against terrorism - in short, the new Berlin.

When the Berlin Wall fell, many predicted market expansion into former Eastern bloc states, but few would have predicted the nexus of events converging on Afghanistan. The arms race between India and Pakistan resulting in nuclear testing, energy rich Central Asian states proclaiming independence. Osama bin Laden and Al Qaeda network launching terrorist operations in Afghanistan. Iran's drive for nuclear enrichment, India and China's growing influence in Asia. And the re-emergence of a market-oriented Russian Federation. Landlocked Afghanistan, flanked by resource-rich and nuclear-armed neighbors transitioned as the center of gravity.

The anarchy in Afghanistan beginning in the post-Cold War created unmitigated desperation, and soon Afghanistan emerged as the world largest exporter of opium and refugees. In the vacuum of the chaotic fighting between mujahideen warlords, the Taliban rose to power. Sure enough, the Taliban brought security but with no semblance of civilization - no basic rights, no civic institutions, no functioning economy, no freedom of religion, and no recovery from war.

Plain and simple: No front is more important than Afghanistan where the stakes of descent into chaos poses a severe threat to the region and U.S. strategic interests. An Afghanistan or nuclear-armed Pakistan overrun by extremists endangers the entire world. The potential loss in human life and treasures from a nuclear strike is unquantifiable. I'm no economist by any means but I can assure you that nuclear fallout will be more than the $243 billion price tag on Afghanistan since 2001 and more than the $2 trillion cost of the September 11 attacks.

But misguided pundits have been sold on the tactical idea of Afghanistan as not worth the fight. Dismissing the necessary war as a 35-year civil war, or blindly making the Vietnam analogy ignores the facts. The Afghanistan War is the central front in a cross-border and global conflict. It is by no means a local war. How can the foreign intervention and militarization of Afghanistan during the Cold War, the rise of Islamic extremism that rose out of the ashes of the Afghan-Soviet War, and the 9/11 terrorist planning on Afghan soil that targeted the symbols of world commerce and U.S. national security murdering thousands en masse, only make it an Afghan conundrum?

Afghanistan has more in common with Cold War Berlin than it does with Vietnam. The Vietnam comparison of the Taliban insurgency and Al Qaeda neglects the fundamental difference that the Viet Cong and the North Vietnamese never posed any direct threat to the U.S. homeland. The U.S. was able to strike a peace accord with the Vietnamese in Paris, but is it possible to negotiate with leaders Mullah Omar and other Taliban leaders whom we've labeled terrorists and targeted for the last eight years? Maybe, if we could only find them.

In the last decade, the Taliban's brand of Islamic doctrine has evolved to a transnational jihadi movement, bent on chasing out the international community out of the region and establishing a pan-Islamic state. That would certainly give Al Qaeda an unfettered safe haven. Allowing the Taliban to return to power would be an enormous victory for Al Qaeda's propaganda and Islamists around the world.

Battling terrorism with aerial bombings into the Afghan plains or in neighboring Pakistan is not going to address the issues that breed extremism and recruit the next generation of extremists. In western Europe, communism was "contained" with a Marshall Plan that rebuilt the continent. Addressing human rights issues and building the civil capacity of the region with a viable development plan will quell the insurgency. Sustainable peace is possible but it will take time for a new generation to transform the breeding ground of terror into a beacon of freedom.

In August 2008, while running for president, Barack Obama warned a Berlin crowd of 250,000 of the dangerous currents in Afghanistan. "For the people of Afghanistan, and for our shared security, the work must be done. The Afghan people need our troops and your troops; our support and your support to defeat the Taliban and al Qaeda, to develop their economy, and to help them rebuild their nation. We have too much at stake to turn back now," Obama said.

Americans, with British and French allies, created a miracle in fortress Berlin and rescued a devastated Europe after World War II. Today with NATO's first mission outside of Europe, a UN mandate, a majority of Afghans' support, and nearly all the world powers supporting the U.S. led mission in Afghanistan, we have an opportunity to remake the world as the post-World War II generation did so a half century ago.

2009-09-28T11:20:00.000-07:00

Interview with Maldives' President at U.N. Island nations express rising concern over rising seas By Nemat Sadat Sep 27 2009, 01:29 AM

To see published article in Washington DC-based political magazine, click on link:
http://ohmygov.com/blogs/general_news/archive/2009/09/27/interview-with-maldives-president-at-un.aspx

Making a splash

“You know that with sea-level rise over 1.5 meters, more than hundreds of millions of people would be dead. They would simply be wiped out,” says President Mohammed Nasheed of the Maldives in an interview on Thursday morning at the Tudor Hotel in New York.
Maldives and nearly 42 other small-island and low-lying developing countries are considered the most vulnerable to climate change, yet they have historically contributed the least to global warming. Combined all small islands constitute less than one percent of global carbon emissions. In comparison the US and China, the two biggest emitters, each pollute about 20 percent or combined more than 40 percent of the greenhouse gases going into atmosphere today.

Inaction on climate change is not only threatening the existence of small islands but could end up costing the international community as much as $170 billion a year on adaptation measures until 2030, according the UN climate change secretariat, the UNFCCC. But countries cannot adapt forever or fast enough before the rising sea-levels engulf many countries into depths of the ocean.

President Nasheed, in his address to world leaders at the UN Summit on Climate Change last Tuesday, told how bad the situation is and demanded an urgent call for action against the growing threats of climate change. “We warn you that unless you act quickly and decisively, our homeland and others like it will disappear beneath the rising sea before the end of this century. We ask you, what will become of us?” he says.

Maldives was one of the eight heads of state invited by UN Secretary General Ban Ki-moon to speak at the UN Summit on Climate Change. This wasn’t the first time the Maldives has been vocal about climate change. The former President of Maldives, Maumoon Abdul Gayoom, gave a dramatic speech, referred to as the “Death of a Nation” to the UN General Assembly on October 19, 1987, which is considered the first time a head of state ever to have brought global awareness on the issue of climate change. At the high-level climate conference ever held, President Nasheed told world leaders they must “discard the habits that have led to 20 years of complacency and broken promises on climate change.”

In Thursday’s interview, Mr. Nasheed explained how the Maldivian economy, heavily reliant on tourism, is doing a variety of things to become the first carbon-neutral country by 2020. “There is no reason why no other country cannot do the same. We understand the costs involved to replace existing energy. We want to focus on what you should do, not what we shouldn’t,” the President says.

“We are investing money in capturing carbon with a bio-charge project and putting more money into renewable energy plants—wind mills and solar panels—that we can harness,” says President Nasheed. Explaining about how 30% of global carbon emissions come directly from buildings, he says, “We have been enforcing strict building codes that are reducing energy and increasing efficiency. In a sense we will develop a survival kit that will also achieve our objectives.”

President Nasheed warned about the induced conflict that climate change would cause, disrupting many parts of the world. “Countries are now under threat because of climate change and because of the stress climate change has on resources. It’s not just an environmental issue; it’s now about a global security issue,” he says.

When asked what his plans were if negotiations were not reached at the UN Summit in Copenhagen in December this year, President Nasheed replies, “Why don’t we all go to Copenhagen; for the whole 300,000 people [of Maldives] to move to Copenhagen?”

Afghans Yearning for an Education

2009-06-15T18:56:00.000-07:00

When terrorists strike and harm or kill innocent civilians in the name of Islamic jihad, there’s a perception that they do so because they hate Western liberties and all that America stands for. But what do the Taliban hate about determined school children?

Last November, in Kandahar, Taliban extremists sprayed acid on a group of schoolgirls who were on their way to the Mirwais School for Girls. Opposing education for women, the culprits drove up on motorbikes and squirted acid on dozens of girls’ faces, leaving several badly burned. In response, the Obama administration proposed to negotiate with the Taliban.

What the Taliban fear most is the flourishing of modern education in Afghanistan. Educated women pose a far bigger threat to the Taliban than American or NATO bombs.

When the Taliban ruled (1996-2001), there were no schools, only madrassas that twisted interpretations of the Koran, and they were only open to boys.

The Taliban oppose the study of the arts and sciences and the learning of English because they know a knowledge-based society means the loss of control. Given this logic, you’d think we’d make sure to leave no Afghan child behind. But while ten million Afghan children are back in school, over five million remain at home.

The problem would be solved by shoring up the educational infrastructure (both at the K-12 and college levels). Beefing up military aid might secure Afghan neighborhoods, but military enforcement alone won’t cut it.

Fortunately, not all Afghans are quitting school out of fear or Taliban reprisals. While many Afghan parents discouraged their daughters from attending schools after an endless string of school attacks that has left over 700 closed, most of the fathers of the Mirwais School refuse to deny their daughters a formal education. Wearing their headscarves tightly to cover their scars, and with fire in their eyes, the girls have made their way back to class this time with even more intense vigor.

Instead of a strategic long-term vision for Afghanistan, we contemplate a shoddy deal with the rogue Taliban. Do you think that after fighting the Taliban for eight years, that they will be sincere about lasting peace and cooperation with ordinary Afghans?

President Obama’s overture to talk to “moderate” Taliban is counter-productive to our goal of an Afghanistan that remains stable and free. A deal with the Taliban would not only be a blow to the morale and safety of law-abiding Afghan citizens, but it would also reverse any success made post-9/11 and threaten the country back into the hands of terrorists.

This insatiable hunger for education defeats the perceptions that people have of Afghans as being far too corrupt, medieval, and tribal to ever accept modernity. Many don’t realize the progress Afghanistan made on its own in the twentieth century. In 1965, when suffrage was granted to Afghan women, many hadn’t; even liberal democracies in Europe – countries like Liechtenstein, Portugal, and Switzerland. With more women’s rights laws established in the 1970s, Afghan women pursued higher education in record numbers and female leaders began to emerge as powerful figures in government. The Feminist Majority estimates that by 1980, upwards of 70 percent of all doctors and teachers in Afghanistan were women, a figure that was groundbreaking for any country in the greater Middle East.

The plight of Afghanistan might just remind us why we are helping Afghanistan, what our own American forefathers endured to overcome bigotry, and the cost our nation paid with Civil War. While American history may not readily explain Afghanistan’s predicament, perhaps a Hollywood blockbuster can. Just like the movie “The Last Samurai”, Afghanistan’s conflict is, and has been, a cultural war between the rural and the urban or, rather, the illiterate, religious hinterland and the forward-thinking, educated elite. In the movie, the industrial center of Japan defeats the villages. This has been the story of almost every country in the modern era except Afghanistan, where every such an attempt has resulted in backlash by the tribes.

But after more than thirty years of war, the tribes have been crushed, demoralized, and fragmented. Though the last vestige of tribalism endures in the rag-tag form of the Taliban, their ignorance and fundamentalism can easily be defeated.

To win in Afghanistan, we must advance the economy by creating a self-sustaining engine for growth, which can only happen by transferring educational skills, by saturating the country with an “enlightenment surge” that cultivates an insurgent intelligentsia class – one that overwhelms the despots and ushers Afghanistan into the modern era.

A Dose of Afghan Pop-Culture

2009-06-15T18:55:00.000-07:00

Singing passionately with hip dance moves, Valy electrifies crowds by shouting how his religion is the language of love. His music infuses Afghan folklore with Western instruments. With a global fan base and music downloaded on YouTube as many times as top international rock stars, such as Egypt’s Amr Diab or Turkey’s Tarkan, this five-foot-five Afghan sensation is the new heartthrob that’s taking up the Persian-speaking world by storm.

Last August, Valy gave the last performance of his tour at the Kodak Theatre in Hollywood. As in many of the concerts on his global tour, which stretched across four continents (with sold-out gigs in places like Toronto, Hamburg, Dubai, and Sydney), thousands of Angelinos from Afghan, Iranian, and Tajiki heritage jam-packed the concert hall to experience the Valy phenomenon.

A little over a year ago, hardly anyone knew Valy, but ever since the premier of his “Bia Tu” video, which has been replayed repeatedly on satellite TV stations and downloaded millions of times on the Internet, he has become a buzzing household name among Afghans worldwide. Although Valy has dominated the Afghan pop-scene, he’s not their only pop singer.

Post 9/11, Afghanistan experienced a cultural renaissance with a burgeoning class of new singers eager to showcase their music and show the world that they too have talent and can participate in the global cultural industry.
In Kabul, the Afghan capital, one TV show that is spearheading the emergence of an Afghan celebrity culture is Tolo station’s version of American Idol. The reality show Afghan Star is beginning to draw national attention. People watching the live TV show can actively participate by texting in votes for their favorite contestant.

In a war-torn country that is ripping at the seams, Afghan Star is stirring a social revolution and sending a loud message to the world that the battlefield is slowly shifting to the airwaves. But not everyone in Afghanistan regards Afghan Star as an emblem of nation-building. Many radical clerics have labeled the show “un-Islamic” and call for its immediate end.

Islamic clerics increased their threats when the 20-year old Mariam “Elaha” Sorur, the Asiatic beauty with high cheekbones, became the second woman to make it to the final rounds of Afghan Star. Since her appearance on the show last January, Sorur has received numerous death threats. Despite opposition, though, Sorur continues to push the envelope and work hard to launch her dream of becoming Afghanistan’s diva.

What’s most troubling is that while Afghans struggle each day to build a professional career and brand their talents for national consumptions, they fear daily the re-insurgence of the Taliban and their re-alliance with powerful warlords. Though Afghanistan has more pressing issues, allowing artists to shape the cultural and historical experience will let Afghans in general to thrive and help this Internet generation to become part of global society.

The ranks of Valy, Elaha, and other Afghan celebrities have charmed the urbane, Westernized fan base that has begun to emerge in Afghanistan ever since the 2001 fall of the Taliban. Next time we decide to give up on Afghanistan, we should make sure that the plugs aren’t pulled by the same anti-modernity forces that once outlawed music and television. Afghanistan’s pop-culture is defying the labels of the country as a “lost cause” that is not worth the fight. Giving up on Afghanistan and allowing the Taliban and Al-Qaeda to reemerge into the vacuum and silence the blooming language of love simply isn’t an acceptable option.

Facebook May Determine Select the Next Afghan President

2009-06-15T18:53:00.000-07:00

I just got a Facebook invite to join yet another group. The notification caught my eye: “Afghanistan’s Obama, a candidate for change, who will stand against injustice, vows to empower minorities and curtail corruption.”

In a country long dominated by the Pashtuns and Tajiks, the Afghan Presidential candidate, Ramazan Bashardost’s Hazara background makes him an underdog in the upcoming elections.

As Afghans look to the West for leadership, several politicians vying to become president are emulating Obama and modeling after his campaign’s marketing strategy. The Facebook groups that are popping up daily for each of the forty hopefuls have one common goal: to mobilize a grassroots movement and lead their constituents to vote. The upcoming August election will be the second time since 2004 that Afghans show the world how they can organize free and fair elections and put Kalashnikovs aside.

In a country with one of the highest illiteracy rates and an ancient culture steeped in oral tradition, word-of-mouth, in the modernized form of Facebook, might generate enough buzz to determine a glorious win. Viral marketing on the Internet may bring a viable alternative to the current front-runner, Hamid Karzai. That is, if the political message is receptive for Afghans as Obama’s was for Americans.

Of Afghanistan’s estimated 32 million people, more than half are between the voting ages of 18 and 34; making the youth voting bloc even more crucial than it was in Obama’s win last November.

With more than 8 million cell phones and more than a half-million Internet subscribers in Afghanistan, a figure that is expected to grow exponentially, Facebook is poised as an incubator for civic dialogue.

Along with Bashardost, other presidential candidates with a visible presence on Facebook include many technocrats whose families live in exile. Take for example, Ashraf Ghani, the most popular on Facebook and someone likely to challenge Karzai as election day nears. Then there’s Sayed Jalal, a child prodigy who dropped out of Columbia University at age 13 and moved to Saudi Arabia. Jalal, a conservative candidate, plans to invoke Sharia Law and negotiate a deal with the Taliban.

Facebook may not goes as far as to usher in good governance or quell the Taliban re-insurgency in Afghanistan, but what it is doing is giving a louder voice to the forces of civil society (i.e., ordinary Afghans) and a way for the people of this landlocked country to circumvent extremists and build the foundations for a stable political apparatus. A successful election may leave Afghan warlords, Islamic clerics, and the Taliban with no option but to join the modern “Facebook” age. Only then will the American and NATO mission in Afghanistan be accomplished.
Transforming Afghanistan into a prosperous democracy is necessary for the sake of America’s position in the world. With the help of Facebook, Afghans now have a venue to share ideas. By choosing a government that values transparency, addresses human rights, and meets the basic needs of the people, America might just regain its standing as a nation famous for its rule of law.

Helping Afghans to get there, though, will require patience, in order for the next generation to uplift the country. In the meantime, Afghans are pushing the electoral process forward by learning from Obama’s campaign blueprint. The candidate who is the most vigilant in canvassing Facebook, and who uses this venue to develop a world-class brand, might become the next leader of the Afghan people.

Congratulations to HESA Election Winners!

2009-06-01T14:02:00.001-07:00

Dear friends and fellow supporters (at Harvard Extension School):

Last Saturday afternoon about 90 people visited the BBQ held in the Grossman Reading Room to announce the winners of the Harvard Extension Student Association elections. The festive event was marked with exceptional jubilance: plenty of comfort food, ambient music, and with high energy permeating the air.

Midway into the event that lasted from 1-4 p.m., the Dean of Students, Robert Neugeboren, would make the announcement that everyone was waiting for. The newly elected winners to serve for the 2009-2010 school year were Andre Bisasor for President and Ram Dam Kotamaraka was re-elected as Vice-President.

With 322 Harvard Extension students voting from the 2540 matriculated students, Andre Bisasor received 41.9% of the votes for President and Ram Dam Kotamaraka received 37% to become Vice-President.

At the BBQ, I shared with Andre and Ram Dam my full to support of the new administration. I’m confident that under the leadership of Andre that the HESA will continue to grow and I’m hopeful that the student body will benefit immensely with Andre as our President.

Ram Dam also brings with him valuable experience that he has recently acquired during his present term as Vice-President under Ashley Pollack’s administration.

I encourage all of my supporters and all those who voted for the other Presidential candidates (Ignacio Riesco, Elizabeth “Lavie” Thomas, and Hanwen “Ben” Zhang) to rally our support for Andre Bisasor and Ram Dam Kotamaraka.

I want to thank you all of my supporters again in my run for the President of HESA. I am indebted to all my supporters who believed in me and my message. Our efforts have not gone in vain.

Just a little over a year ago, I started taking classes at the Extension School and it was only last fall when I was admitted into the ALM in Journalism program. Prior to my dear friend Sandra Larson sending an endearing note to HESA on May 8, 2009 without my knowledge to nominate me, I had not even thought about running for President.

In three weeks of campaign time, trying to get our message out to voters when most students had already taken their final exams was an immense challenge. Thus, I consider the fact that I earned nearly 24% of the votes and that my Vice Presidential running mate, Scott Spencer, received 32% (a narrow loss) a huge accomplishment for Scott, me, and our supporters.

My constituency considers me a person who started a new dialogue with a different message, ambitious plans, and a unique vision. I hope that our campaign opened up the pathways for the inspirational figure to emerge and bring the change we envision. In the meantime, we must accept and respect the decision of the majority who voted for and elected Andre Bisasor and Ram Dam Kotamaraka.

I want to congratulate again both Andre and Ram Dam along with all of their supporters for a hard fought campaign and I wish them the best of luck and success in the upcoming year.

For those who want to remain in touch, you can reach me at nematsadat@gmail.com or follow me at nematsadat.blogspot.com. You can also find me on Facebook, LinkedIn, and Twitter.

Warm regards,

Nemat Sadat

Urgent Memo to Supporters about Pre-Election Results

2009-05-29T23:34:00.001-07:00

Dear friends and fellow supporters.

I want to thank you all for your support in my run for the President of the Harvard Extension Student Association. Regardless of the outcome of the election, I’m happy to have participated in this campaign because I made so many wonderful new friends and deepened my relationships with existing ones. For instance, spending quality time with my dear friends to make those sentimental video messages is something I will cherish for a lifetime.

There are strange occurences, unanswered obstacles, and suspect behavior that were brought to my attention and I hope to address each one before the outcomes of the results are known at the Saturday afternoon barbeque when the winner will be announced.

1. Many of my supporters received emails from Dean Neugeboren earlier in the week indicating that the polls would close on Friday, May 29th at 6 p.m. when in fact the polls closed 6 hours earlier at 12 noon.

2. Atleast one of my supporters contacted Dean Neugeboren multiple times notifying him that the ballot link was not accepting his submission. While this supporter was persistent enough to email back-and-forth with Dean Neugeboren for several days until his vote was cast, we don’t know at this point how many other people who wanted to vote had a similar issue.

3. On Friday, May 29th at 5:30 p.m. I ran into someone who received an email from “HESA” on Wednesday indicating that Andre Bisasor had won the election. I also read a string of posts on ExtensionStudent.com that instructed students that Electronic polls close on Tuesday, May 26th.

4. The events in #3 coincided with me waking up on Wednesday morning realizing that my Facebook account with 600+ friends and over 150+ Harvard Extension students had been disabled and I was no longer able to log-into my account. Several friends informed me that rumors circulated that my campaign had ended since Andre had won. I quickly started a new Facebook account and started from ground zero again.

5. When I opened a new account I added open-membership Facebook groups with Harvard Extension designation and realized that three of the groups moderated by the same establishment individual who endorsed my opponent did not properly allow me to join which prevented me from posting on the group wall or discussion.

My supporters have fought very hard for me to come this far. What matters to me more than the result of the election is the fact that we participate in a system of free and fair elections. When problems occur like the ones I’ve my supporters have endured then one has to wonder whether the system is flawed, rigged, and needs to become transparent so that people can believe and trust the system.

For any of my supporters who have received emails earlier in the week from someone acting as HESA and suggesting that Andre Bisasor won the election when the polls were still open, I would urge to send an email to Dean Robert Neugeboren at neugebor@fas.harvard.edu and feel free to send a copy to me at sadat@fas.harvard.edu and/or nematsadat@gmail.com.

For more campaign information, please visit: nematsadat.blogspot.com.

Many thanks,

Nemat Sadat

Another friendly message from the People's President of Harvard

2009-05-28T15:55:00.000-07:00

Dear friends and fellow classmates,

I am up to the test. As President, I will bring 100's of people to HESA social events. All I need to do is make video messages like these and pass out enticing flyers. When you share your friendship, happiness, and love...the masses will surely come.

Now, the question remains will the Harvard Extension community resist me or embrace the language of love I speak? The election results will tell. Last call to vote for Nemat Sadat (Pres) & Scott Spencer (Pres), the choice for the right team.

Oh by the way, if you haven't seen my earlier video sent last Sunday, check out the People's President at Harvard Square. In that message, I deliver my campaign platform and what I plan on delivering the School and community.

Love always,

Nemat Sadat

A friendly message from the People's President

2009-05-24T19:23:00.001-07:00

Dear fellow classmates and friends,

I have a special message to share with all of you. Please also add me on Facebook, Linkedin, and Twitter. Thank you for your support!

What Nemat Sadat & Scott Spencer ticket means for you and Harvard University

2009-05-22T12:45:00.000-07:00

My devotion to public service, cross-cultural understanding, and automatic affinity to the world offers me a unique perspective to lead the student association at Harvard Extension School. As your President, my top priority will be making sure that each student enrolled in classes, regardless if they are admitted or not, is provided with the necessary resources to succeed in their studies and pursue their professional calling.

My global perspective means I see the world through a broader lens, based on my good fortune to have been brought up in an international environment. In many ways, growing up Afghan and Muslim in a white American world, I encountered challenging struggles, exacerbated by the fact that English was my third language and the fact that I stuttered as a child. I could not complete sentences without mumbling; my thoughts often came across as irrelevant or silly and were easily dismissed. Not being able to be heard frustrated me and intensified my stuttering. Communicating effectively and poignantly now—whether speaking to an individual or group—and having my thoughts understood—is a personal victory.

My humble background provides me with an asset that can be instructive to others. I ‘m incredibly approachable and friendly; a person who connects easily with people, gaining their trust and confidence. Building strong relationships and inspiring people is what I do best.

As an undergraduate at University of California, Irvine I was part of the Dean’s Ambassadors Council, where I coordinated academic and cultural events that enriched the lives of students. I also served at Global Connect, an outreach program that provided economically disadvantaged students with education and training about worldwide issues. By teaching Global Connect students how to think analytically-reflectively about global issues, I made a difference in their lives and they were more likely than their peers to go on to higher education.

My commitment to bringing change in this word has much to do with my past. Having the unearned privilege to immigrate to America, I still carry a strong sense of survivor’s guilt. I cannot forget that the people of my homeland who continue to suffer through disease, hunger, opium addiction, refugee camps, terrorism, war, and grinding poverty.

My mission is to show the Harvard community how people from Afghanistan can also become productive members of global society. As your President, my mission will be to accomplish the following:

*Engage students in stimulating events that promote the cultural and intellectual diversity of our School.

*Guide students with existing resources and start new ones. For instance, host career fairs and start a job placement center so that graduates can launch their careers.

*Reinvigorate the mission of academia by promoting community outreach that can lead to internships and rewarding careers.

*Revise the School’s name by lobbying to drop “Extension” and replacing the word with a better one.

By entrusting Scott Spencer (my VP running mate) and I with your vote, we will build a vibrant community, foster class camaraderie, and renew the academic promise. Thank you for your support.

The Merchant of Harvard Square

2009-05-22T12:43:00.000-07:00

What the American Dream means to me, is to expand my knowledge and intellectual abilities, grow spiritually, and build a muscular physique. To become a Renaissance Man. Easier said than done, but that’s what makes me a man with a multifarious identity in tow.

I was born a “lucky survivor” the year the Soviets invaded. It was Afghanistan, 1979, on a summer’s day. Kabul, though largely pro-Soviet, was under martial law. If the king hadn’t been deposed in 1973, I would have been born a prince; nevertheless, I was born in the hallway of a hospital too busy for me. I was lucky indeed to have gotten a doctor last minute; now I would have to survive my adolescence in an Afghanistan of communism and genocide. Instead, in 1984, my mother and two siblings immigrated to America and settled in southern California. My father who previously served as Ambassador to Germany re-united with us in 2000.

That global background has strengthened my affinity with the world. My universal or at least multi-polar worldview, bolstered with my fluency in multiple languages, gives me the unique asset to understand deep-rooted cultural complexities and to focus and think strategically about international affairs. At the same time, being raised in a low-income, single-parent household and observing my mother’s sacrifice of hard work allows me to connect at the microcosmic level with the social plight of the average person.

My parents always told me how much luckier I am be growing up with privileges I never had, but I feel differently. Of course, I feel lucky, but not necessarily more so than my parents. I still don’t know my own country; never known the upper class privileges that my parents grew up with, even though upper class meant something different there and then. With one foot poised on a radically dissimilar culture from that of the other foot, I carry my predicament with grace.

When I moved to Cambridge to pursue the master’s degree in Journalism at Harvard Extension School, I brought with me from California where I was raised, a glowing bulb of American West Coast enthusiasm, but now it’s held down to earth with eastern centeredness.

Though I’m quite entertaining, bubbly, and astonishingly friendly, people know me as a “political guy.” I received a Bachelor’s in International Business with a concentration in German from California State University, Fullerton. Several years later, I completed a dual Bachelor’s degree from University of California, Irvine, in Honors Political Science and History, with minors in Humanities and the Law and Sociology. And in addition to English and German, I’m also fluent in French and Dari (Persian) and currently learning Pashto.

In the long-term, I would also like to earn a doctorate degree in Politics & Social Policy with the hope of becoming a decision-maker at the United Nations and shape policy towards Afghanistan and other developing countries. Pursuing a leadership role is something I have experience in from cabinet position I held during my high school and college years.

During my time at Harvard Extension School, I’ve become a community builder in my classes and my peers respect me as a binding force able to bring people together and create group cohesion. In each class, I am eager to introduce myself to my fellow classmates (learn their names, exchange contact information, and find ways to contribute to their academic success). For instance, I have created online discussion forums in classes so that classmates can exchange ideas and arrange social get-togethers when away from class. With my unparalleled initiative, professional integrity, and quirky sense of humor, I hope to show you how this romantic and brave Afghan warrior can bring smiles on people’s faces even when they are down or mad. This rings true to anyone who meets me and part of the reason why I’m blessed with the ability to genuinely make lots of friends.

At Magnus, All is Possible

2009-05-22T12:38:00.000-07:00

At Magnus Avenue, All is Possible

I was raised in southern California’s insulated metropolis of Orange County. No matter how glamorous the popular TV shows depict the beachside county, life behind the “Orange Curtain” is bland and ignominious. I immigrated to the US in 1984, when I was five, living most of my childhood in government-subsidized housing in Santa Ana, which was gated due to the neighborhood’s high crime. During the summer that I entered junior high, my family abandoned the highly congested, industrial section of Santa Ana for a tiny two bedroom apartment in the master-planned community to the south – the city of Irvine, the self-proclaimed utopian paradise and one of America’s safest cities.

Fifteen years after settling in the States, my mom and I pitched in our life savings while my father and brother made monthly payments to qualify us to purchase a slice of the American pie – a home in Scripps Ranch, a highly-affluent “pro-GOP” suburb of San Diego. Achieving the American Dream meant becoming part of The Lonely American – the title and subject of a new book that discusses the effects of the social isolation epidemic as the inevitable byproduct of our frenetic contemporary lifestyle.

It did not take too long after moving into our dream home – a 5-bedroom, 2 ½ bath home on a cul-de-sac – to realize that spending my teenage years daydreaming over weekend Real Estate sections had been in vain. In our household, I charted out mortgage calculators and convinced my mother to take us to open houses or model-home tours. This activity set me apart from the other 13-year-olds I knew. With each model home we visited, my mother would get teary-eyed when my sister and I jumped on the well-cushioned beds.

When we moved into our first home, though, a few weeks before the 2000, my idyllic dream began to evaporate. Our new neighborhood was predominantly right-wing newly weds, but I still made a concerted effort to establish good relations. One neighbor in particular, Danielle Hale, always turned away each time I wanted to say hello. Post 9/11, she convinced the other families, except the Eubanks, not to allow my sister to babysit. Apparently we stood poised to kidnap their children and hold them ransom in Afghanistan. After nearly a decade of living on Elmstone Court, Hale still looks at my family with suspicion.

While my parents and siblings continued to live in that dream home, I moved back and forth to Orange County for school and work. One of the last places in California that I lived on my own was a guard-gated apartment near Newport Coast – another failed endeavor at finding community. In this “garage-door” community, the only chance to see your neighbor was a quick glimpse as they drove in and out of their apartment garages.

After spending most of my life in artificially-made communities with no cultural history but surgically implanted palm trees, well-manicured shrubs, and cookie-cutter homes, I longed to find a holistic community, something like what my parents had growing up in Kabul, Afghanistan back when it was peaceful and self-sufficient.

Kabul pre-1979 was cosmopolitan yet still had a cohesive communal life. The tribal system was alive, and my parents grew up with large social networks, knowing most of the prominent families in the capital. While the typical American has about 200 people in their extended network, a modest Afghan wedding would number twice that, with immediate kin alone.

So, when my parents put me on a guilt trip about how they “lost it all”, I’d tell them to be grateful for the special memories they have. When they reminisce about their glorious times – the caravan trips, the carnival celebrations, running into people they knew everywhere they went – I try to absorb these experiences through their nostalgia.

At 28, I decided that living in California would never bring me happiness. So in January 2008, I sold my 1999 Toyota Corolla, packed two suitcases, and moved to Boston. I found a place to live in east Cambridge where I spent nearly a year in a lifeless unit within a dull neighborhood by the Lechmere T station.

Last September, however, I finally found the home I’d been dreaming of in an unlikely place: the “Dali” neighborhood of Somerville. Of all the places I have lived in this country, Magnus Avenue is the place I feel most comfortable, know my neighbors, and thrive as a person. It’s a residential street within close proximity to Beacon Street, which features food boutiques like the Indian Kebab Factory and Dali Tapas, a gourmet coffee shop called The Biscuit, and The Wine and Cheese Cask. I thought this neighborhood would be another disappointment.

Although the social fabric of this neighborhood is far from the constancy of old-world Kabul, as transient people come and go, mostly for work or school, the architectural layout of the place, as well as the people it attracts, make it possible to establish friendships.

Tucked away behind Inman Square and almost midway between the commercial areas of Harvard Square and Union Square, Magnus Avenue is a cross-cultural fusion. According to the city’s official website, Somerville is hodgepodge of many immigrant and the most densely populated community in New England.

Magnus Avenue is only a few hundred feet long. On the street, several times a week, you can witness the stocky, graying man with facial hair and thin lips collecting recyclables from the blue bins in front of each home and putting them in his white plastic bag. Then there’s the austentacious house of Horacio, probably the most famous in Somerville. The home showcases twin regal lions made of bronze and a red-bricked porch with carved-glass window doors and gaudy Christmas ornament and flamboyant clown juxtaposed with a fixture of Jesus Christ.

Washington Street serves as a feeder road for the 86 bus, large delivery trucks, and a steady stream of cars, taxis and pedestrians. You won’t see flower pots or dandelions perching on the window sills of this street. Most of the buildings, built in 1920, have a dull texture, but their design gives the homes their charming quality. Of the twelve buildings on Magnus, all but three, including ours, boast a front porch, where people frequently socialize. There is very little greenery, except for a simple tree. Its branches extend above the paved road where cars park, and electric wires criss-cross above the street.

My journey to Magnus Avenue began last September, the busiest move-in time in the Boston area, given the high concentration of students. It took one taxi trip to move all my stuff. I had no furniture of my own, just two oversized suitcases. After remembering all the shabby beds I had always owned, I went online and immediately ordered a memory foam mattress and other furniture to decorate my Magnus bedroom.

In mid-summer, my housemate at the time, an MIT scientist, sent me an email informing me that his brother from Chicago was going to finish his dissertation in Cambridge and needed my room. This turned out to be a blessing. The unit I was living in was infested with rats, and several times I even had to check myself into a hotel at the nearby Marriott in Kendall Square. Most importantly, though, I felt stifled and bothered by the fact that I knew none of my neighbors. The homes on my section of Spring street had garages tucked into the back, and at night, there was very little light on the street, so you could hardly even recognize anyone who lived there. In California, it’s normal to say hello and smile as you pass neighbors on the sidewalk even if it seems insincere.

Towards the end of August, my search began. I started daydreaming over postings on Craig’s List. At first, I wasn’t even considering Somerville, only looking for places in Cambridge along the T’s Red line, but after exhausting my search for an affordable place close to Harvard with a compatible roommate, I looked farther afield.

A little after 8 a.m. on an early September morning, the phone rang. Huffing out of my crackling futon bed, I reached for the phone on my desk. My friends and family knew better than to disturb me this early.
In a heavy Asian accent, a woman said, “Good morning. Is this Nemat?”
“Yes, this is he.”
“I’m calling you about the rooms we have available. We are having an open house today at 11 a.m. We are inviting all the potential housemates at the same time so you can meet each other.”

I jotted down the address. I took the T to Harvard Station then made the approximate 15-minute walk to Magnus Avenue. Walking away from Harvard’s Science Center and onto Kirkland, I walked east towards Beacon Street. Noticing the uneven streets, broken pavement, cracked roads with potholes and pallid buildings, I quickly realized I was in Somerville.

After passing several blocks, I saw the blue street sign labeled “Magnus” and turned right. As a I approached, a blonde woman about five-foot-five and a tall slender man with brown hair walking in front of me were being greeted by an Asian couple. As I got closer, the Asian woman looked at me, “You must be Nemat.”

She took charge, saying, “I’m Misha,” and pointing to her husband, “This is Vincent,” and of the two who had arrived just seconds before me, “This is Austin and Katie.” I said hello to each. Austin Campbell and Katie Merriman were both entering graduate students at Harvard’s Divinity School and had been living in a wretched dump. Campbell, originally from South Carolina, had moved to Boston from Seattle, Washington. Merriman was moving from her hometown in New Jersey.

Misha and Vincent Jung are Chinese-American scientists who both smile when either of them speaks. They relocated to Boston from New Jersey and, last August, bought the building after an estate sale put the house on the market. After buying it, they wanted to fill it immediately with graduate students or young professional tenants. The lower floors were still under construction, so we quickly made our way upstairs to the third floor.

As we walk into the apartment, I notice the new-apartment smell. We separate and make a quick tour through all four bedrooms. This was where Misha Jung’s marketing campaign began.

“Look at this great view. Oh my God, look,” she said of the back porches. “This is a very professional, very white-collar community.” Pointing her finger, she says, “Look, those neighbors there, many Harvard students living there.” Vincent Jung, more pragmatic, was silent wondering if selling the view and plugging the Harvard affiliations of the neighbors would be part of the home’s exclusive package.

“Well, it’s not a lush greenbelt, but it would be nice to have a barbeque or lounge on the porch and read a book on a nice day,” I said.

Campbell and Merriman smile and nod in approval. Living as I had in an isolated suburb, I was ready to enter the cluster, embrace the invasion of privacy, and allow my prospective neighbors into my personal space.

We found out that, as graduate students, we all disapproved of television, considering it a “wasteland” and refused to have one in the common area. We then selected rooms. Campbell quickly decided he wanted the smallest room and liked that it was $150 dollars cheaper than the three larger rooms.

I told him, “This room is small, but it has a lot of feng shui.”
The Jungs approved of my comment. Mrs. Jung tells how she has bought the house because it exuded feng shui.

Merriman chose the room adjacent to the front door. Next, it was my turn – two rooms left, both about equal in size and price. I chose the one midway down the hall; it had the larger closet and three large windows, providing ample light and ventilation.

In our early interactions, Campbell and Merriman designated me as the House Liaison, suggesting that my communications background qualified me for the role. From that perspective, choosing the room located in the center of the house made good sense. Being chosen as the intermediary was a mixed blessing. It gives me a sense of purpose to have others rely on me, but when it crosses over to having others always depend on me to pay the bills and restock household supplies, it can become a burden.

After signing the credit check application, we returned a few days later to meet potential housemates for the fourth bedroom. When I arrived at the house, the Jung’s teenage daughter, Amanda, opened the front door and let me up the freshly painted stairwell. When I got to the kitchen, I saw three new people, who I later found out would be tenants on the second floor. Minutes later, a lean guy with robin’s egg blue eyes and blonde hair entered the room with his right arm in a cast. In a peculiar French-sounding accent, he introduced himself as Sebastien Valentin. Looking at us, Valentin asked, “Does anyone have television? Where are we going to put the TV?”

Campbell, Merriman, and I chime in, telling Valentin that TV was a no-no. “That’s terrible. No TV is boring,” he said Mr. and Mrs. Jung explained to Valentin that he could get a television for his own room.

Campbell, Merriman, and I went into one of the bedrooms to deliberate about whether Sebastien would be good for the household. They showed no reservations and thought it would be neat to have a European connection. Afterall, Valentin was a Dutch transplant to southern France. I had pragmatic reservations; we would be entrenched in our graduate studies at Harvard, while Valentin would be living the Bostonian life, commuting downtown during the weekdays. We wouldn’t be able to spend time with him around the house.

When we returned to the kitchen, Misha Jung had already handed Valentin a credit-check application, and he was scribbling hastily with his inoperable right hand. I made my spiel. “Before you decide, there are some things I have to tell you.” Before I could finish, Valentin interjected, “Yeah, yeah,” and signed away.

We moved in the day before the first day of classes. Once everyone was in the building, Misha and Vincent Jung, kept open communication with us to make sure the unit was in proper order and that everyone was getting along well. The Jungs tried to forge a communal environment; they even started a Magnus Google group for us.

The day after our move in, Valentin and I wanted to know where our local grocery store was located. Valentin emphasized the need for somewhere cheap. Merriman walked us to the Market Basket, and then Valentin and I walked to Shaw’s and, on the way, stopped for Buffalo wings with waffle fries. Valentin and I had similar eating habits, such as midnight cooking, whereas Merriman and Cambell were vegans who had early-evening dinners. On our return home, I noticed a guy in a deep trance, smoking a cigarette and not even noticing us as we passed by. I said hello and introduced ourselves as the new neighbors next door. The guy was of medium height with brown hair and glasses and said his name was Chris; he had just moved from Harvard Square. He wanted to have a house-warming barbeque in the coming weeks and would invite us. Later, at that barbeque, I found out that Chris was Slovokian but grew up in Philadelphia. I promoted the party at Chris’s house to all the tenants in our building using the listserv that the Jungs had set up for us. After the barbeque, Chris’s house became a natural stop.

On Election Night, I was in a Harvard Extension Class and wanted to watch the historical event on television and be with others, so I texted Chris telling him I was coming over to watch the election coverage with him and his housemate Ryan Wempher. After the win was declared for Barack Obama and after his midnight speech, I went home, but other young neighbors on the block, completely wasted, were yelling, “I love you Obama” and “God Bless Barack Hussein” until nearly 5 o’clock in the morning.

As the winter approached, Valentin suggested hosting a block party and inviting the neighborhood. My excused for not wanting to host the party was my lack of time and my commitment to classes. Last week, though, after President’s Day, I decided it was time to stop putting this off, so I sent an email informing my housemates. On Thursday morning, I made a flyer, printed 40 copies, and went door-to-door, putting the notice into each mailbox on Magnus Avenue. And on Thursday evening, I sent an emailing list to everyone in our building.

An hour before the event, though, I was still stuck in Lamont Library working on an assignment for class. I had completely lost track of time. I jumped on my bike and started pedaling home. I changed my clothes, putting on a tapered forest green Express sweater and my Guess Jeans. At a quarter to 7, I called Upper Crust pizza and ordered two large pizzas. Then I ran to the Wine and Cheese Cask and purchased a few bottles of red and white wine, gourmet crackers, and three types of cheese spread. I had mentioned in the flyer to bring your own drink, so I figured there would be plenty of liquor to last through the night.

I rushed home, set up the appetizer and drink table, and plugged in the stereo but had no CDs – I had left those in my parents garage – except for a recently purchased one by Inkawasi, the upbeat and soulful Peruvian band that performs regularly in Harvard Square. I ran down to the second floor to pick up extra chairs. As Matt Latimer, the tenant living in the room directly underneath me who works as a Landscape Architect was helping me carry chairs up, Valentin made his way downstairs. He was going for dinner but said he would return in about an hour. Merriman was not home, but she had told me earlier that she would be spending time with her boyfriend in Brookline. Campbell was in his room and said he had made plans to go spend the night at his girlfriend’s, a few blocks away. As Campbell left, he said, “Where are they? Wasn’t the event suppose to start at seven?”

“Yes,” I said, wondering where everyone was, “but you figure it’s Friday and people are getting off work, so they might show up a little late.”

When Campbell left, I ran to my room, started the computer, and logged into Facebook. Meandering through the site, I began to wonder. Self-doubt crept in. I stared at the clock; 7:30 became 7:45, 8:00, 8:15, 8:30. By then, I was wondering whether people considered me a friend. Maybe this was my karma. With no one showing up to my party, I would, perhaps, need to learn humility. I was already strategizing about ways I could treat people better when I heard knocking on the door.

It was Matt Latimer with his guest Melissa Alfone, who lived just a few blocks away on Rose Street.

I said, “Welcome! You’re the first guests.” Then, with a straight face, I bluffed. “Others called or texted me, they are on their on their way.”
Latimer says, “Well, we just wanted to stop by, but we can’t stay too long. We have a 9 o’clock movie to catch.”
“Melissa is a realtor, and before I came across the ad for this place, she was showing me homes in this area.”
“Oh, I see. So Melissa, what do you like best about this area?”
Melissa said, “This is one of the best places to live. I love it here.”
We continued our conversation, and Melissa said, “Is that your phone ringing?”
“Yes, excuse me,” I rushed to answer it.
“Hi, we’re your neighbors from across the street. We’re calling you from outside of your door,” a man’s voice said, “We’re here for the party.”
“Okay, I’ll be right down.”
Opening the door, I saw two happy, eager faces with a bottle of wine – Chris Townsend and John Noss. On the way up, they told me they were both Harvard undergraduate alums who had lived in the same unit on 18 Magnus for the past three and half years. I took their coats. I found out Noss was 25 years old, a Technical Analyst at Harvard and that Townsend was a 28-year-old biologist who had recently gotten laid off from his job at Forrester Research. Townsend used to live in Frankfurt. He talked about life in the aftermath of his layoff as well as his long-distance relationship with his girlfriend in New York.
Townsend said, “Now, I have more free time on my hands.”
I asked, “What are you going to do now?”
“I have a job lined up for me in Paris. So I might be moving to France soon.
When I ask Townsend and Noss about their experience living on Magnus, Townsend enthusiastically mentions Horacio’s Christmas display. “Each year, I wait for him to inflate the Santa Claus perched on top of the chimney, and once it makes its loud pop, I know Christmas season is here. You know he also sells used furniture in front porch sales and makes coffins as a side business.”
Noss then complained about Horacio’s son. “In the winter, he gets up at around 4 a.m. turns on his high beams and shovels their driveway.”
I then asked what the mystery was behind the ambulance and fire truck visiting several times a week.
Townsend and Noss completed each other’s thoughts and sentences:
“Maria’s husband, what’s his name, worked for the power company. They are Portuguese.”
“Yes, he was an Electrical Engineer, but now he’s bed-ridden.
“Yes, that’s right. What is the condition he has?
“Yes, he has diabetes and has to go get a dialysis every Tuesday, Thursday, and Saturday.”
My phone rang again. It’s Chris and his housemate Wempher. After they arrived, more people streamed in – Valentin and his colleague from work, John Bognan and Adrian from the first floor, Howe from the second floor, and later, Weng Zhei, who was also from the second floor, but felt out of place as the sole female and so stayed for only a short while.

The pizza never arrived. Just past 10 o’clock, I called Upper Crust and they had mistaken the order as take-out and not delivery. The guests insisted that they were not hungry. I thought that they were just being polite Americans. In Afghan culture, you keep offering until your guests stop refusing and ultimately give in. You never let a guest go hungry in your home. It’s the cardinal rule of dishonor and ultimate rudeness to be an improper host. In Afghanistan, the Pashto word melmastia means that you ensure lavish hospitality without expectations of reward to every guest that enters your home. When I looked at the appetizer platter and see everything almost gone, my cultural pride kicked in.

It was almost midnight, and I noticed that this party was going to go on for a lot longer than anticipated. So I revived the idea of ordering a pizza. Chris suggested Dial-a-Pizza on Beacon Street. I called, and the owner said that he was closing, no more orders. I pleaded with him, telling him that I had hungry guests. He offered one large cheese pizza and told me to have my seven dollars ready. Chris and I walked over there, minutes before they closed and grabbed the pizza and a liter of Coca-Cola. On my way up the stairs, I noticed Latimer returning from the movies and opening the door to the second floor with Weng Zhei, who is holding a basket drainer full of fresh strawberries.

Around 2 a.m., the party started dying down, and by 2:30, it was only me, Valentin, and Chris. I toasted some bread, and we ate it with cream cheese. Chris was still chugging down his bottle of Jack Daniels. We sat down on the couch, reflecting on the night’s party, and then Chris talked about his issues with women. I said to myself, “Here we go again.” The conversation ebbs and flows from dating and relationships to other topics. Several hours passed, and I was so sleepy I could hardly keep myself awake.

Finally, the sun rose again. “What time is it?” I asked. Valentin looked at his cell phone. “Oh my God, it’s almost 7.”

Chris, not hearing our polite hints, just kept talking. He mentioned in passing how we should continue this party at some Armenian diner in Watertown, but we were ready to crash. We walked him to the door.

A month later, Chris told me he had a job offer and was moving to the Washington, D.C. area; a few days later, I ran into Townsend, and he told me he had secured that job offer in France. Both were planning to move out by the end of March. With no plans for spring break and away from family, I decided to celebrate Nowruz (Persian New Year), which is also a holiday observed in Afghanistan, by hosting a going-away block party at my place. I titled the event “Magnus Extravaganza” and created flyers again, this time also sending out evites to more than 100 people in the Boston area. The tagline I settled on was, “Experience Magnus Extravaganza: where your heart’s desire and the longing for the good life come together with other curious adventurers.”

On the night of the party, a Wednesday during spring break, I made a list of what I wanted to cater for the party: a three-course meal with plentiful cheese spreads, baguettes, and hors d’oeuvres for appetizers, chicken and ground beef kabobs and pomegranate and walnut sauce served with saffron basmati rice, with organic strawberry shortcake for dessert. I also had four bottles of Luigi Bosca cabernet sauvignon and had asked the guests to bring their favorites as well. I was good to go.

The word had gotten around from the first party, so three times more times as many people showed up this time even though it was a weekday. Beyond the conversations and eating, the guests danced, laughed, and napped pictures, networking until a little after midnight. The guests were definitely impressed by my melmastia, and everyone commented on my hosting skills, but more important, I was dubbed “community organizer”. Though this party was no grassroots movement, it demonstrates that people who crave a social life have to interact with the neighborhood, and that when the conditions are right, one person’s dream to find a home can forge a sense of community. Although two of the neighbors that I befriended are now gone and others I’ve become acquainted with will probably leave before I move out next summer, the great memories will always be here, and I hope to continue to host parties and meet more of neighbors.

While my challenge to find a place I can call home has been long. I think about my expanding neighborhood network. A common Dari proverb comes to mind: “Qatra, qatra, darya meshawad.” While this encapsulates the shared journey of Afghanistan – sacrifice, patience, hope, and self-sustaining success – it is also a way for me to think about how to live. My move to Magnus Avenue has changed who I am: I’m no longer a disconnected immigrant who had previously felt unable to put down his roots. I’ve found my place.

2008-12-28T16:21:00.000-08:00

What a Barack Obama Presidency Means for Afghans?
by Nemat Sadat

America’s president-elect has a steadfast desire to bring a new dawn to troubled Afghanistan. Mr. Obama’s campaign logo and his first name, Barack, meaning “blessed” in Arabic sheds light on how the multicultural message of change and hope now an American reality can become a universal phenomenon.

November 4, 2008 was a historic moment in American politics as the presidential elections shattered racial barriers in a single progressive leap forward. Barack Obama’s triumph in securing the world’s most powerful position, and the phenomenal global outpouring of support for him, represents a rejection of the status quo and a celebration for all those who have been imperiled by the last eight years.

Re-Focus on Afghanistan

Mr. Obama’s impending presidency offers a unique ray of hope for Afghanistan: the possibility to direct the focus and reinvigorate the optimism that Afghans, both in the homeland and the Diaspora, shared post-September 11. This hope was born when the international community realized that abandoning a devastated state to fragment and fail was no longer an option and promised a better future for beleaguered Afghanistan. Mr. Obama is positioned to do what President Bush has failed to do: to unite Afghans and promote cooperation among rival factions in order to begin repairing this broken country.

The proposed “Marshall Plan for Afghanistan” was envisioned in 2002 after the U.S. and allied forces toppled the Taliban regime—took on a quixotic dream and became an empty promise when attention and resources were diverted to the pre-emptive invasion of Iraq. With America distracted, Afghanistan’s fragile safety net was torn to pieces by a Kabul regime that proved unable or unwilling to contain rampant lawlessness, bribery, unlawful arrests, civilian casualties from air strikes, widespread unemployment, unmitigated narco-trafficking, and a renewed Taliban counter re-insurgency. A majority of Afghans, who once supported the presence of western security forces, have now become jaded and disillusioned. Symbolism in Name Still, Mr. Obama is fortunate to have the general good will and cautious optimism of the Afghan people. A Global Electoral College poll by The Economist prior to the election revealed Afghanistan to be strongly pro-Obama; his ratio of votes over rival John McCain exceeded six to one.

While some Americans thought Obama’s very name would preclude him from winning the presidency, it is captivating to Afghans. Perhaps O-ba-ma, literally and neatly translated into Dari as “He is with us,” serves as an assurance that the incoming American president will help end the seemingly forever war.

Obama’s Afghan Strategy

So far, Mr. Obama has been a vocal supporter of Afghanistan, stating that his foreign policy priority is to defeat terrorism—and to make the country stable and prosperous economically and politically, which is certainly a precursor for lasting peace in this volatile region. During the campaign trail in August 2007, Obama signaled to the world that, if elected, he would withdraw troops from Iraq and re-direct them to the Afghan-Pakistan border in order to defeat Al Qaeda and the Taliban.

With its own policies a failure, the Bush administration has already started implementing Mr. Obama’s ideas. Military brigades initially intended for Iraq are being re-directed to Afghanistan, aerial strikes into Pakistan were launched last July, and a military pact was made with Baghdad in November 2008 for a full withdrawal of American troops from Iraq by 2011. We can expect Mr. Obama to refocus the spotlight on Afghanistan as the “mini-surge” takes full effect—but tough questions remain. Will Mr. Obama negotiate a deal with insurgent Taliban forces, and will Mullah Omar be receptive to any peace deal with remaining foreign troops? If not, will American and NATO forces be willing to fight to protect the fragile Kabul regime until Afghanistan is economically and militarily self-sustaining?

A Model for Afghanistan

Mr. Obama offers tangible hope for the patchwork quilt that makes up the Afghan nation. His ability to transcend the broad spectrum of Afghan society is unusual and particularly important, as Afghanistan lacks a central figure with this sort of appeal. For more religious Afghans, the idea that a person whose patrilineal ancestors are Muslim — and whose middle name is “Hussein” —can become the President of a country that has long been run by a white Judeo-Christian tradition is testimony to the promise and the possibilities of liberal democracy. For urbane and secular Afghans, Mr. Obama, the non-traditional Ivy League graduate who received his undergraduate degree from Columbia and his law degree from Harvard, is also attractive and inspirational. He chose community organizing over the allure of Wall Street and built the most powerful grassroots campaign in history; this symbolizes the axiom that exists for Afghanistan’s nascent democracy as it heads for presidential elections in fall 2009.

Mr. Obama’s scholarly dedication to building his intellectual faculties, pursuit of noble goals such as respect for social ethos, and cultivating his leadership talents has paid big dividends for the communities he has served and the country that beckons him to lead—all the while satisfying his purpose of being a conduit for progress in the world. In the long run, if enough Afghans acquire Obama-like tendencies, the anti-Obama figures in society—those who mock intellect or denigrate progressive values—will find themselves marginalized or obsolete. As the practice of corruption, nepotism, and favoritism for in-groups—such as those within tribal or religious groups—are trumped by the greater commitment to what is best for the Afghan community, this will signal that the “Obama effect,” has taken root in Afghanistan.

Some nay-sayers may claim that this type of wishful thinking is naïve or Pollyannish, in light of Afghanistan’s current position. This is exactly what a great many people thought about the prospects of a black man with Muslim ancestry being elected President of the United States. Far too many self-proclaimed pundits—in private life and in the media—were convinced that there was far too much bigotry in America for Mr. Obama even to make it past the primaries. These and other faulty, pessimistic assumptions vaporized with Mr. Obama’s resounding win on Election Day. Miracles—or hard work—happen, and as the forces of civil order prevail over warlords and the Taliban, they can happen in Afghanistan too.

Afghanistan in the Progressive Era

But there is far greater meaning in Mr. Obama’s victory than the beginning of the end of American racism. Mr. Obama’s win represents a divergent effect, a progressive way of thinking that replaces the entrenched narrow-minded norm. As in America, in future Afghan elections, it will not matter whether a candidate belongs to the dominant Pashtun majority or not. If a qualified and talented Afghan who happens to be of Hazara, Tajik, Uzbek, or whatever hodgepodge (ethnic-group-in-the-making) lineage offers good ideas and a promising vision, then Pashtuns, like white Americans, will have Mr. Obama as a reference point. And the provocative image of love of country will prevail when they cast their votes.

America’s true prowess rests in its soft “cultural” power that intrigues and amazes people and this became evident with the gleeful elation and tearful crowds of jubilance ascended onto the streets as news of Mr. Obama’s victory became universally known. No form of hard power—military intervention can win the “hearts and minds” in Afghanistan or elsewhere as this approach exacerbates the problem and reinforces the resistance. Mr. Obama’s triumph is a more palatable brand of Pax Americana than permanent occupation. If he prevails, then it offers a new lens through which Afghans can perceive themselves, their nation, and define their roles as global citizenry. Whether Mr. Obama succeeds in bringing genuine change to America in his first or even in his second term, he has already mobilized a vast army of foot soldiers whose efforts will re-invent America and send ripples into every nation on earth. Simply put, America’s vote for change provides the impetus for Afghanistan’s vote for change.

The Role of Afghan-Americans

Where do Afghan-Americans fit into this picture? Many of us Afghan-Americans have struggled to define ourselves by trying to integrate and assimilate into American society. Afghan-Americans who left the homeland and not witnessing the destruction of their land or misery of their people, feel a sense of survivor’s guilt—the idea of having the unearned privilege of safely escaping and living in relative comfort while their countrymen endure disease, hunger, opium addiction, refugee camps, terrorism, war, and poverty.

Many Afghan-Americans who have returned home post September 11, to volunteer in the building of the nation or visit, have experienced a country far different that bears little resemblance to the one that existed in the nostalgic memories of Afghanistan that they had while living abroad. Some Afghan-Americans have experienced resentment or hostility from the local population; as having returned from years of exile they are viewed as neo-imperialists who accept political appointments in the Afghan government or international organizations or return to the homeland to procure or sell vestiges of real estate. While to some Afghans, Americans of Afghan heritage, are labeled as “sell-outs” to the hated kafirs (infidels). At this critical juncture, Afghan-Americans are poised to work with the President-elect to help Afghanistan in a meaningful way and possibly reverse their homeland’s “brain drain” by participating in political affairs in the United States and their homeland.

Bi-Racial Ties

Mr. Obama understands the journey of all immigrants. Afghan-Americans can identify with his middle-class roots, his bi-racial heritage, and his personal struggle to fit into black or white America. In their adolescent years, Afghan immigrants, like other recent immigrants of the greater Middle East, feeling rejected or unable to relate to white America, often affect elements of black culture—absorbing “Ebonics” into their lingo, listening to rap music, or dressing in baggy jeans, and corn-rowing their hair. All the while their parents cringe and worry whether the Afghan rumor mills will tarnish their reputation in the community. Many parents scold or ridicule their children for “acting black,” thinking it insulting to Afghan culture, but not quite understanding that their children’s behavior is more socially acceptable than becoming “white washed.” So it should be to no surprise for an Afghan-American to attest as having a strong affinity or emotional connection with the person that is Mr. Obama.

Afghan is the New Black

The irony behind this dichotomy is that the American government’s census reports classify Afghans, a people from the heart of Asia, as Caucasian. This only intensifies the identity crisis and makes Afghans wonder why they have been excluded from the affirmative-action benefits extended to other minority groups, yet they don’t receive any of the privileges afforded the white community. One way Afghan-Americans can resolve this dilemma is to jumpstart the push initiated by Iranian-Americans in 2000 who lobbied the Census to include a fill-in “other” column. In 2010, if a large number of Afghan-Americans accurately identify themselves as such, then the US government will recognize us a substantial group and fund projects for the community.

Beyond that, Mr. Obama, a self-proclaimed “mutt,” stands as an inspirational figure whose self-empowerment can serve as a role model to all immigrants dealing with similar questions of identity. If Bill Clinton was the first “black” American president because of his bonds with the African-American community, then Barack Obama will become the first “Afghan” American president. He can unleash the dreams and possibilities of the nascent community of Afghan immigrants as they re-invent their identities and involve themselves in American politics.

Most Afghan-Americans who settled in the United States in the 1980s and early 1990s were drawn to the Republican Party. After all, it was Ronald Reagan who supported our “freedom fighting” mujahedeen in fending off the Soviets.

Conservative to Progressive Shift

Mr. Obama’s victory has shown that the American political landscape has shifted from the center-right towards the left. There has also been steady shift in party loyalties among the 300,000 Afghan-Americans, an estimate of the Embassy of Afghanistan in Washington D.C. In the past, it made sense for Afghan-Americans to vote Republican because those who immigrated during the Cold War brought with them entrepreneurial ideals that made free-market economic views more appealing. It also helped that the socially conservative values of the GOP were compatible with traditional Afghan and Islamic values. Like other Muslim-American communities, however, Afghan-Americans turned against the George W. Bush’s second term. By 2004, with the curtailment of civil liberties and all the foreign policy disasters affecting their homeland, many Afghans had become Democrats or Independents. They voted en masse for the Democratic candidate John Kerry in the 2004 presidential election.

The 2008 election solidified the Afghan-American political realignment. Whether young or old, secular or religious, entrepreneur or bureaucrat, conservative or progressive, the overwhelming majority went to the polls for Mr. Obama. The substantial Afghan population along with the burgeoning Asian immigrant communities of northern Virginia may have given Mr. Obama the needed boost to paint that state in the blue column for years to come. According to an independent poll conducted online and tabulated by Mister Poll an astounding 91 percent of Afghan-Americans voted for Mr. Obama, making the community on par with African-Americans, who according to CNN Exit polls voted 93 percent for Mr. Obama—making these two groups as the most reliably pro-Obama voting bloc.

Pioneering the Afghanistan Brand

One of the most important lessons to be learned from Obama relates to the power of the formidable and provocative brand that he created with his aura of confidence and his ability to project himself as a transformational leader, ready to lead in a perilous time. His efforts were a good deal more than just marketing—despite being named Advertising Age’s 2008 marketer of the year a few weeks before the election. Obama’s talent for marketing could be instructive to Afghanistan, with its geostrategic location, to become an incubator for technological innovation and an engine for economic growth.

Afghanistan previously had a unique branding opportunity in President Hamid Karzai, whose eloquent speech and flair for blending Afghan attire with posh western suits earned him Gucci’s title “chicest man on the planet” followed by a showering of rose petals during a tour of European capitals. But Karzai’s coziness with George W. Bush tarnished his luster as American foreign policy headed towards disaster—or at least disappointment—and all the problems within and beyond Kabul became worse.

Envisioning a Promised Land

What Afghanistan needs now is to rebrand itself, and a few lessons from Obama are probably the best place to start. By showing that the “made in Afghanistan” brand no longer means opium, refugees, and terrorism but rather pomegranates, saffron, and world-class rugs, Afghanistan can become self-sufficient again. It can become a cosmopolitan hub as the free-flow of information and expansive trade networks criss-cross through the heart of the continent.

As Afghanistan reclaims its previous title as the “Switzerland of the East,” the Afghanistan passport will be well-received as Afghans travel abroad and Afghanistan will experience a reverse migration, as people from around the world, students and workers trickle into the country. Tourists will flock to ski slopes and visit ancient ruins, and well-heeled investors will be attracted to profiting from the country’s abundant gemstones and other natural resources like copper, iron, and natural gas among many others.

Perhaps then Afghans can cultivate a set of Obama-like leaders to reclaim Afghanistan’s glorious past as the crossroads of the Silk Road and the Eurasian center of culture and commerce. Afghanistan’s unparalleled hospitality and gourmet cuisine, majestic scenery, and unique fusion of cultures can even edge out Dubai as a destination of choice. The desire to be connected to Afghanistan will intensify as the Afghan brand comes to represent progressivism, creativity, ingenuity, and prosperity. The suffering of the Afghan people will recede into history. As the famous African-American intellectual, W.E.B DuBois once professed, “there is in this world no such force as the force of a person determined to rise. The human soul cannot be permanently chained." Certainly, If Obama can, then yes, Afghans can rise too.

Nemat Sadat is a master's degree candidate in Journalism at Harvard University Extension School. He can be reached at sadat@fas.harvard.edu.

Proseminar Final Project Article

2008-08-14T00:44:00.000-07:00

Muslim Americans and the Presidential Election

Since the 2008 campaign season started, both Barack Obama and John McCain have visited churches and synagogues but neither presidential candidate has visited a mosque. The reason is that they fear being labeled as “soft on national security” and this would hurt Obama more than McCain since the rumor that the former is secretly a Muslim continues to thrive in the media.

Muslim Americans are eager to flex their political muscles in the upcoming presidential election but are discomfited by presumptive presidential nominees Barack Obama and John McCain.

In a year when the political landscape is very different from previous elections with the country more polarized than ever, the demographics have shifted, making the Muslim vote more critical than ever before. With no easy choices to make, Muslim Americans are conflicted about McCain and Obama, and this voting bloc, capable of tilting the upcoming election in some battleground states, has yet to make up its mind.

This swing voting bloc chose heavily Republican in the past because they identified with economic and social issues of the GOP. According to the 2000 Census Report, there are sizeable Muslim populations in closely contested states such as Florida, Michigan, Ohio, and Virginia. The leaders of Muslim American organizations believe that their voting bloc will determine the outcome of the 2008 election. Muslim leaders argue that the 50,000 Muslim voters in Florida are the ones who propelled George W. Bush into the White House in 2000. This constituency has tilted the results in previous contested elections and community leaders believe that it will do so again this November.

Muslim Americans were excited when Obama launched his campaign but now the community is ambivalent; Obama’s denials that he is a Muslim, emphasizing that he is a proud Christian, have caused concern among many Muslim Americans. The Obama campaign remarked that the satirical cover of The New Yorker magazine, depicting Obama as Muslim constituted “fear mongering” or a “smear campaign”. Such comments were an affront to some Muslim Americans.
Many Muslims think Obama’s comments negatively conveyed the Muslim religion and they waited for him to speak out on behalf of the Islamic faith. Days later, Obama told CNN’s Larry King, “You know, there are wonderful Muslim Americans all across the country who are doing wonderful things. And for this to be used as sort of an insult or to raise suspicions about me I think is unfortunate. And it’s not what America’s all about.”

Given the stereotypes, Obama is trying to walk a narrow line, working to maintain his broad-based coalition without alienating constituencies, including Muslim Americans. Neither he nor McCain can afford to alienate Muslim American voters. One major threat to both candidates is how Muslim Americans will react to the third party candidate Ralph Nader. A substantial number of Muslim Americans who did not vote for Bush in 2000 actually voted for Nader over Gore as his Arab-American roots appealed to those in the community. The nearly three percent of votes that Nader took away from the Democratic Party cost Gore the election and gave Bush the upset. The Arab-American Institute released a report in 2004 revealing that approximately forty percent of Ralph Nader’s votes came from Muslim Americans of Arab descent.

It is important to note that the approximate number of Muslim Americans is uncertain, as the Census Bureau does not collect data on religious orientation, most estimates range from 2.35 to 6 million. The Muslim Electorate Council of America estimates that more than 2% of the country’s 100 million registered voters are Muslim Americans.

Despite feeling neglected by Obama, many Muslim Americans quietly support the Illinois senator, fearing that visible allegiance might only incite further rumors. Early in the campaign, Muslim Americans were drawn to Obama’s support for civil liberties, as well as his diplomatic approach to the Middle East. His multicultural message of “change” and “hope” has appealed to the growing immigrant community as does the fact that his biological father and step-father were both Muslim.

“The joke within the national Muslim organizations is that we should endorse the person we don’t want to win,” says Safia Ghori, of the Muslim Public Affairs Council. Muslim Americans identify with Obama as the son of a Muslim immigrant, since this gives them a sense of hope for their own future prospects. “I don’t appreciate Obama pandering to the Israeli lobby and refusing to meet with Muslim groups. But I voted for him in the primaries and plan to do so again in November. He has worked hard to reach where he has, so I feel obligated to give him my courtesy vote, says Fawad Qaderi, an Afghan-American Muslim.

Despite Obama’s denials, and with all the controversy surrounding Pastor Jeremiah Wright and Barack Obama’s membership in Chicago’s Trinity United Church of Christ, one in ten voters still believes that the senator from Illinois is Muslim, according to a recent poll by the Pew Research Center. In response to a question about the possibility of a Muslim running for president, McCain said last year in an interview, “This nation was founded primarily on Christian principles. I prefer someone who I know has a solid grounding in my faith.” While that may be the case, Islam is the fastest growing religion in America. Although the oldest mosque in America was built in 1934, a large number of Muslims are relatively recent immigrants to the U.S. who are focused on starting new lives; however the September 11, 2001 attacks galvanized Muslims because news stories thereafter often linked terrorism and Islam, making Muslims targets of bigotry and intolerance. Muslim Americans quickly realized they had to stand up for their civil liberties and become active participants in the political process.

In the 2000 elections, it made sense for Muslims to vote for Bush. Many Muslims who had immigrated to the United States under the Reagan and George H.W. Bush administrations brought with them entrepreneurial ideals that made free-market economic views more appealing than those of the repressive homelands they left behind. During the 2000 presidential campaign, Bush was outspoken against the ethnic profiling of Arab Americans and Muslim Americans, and the socially conservative values of the GOP harmonized with Islam’s traditional and religious values. Many Muslims favored the idea of school vouchers so they could send their children to Islamic schools rather than public institutions. When viewing the democrats, many Muslim leaders suggested that Al Gore’s choice of Joe Lieberman for the vice presidential slot had an unsettling psychological impact on many Muslim Americans. Qaderi says, “Honestly, the possibility that Al Gore could be assassinated and the American President would be an Israel first supporter was nerve-wracking so I like many Muslims voted for Bush.”

But Muslim Americans quickly found themselves ignored by Bush administration as their communities were rocked by the implementation of the USA Patriot Act, the detention and deportation of Muslim immigrants, and other security measures after September 11. Muslims advocacy organizations like the Council on American Islamic Relations and Muslim Public Affairs Committee defend civil liberties by focusing on issues of civil liberties, racial profiling, discrimination, and hate crimes in order to politicize their community into activism and participation. Khalim Massoud, President of Muslims Against Sharia, an activist group based out of Washington D.C, believes that some of these issues are exaggerated by the American Muslim establishment. Massoud says, “Personally, I don’t mind getting extra attention at the security line at the airport. It’s when TSA agents start searching grandmas in wheelchairs and
people who like me go unchecked, then I get worried.”

In the 2004 elections, after the curtailment of civil liberties at home and all the foreign policy mishaps in the Middle East, many Muslim Americans had become Democrats or Independents and voted en for Democratic candidate John Kerry. In his book, Silent No More, former Congressman Paul Findley recorded that seventy-two percent of Muslims voted for George W. Bush; while ninety-three percent of Muslims voted as a bloc in 2004. Zahid Buhari, director of Project MAPS stated in an interview in 2004, “the political realignment in the Muslim community is unprecedented in all of American history.”

Regardless of the challenges of living Muslim in America since September 11, most seem to embrace American life and are more integrated into society than their European counterparts. The Council on American Islamic Relations found in a 2006 survey that nearly ninety percent of Muslim American voters said they vote regularly. “While most European Muslims live in ghettos, earn the lowest incomes, suffer high unemployment, and have fewer chances for social mobility, American Muslims in contrast are living the good life,” says Laila Al-Qatami, communications director for the Arab-American-Anti-Discrimination Committee. A 2006 CAIR survey found that compared with the general U.S. population, Muslim voters were much younger and more likely to have advanced degrees as sixty-two percent (twice the national average) held at least a bachelor’s degree, making Muslims the most educated group in America.
Though part of the Muslim community is independent, Massoud says that, “The other part is going to do whatever it is told to do by Muslim ‘leaders,’ which are mostly bought and paid for by Wahhabi petro-dollars.” One of its main goals is “to educate Muslims about dangers presented by Islamic religious texts and to educate non-Muslims about the differences between moderate Muslims and Islamists so that proper reform of Islam can be made,” says Massoud.

One dilemma facing the Muslim American community is that Obama’s liberal social views conflict with the tenets of Islam. For example, gay marriage and gay rights contradict Sharia law and homosexuality is considered punishable by death, according to the extreme interpretation of the Koran. On this issue, there is a clear difference between moderate and fundamentalist Muslims and also a generational gap between the immigrant community’s conservative elders versus their more acculturated or American-born children who tend to lean towards the progressives.

The main concern for activist groups like Muslims Against Sharia is the rise of Muslim extremism, so-called Islamo-fascism in America and Europe. Regarding gay rights, Massoud says, “Wahhabi-influenced Muslims are more likely to temporarily not embrace gay rights as long as Obama is perceived to be weaker than McCain to stand up to Islamist expansionism. Therefore, independent Muslims will be somewhat evenly split. Followers of the American Muslim establishment will vote overwhelmingly for Obama.” The stakes are high for McCain and Obama as Muslim Americans calculate how their majority vote will determine who will become the next leader of the free world.

Proseminar Final Project Slideshow

2008-08-12T13:24:00.000-07:00

Dear Ladies and Gentleman . . . ...and to my endearing audiences and marvelous fans:

Let me take you on a journey into the lives of Muslim Americans; a nascent immigrant community that is still defining itself in a post September 11 world. As the stakes remain high in the 2008 Election, Muslim voters are poised to make their voting bloc determine the winner in November.

Thank you for viewing my news report. I hope you all have a glorious day.

With utmost respect and admiration,

Nemat Sadat

Commemorative eulogy for Ms. Homaira Rahman

2008-08-03T19:45:00.000-07:00

Ms. Homaira Rahman was murdered last Fourth of July near her Vienna, Virginia home

Dear Homaira jaan,

Words cannot describe the immensity and toll your abrupt departure from the graceful life you lived on your family, our community, and all of humanity. The outpouring of grief and profound agony experienced by us stretches beyond the imagination and serves as a reminder again at how much you meant to everyone around you. Although not always showing you our appreciation and blessings in your kind deeds, we are here perhaps too late to tell you that we pain collectively as a conflicted nation again over your tragic and sudden loss. Your zealous self-determination to do good in this world along with your zestful persona at such a young age channeled energy and radiated light to countless numbers of people young and old. These are just a few of the hallmarks—among the many—that will be lost but forever cherished even when our tears are dried passed the mourning passage of time.

We commemorate your life, your astute dedication to the development of your mental faculties, your endless giving spirit, and everlasting desire to help those in need. These are remarkable characteristics distinguishing you as a great Muslim, Afghan, and American. You will be remembered as the embodiment of a caring and decent human being something you achieved at twenty-five years of age.

Homaira jaan, you were born and raised in America yet you exuded so much love for your Afghaniyat. Your tremendous contribution to charitable causes, the cultural advancement of fellow people, and your commitment to the empowerment of peers are elements of a high-minded noble and true role model.

Tonight and many nights since the tragedy that ripped you away from your loved ones, I am cascading in pool of tears reflecting on your commendable accomplishments in such a short-time. How did you do it? Will there be another of you? I do not know how you did it but know for certain that you were one in a million not to be replaced.

It is with much pride that I regard you as an honorable and fine Afghan-American. Although I may not have been your sibling, you were and always will be a person that I will highly admire and respect as a sister and friend. My dear sister, I just had to tell you that I will miss your remarkable beauty, your kindness, and innocent soul as it departs us and makes its way into God’s paradise.

With much love,

Nemat Sadat
Cambridge, Mass.

Management Feature: Bridging the Cultural Gap...One Brigade at a Time

2008-08-01T16:53:00.000-07:00

Bridging the Cultural Gap ... One Brigade at a Time
by Nemat Sadat

It seemed like an ordinary day of post-September-11 air travel. I departed Boston for Chicago, where I changed planes for an obscure destination: Killeen, Texas, 65 miles north of Austin.

As I stepped off the airplane in O’Hare, I heard, “Mr. Sadat, we want to speak with you.” Three men dressed in dark suits pulled me to the side of the jet bridge. One of them introduced himself as being with the FBI. He peppered me with questions. “Where are you from? Where do you live now? How old are you?”

“I was born in Kabul, Afghanistan. My family sought refuge in America in 1984, escaping the Soviet-Afghan War. I’m 28 years old.”

The lead agent inquired further about my family.

“My family lives in San Diego and I live in Boston.” As the passengers and crew deplaned, the agents asked what my parents do for a living.

“My mom is a childcare worker and hair stylist, and my father, who once served as an ambassador, is now a taxi cab driver.” The irrelevance of the questions forced me to interject. “Excuse me, I want to know the purpose of your questioning.”

Maintaining a blank expression, the lead agent replied, “One of the passengers saw you reading literature about Afghanistan and reported it as a threat to the flight attendant. That news was passed to us. Where are you traveling today?”

I shook my head. “I’m going to Ft. Hood to deliver a graduate-level seminar to the military.”

“What is the seminar about?”

I teach graduate seminars on Afghanistan to soldiers deploying to the region. I expressed the irony that the slides I was leafing through were intended to help America succeed in the Afghan mission not pose a homeland security threat.

When they ask my qualifications, I answer, “My proficiency in Dari and English proficiency and undergraduate degrees in International Business, Near Eastern History, and Middle Eastern Politics.” The FBI agents huddled briefly before telling me that my story added up and that I was “Good to go.”

After my release, I wondered how, if these professionals mistook me for a terrorist, could I possibly be successful in cultivating cultural competency in our men and women in uniform? Yet the prolonged counterinsurgency, now in its seventh year, will not turn around until the military’s deficiency in cross-cultural understanding is resolved.

Cultural competency is crucial because misunderstandings of Afghan culture by American soldiers have exacerbated the resurgence of the Taliban. It has also derailed any sort of full-fledged nation-building process. Cultural intelligence training has been offered since World War II, but since Operation Enduring Freedom in 2001, the military’s budget for language and cultural awareness has grown significantly, reaching $181 million in 2007. Culturally aware soldiers serve as a “force multiplier” for their commanders in military terms. Obtuse soldiers are likely to prolong the fighting.

A Wal-Mart Suit

After I arrived at the Killeen airport, I waited at the carousel to claim my suitcase, but it hadn’t made the flight. I was told it would be delivered after my presentation.

A retired colonel escorted me to the hotel but promised to take me to a local Wal-Mart so that I could buy a new suit. As I checked-in, I heard snippets of policy discussions about Afghanistan – other faculty participants had also arrived. The time away from the seminars is the only chance we have to discuss foreign policy. We are not allowed to engage soldiers in discussions of current policy, since they are in no position to change it. The other faculty presenters included personnel from the U.S. government, academia, NGOs, and the Afghan Embassy in Washington D.C.

At Wal-Mart, while trying on the grey suit, I thought about past seminars, which ranged in size from 20 to 450 students, since starting this role last January. Tomorrow’s group would be about 220 soldier- and service personnel. The soldiers tend to view this effort as a training exercise rather than education. Yet my goal for the next three days would be to help them understand the nuances of Afghan history and culture. For me, this wasn’t just a drill.

In the morning, I arrived at the lobby before the departure time, since I would be the first presenter. If I am even one minute late, the retired military colonels either snicker or tell me I need to discipline myself. I usually attribute my nonchalant take on punctuality to my Afghan background, but that never seems to work with them. When I arrived downstairs, I learned of a change in plans. Vice President Cheney had made a surprise visit to welcome some troops coming home from Iraq, and as a security precaution, no civilians were allowed on the post. The presentations were delayed until the afternoon and would be held in a nearby chapel, of all places.

Finally, in the afternoon, we drove off. Most of the bases I have visited are actually reminiscent of Afghanistan – military posts flanked by barren mountains or desert – but Killeen was greener and didn’t resemble my poorly irrigated homeland. The car parked in a dirt parking lot, and we rushed into the high-ceilinged chapel.

As the first presenter, I broke the ice. I’ve learned that helping soldiers recognize their own cultural influences and identities makes them more willing to think openly and respect Afghan norms. It took me a minute to get into my normal groove. I wondered whether the audience noticed my replacement suit.

I have also struggled my entire life with a stuttering problem that used to prevent me from completing sentences without mumbling. The most challenging part of growing up an Afghan in a white American world was in school or earlier jobs in my career when my questions or thoughts came across as irrelevant or silly and were easily dismissed. Not having my ideas heard only exacerbated my stuttering. Dealing with this past, I now consider speaking to a group for hours at a time a personal coup. Something shifts in my head, sometimes, and I suddenly want to regurgitate more words per minute than humanly possible, or I flashback to a moment when I was teased, and my stuttering kicks in again. Within minutes, though, I realized that the soldiers were eager to learn. The problem dissolved.

My biggest concern is maintaining credibility with the audience members. Steering clear of seeming elitist or too Americanized is a challenge when speaking about the dynamics of life in a rural village. My Afghan-American heritage can either help or hurt me, depending on how my presentation is perceived. My parents grew up in middle-class households in Kabul, and I’ve only heard and read folklore about such exotic places in the hinterland.A Headless Goat
I began by throwing a few softballs. I explained how a national from Afghanistan is an ‘Afghan’ – neither an ‘Afghani’ which is the name for the currency, nor an ‘Afghanistani’ which is someone from any of the other six stans (such as Pakistani). They got it very quickly.

Leaving my podium and walking down the aisles, I talked about the geo-strategic relevance of Afghanistan. I explained how the demise of the silk trade between Europe and Asia, after the discovery of the New World and the emergence of maritime powers, caused a huge change for one of the richest countries, the entrepot of the Old World. I also described how, in the nineteenth century, Afghanistan became part of the strategic “Great Game” between Imperial Russia and British India.

A soldier asked, “Other than terrorism and drugs, what makes Afghanistan important now?”

“It serves as the gateway to Central Asia’s vast oil and gas reserves,” I say, “it has the largest refugee population in the world and is encircles by nuclear-armed powers.” The soldiers, even those who lack certain skills in geography, nodded.

The most crucial aspect in a cultural talk about Afghanistan is explaining the unique way that pride and shame function in its society. Cultural competency in Afghanistan cannot be obtained until the soldiers understand the role of Zan (women), Zar (wealth), and Zamin (property), as well as how these core values have the power to incite blood feuds in Afghanistan. The Jirga system, an assembly of tribal elders, serves as the traditional venue for settling outbreaks of violence among Afghan tribes. Another soldier stood and asked,

“So, if we accidently kill civilian bystanders, what is the Jirga process?”

I nodded at him as he took his seat. “First, you have to acknowledge the wrong. Soviet arrogance and cultural ineptitude about is why tribal Afghans despised their occupation. Second, you must help restore the honor of those affected. Finally, you compensate for the damage done.”

I then talk about the traditional Afghan sport of Buzkashi. I say, “The goal of a player in this prestigious game is to grab the carcass of a headless goat or calf while riding on a horse, get it away from the other players, and pitch it across a goal line or into a targeted pit. Buzkashi is the ancient but less-refined predecessor of polo.

A soldier raised his hands, “I don’t understand how learning about this sport is relevant to understanding Afghan history and culture.”

I explain, “Buzkashi shows the machismo-dominated culture of men jockeying for power in physical terms and also symbolizes Afghanistan’s politics,” I explained. In this sport, only one can win – you have to forge short-term alliances with cousins or friends, but the booty ultimately goes to just one man – the rest are left on the sidelines with nothing.”

Afghanistan vs. Iraq

Frequently, I see a clear split between soldiers who have served previous rotations. Those who have been in Iraq often assume that the religious divide between Sunni and Shiite there also serves as the major tension point in Afghanistan. It’s not.

[Soldier asked] “How is our involvement in Afghanistan so different from Iraq?”

"The major source of conflict in Afghanistan is the tribal system,” I said. The average Afghan sees American and NATO forces as liberators, whereas Iraqis view Americans as an occupying force that’s out to plunder the country’s resources. Iraq, under Saddam Hussein, was a secular country moving towards extremism, while Afghanistan under the Taliban was a fundamentalist state shifting towards modernity. By a show of hands, how many of you have seen The Last Samurai?” I asked.

Most in the audience raised their hands.

“So, you know about the conflict of rural versus city. Ultimately, the industrial center defeats the villages. Well, that’s been the story of almost every country in the modern era except Afghanistan, where every such attempt has resulted in backlash by the tribes.”

The soldiers who have not served in previous theatres are insensitive to the meaning of cultural awareness, but once they gain a basic understanding, they benefit by revising some of their preconceptions about Afghans. Common questions often follow: how was the Taliban created? What are the untapped natural resources? What about marriage? When those questions are framed in ways that portray Afghans as subhuman, it’s my job to explain the meaning of cultural relativity.

Towards the end of this, for example, one female soldier asked, “How should our boys be prepared to deal with homosexuality? Is it true that all Afghan men are gay?”

I’ve heard this before, but it still makes me bristle. “Sexual orientation in Afghanistan,” I said, “does not exist as in the Western concept of identifying yourself with labels such as ‘straight’, ‘gay’ or ‘bi’. Afghans engaging in homosexual acts would never consider themselves ‘gay’. It’s a rite of passage in certain tribes and everyone is expected to marry and procreate. If you encounter this problem, then you should explain your preference and your mission in the country.”

Another soldier asked, “So, is marijuana against Islam?”

This is laughable, but I keep a straight face. “I’ve been talking to you about the $4 billion export opium trade, which translates to an $80 billion street value. Afghans know drugs are morally wrong, but they are desperate, and the drug industry in Afghanistan is like a national factory. You’re heading to the world’s opium paradise, so get ready to deal with it.”
The minute I finish my answer, the crowd chuckles. They start to chatter, and one of the program facilitators gives me a bewildered look. To bring the lecture back to proper military order, I ask for the next question.

Do’s and Don’ts

At about the midpoint of the talk, a noticeable transition occurs. The soldiers’ questions sharpen, focusing on how cultural factors might affect tactical decisions. One asked in February, “How should we conduct a business meeting, and what if our Afghan counterparts are complacent in reaching negotiations?”

“Afghans like to build relationships before they ever sign a deal,” I answered. “Don’t act like a pushy American by bullying them around. It takes time to gain support, but you will need the consent of the local populace to succeed.”

I talk about the Durand Line, the 100-year treaty imposed by the British in 1893 that divides the Pashtuns between Afghanistan and Pakistan. Afghanistan is landlocked and has not relinquished claims over its lost territory. This is why Afghan nationalism poses such a threat to Pakistan’s existence. Another soldier asked, “Is the Durand Line just a Pashtunistan issue or do other ethnic groups—Tajiks, Hazaras, and Uzbeks—hope Afghanistan will reclaim those lost territories? How will Afghanistan get those lands back?”

I feel proud when they ask such questions. It’s the same rush of approval I feel every time I hear other faculty presenters expose the truth about Pakistan and express their bias by making remarks like, “Pakistan is an artificially made-up country,” or “the root of the name Pakistan, Pak, means ‘land of the pure’ but nothing could be further from the truth.” No matter how many times I hear these witty comments, I humor myself as if it were the first time it was proffered.

But then it’s back to the basics. Even though I include a written appendix describing customary DOs and DON’Ts with all my presentations, I am always asked about cultural taboos.

In February, a soldier blurted out, “So what’s the most offensive way to violate table manners?”

"When Afghans see Americans blow their noses in public,” I said, “especially during mealtime, they find it grotesque and wonder and these people are here to advance our culture.”

The prime objective of the American government is to “win the hearts and minds” of the Afghan people, but I have come to realize that my presentations are more meaningful that that. Providing these kinds of education could protect an individual soldier’s integrity or life.

Growing up with my dual heritage has been tough. I’ve never been quite fully Afghan or American, but since I began participating in these seminars, I have stopped taking my background for granted. I see it as an asset that can be useful to others.

The military measures the impact of the cultural training and whether it has paid off when the number of violent incidents is reduced and a tacit consent is established. My reward is more than just monetary compensation or a sense of doing my patriotic duty as a citizen. I carry a strong sense of survivor’s guilt after safely escaping to a better life while my country people still endure disease, hunger, opium addiction, refugee camps, terrorism, war, and abject poverty. This unrelenting thought is unsettling to me. That’s why I have pursued higher education and hope to use the power of knowledge to counter ignorance and extremism.

Helping our American military achieve Afghanistan’s needs is a not a bad place to start. My mom, Wajiha Sadat, says, “My husband sacrificed his life serving Afghanistan, so when Nemat talks about returning to the homeland to help build the country, it scares me. I am grateful that he is proud of his heritage and is capable of teaching others about his cultural roots.”

My family wants nothing more than for the American military and NATO allies to succeed – not only in safeguarding our adopted lands but also in praying for a better future for the devastated homeland we left behind.

Profile of a Classmate: Flight of the Kiwi

2008-07-25T12:30:00.000-07:00

Aneeta Young is not your ordinary kiwi, the endangered bird and national symbol of her birth country, New Zealand. Her name has been changed to protect the identity of the person and her age will not be revealed since she fears living in an ageist society that defines the western world.

Aneeta is soft-spoken in manner yet her ideas are exuberant and thought provoking. That combination of novel politic and buoyancy makes her current role as a Public Relations Strategist for the New Zealand First, a niche political party, a realistic match. She is currently spending the summer away from home, taking Graduate Journalism Proseminar class at Harvard Extension School in the elusive pursuit of delving into the mind of a Journalist. Aneeta says, “I do want to know how Journalists think because they are on the other side. I also want to understanding how the ‘spin doctors’ craft news articles from the press releases I send them.”

Aneeta’s speech is eloquent and polished, her New Zealand accent forged with the infusion of Briticisms and the native Maori language, yet I noticed a few Americanisms in her speech. Her high-minded thoughts and ability to discern the intricate field of Journalism and the role it plays with influencing politics is quite poignant. Her academic background is evident of that. Educated at the University of Victoria, Aneeta completed her both her undergraduate and graduate studies, completing dual degrees in Politics. Her academic interests and research rests in political issues dealing with race, in particular, how demographics and immigration shape policy making. She is particularly interested in African-American politics and is studying the grassroots movement of the Barack Obama campaign as a case study. She wants to find ways for the political party she is working for to gets five percent of votes cast in order to gain a seat in their high-turnout, proportional electoral system. Aneeta says of the New Zealand First, “The platform is socially conservative. They have a xenophobic, homophobic, and misogynist stance that appeals to white senior citizens.” The party is currently polling slightly below the minimum requirement at 4.5 percent.

So I ask Aneeta, a third generation New Zealander from Chinese descent, who grandparents emigrated to the island country, in the 1890’s as indentured labor, if she feels conflicted about representing this party given her pre-ordained race and gender. She tells me that she initially pursued the job with the intention of using the experience as a stepping stone to reach her goal: working as a Political Advisor in the New Zealand parliament. When asked how a minority could be hired into her role, Aneeta replies, “New Zealand is one of the most politically correct countries, probably more so then the United States.” She feels that her sterling writing abilities made her a qualified choice. Though she also thinks employers in New Zealand would be “scared not to hire you” since the laws make discrimination intolerable. Interestingly enough, now that Aneeta has served in her current role, she finds this work meaningful and thinks it is more interesting working in an opposition party. Aneeta says, “The work is fun and a great challenge for me. Our representational system of government allows me to indulge in fringe politics.”

So like the “kiwi” bird Aneeta is both high- and also free- spirited. After becoming an empty nester and gaining the financial security to retire early, she convinced her husband and children of her desire to become a political writer nine months out of the year and spend the remaining summer months traveling abroad and studying at various academic institutions. Last summer, Aneeta attended New York University where she took a course in American foreign policy.

When asked about New Zealand’s standing in global affairs or perceived geographic isolation, Aneeta tells me that small size of the country with the highest per capita “overseas travelers” from any of the highly-industrialized Western countries has fomented a stalwart global-orientation. She just visited her ancestral homeland of China last year and tells me that her family like most New Zealanders are seasoned travelers and universally aware. Aneeta says, “For four million people, we ‘box above our weight’ in international affairs and our outlook is incredibly international.”

What is the state of Journalism today?

2008-07-01T13:37:00.000-07:00

The future role of the rapidly transforming world of modern journalism has become a major topic of discussion both within the professional academy of mass media as well as in business, politics, and academia. The dissemination of information and new opportunities created by novice bloggers and news aggregators has significantly reduced the clout of traditional media. The erosion of power and hegemony by major newspapers and broadcast stations is quite startling. And then there’s the growth of cable news like CNN, Fox, and MSNBC which has capitalized in a niche market with “qualified” pundits churning out commentary news that have re-defined the meaning of news. Names like Anderson Cooper, Bill O’Reilly, Keith Olberman have become branded as household celebrities.

Comparing American Media

I friends and relatives who have lived in Europe and the Middle East who complain that American news, referring to TV broadcasting, is way too commercialized for entertainment. That it lacks nuance and substance as well of depth of coverage, especially compared to counterparts like BBC and Aljazeera. European media outlets traditionally resistant to this method, have noticed a creep of American-style entertainment creep into their local news with news anchors joking with each other and showing off their colorful personalities and straying from the line-up a bit. After hearing enough complaints, I decided to make the comparison test. What I noticed was American newscasts, especially the cable news don’t debate an issue, but coerce the viewer to take a stance by using frightful tactics by evoking fear and provoke you in any way they can. Whereas in Europe, when they have a debate on an issue, they bring a round-table discussion, kind of like Public Broadcasting Station (PBS) and the system stimulates a more learned and high-minded conversation than artificially orchestrated drama.

Outgrowth of Civil Society

However, there are things I do like about American cable news. First of all, society is changing and this generations so accustomed to be inundated with access to lots of information, demand quick sound-bites and be part of the news making whereas their predecessors consumed news passively reading the daily paper or couching on the sofa watching television. This generation is actively involved in the news, downloading on the net or on cell phones, sending emails to news anchors that get read, polling on news websites on topics of the day, etc. In other words, the new technologies are creative civic activism and facilitating the flourishing of democratic institutions. A brilliant example of this was the CNN-You Tube primary election debates when American citizens send videos asking tough questions to the candidates.

Economic Challenges

I guess the question really is how the traditional mass media can afford to stay business in business considering all the economic challenges they face with loss of target audience and advertising revenue. Obviously, newspapers and broadcast television need to be up-to-date with the latest technology and increate market share and marketing revenue on their websites. They also need to understand the increasing diversity within American borders but also understand that with billions around the globe joining the information society that there is huge potential for growth. So it would not be a bad idea to offer translated version of news in some of the major world languages to attract viewers to their base. A great example of this is Voice of America, which broadcasts via satellite feed, and caters to news to citizens of those nationals within the homeland and their hyphenated counterparts in America. But the news can also be seemingly interesting to the Diaspora community elsewhere. For example, the Voice of America in Dari and Pashto, two of Afghanistan’s main languages covers news about Afghanistan, glosses over some Afghan-American news, American politics, and briefly covers global news. So in essence, it attempts to cater their interests and offer broad-based news coverage.

Thanks for readings,

Nemat