Four months before the end of United States president Barack Obama’s second term in office, observers and followers of American affairs are finding themselves reviewing Obama’s policies, particularly in the Middle East.
Writing in the pan-Arab daily newspaper Asharq Al Awsat, Egyptian columnist Emile Ameen wondered whether such a review stems from a “guilty conscience” as a result of the tragedies and disasters that have struck the region.
A few days back, CIA director John Brennan revealed in a shocking statement that US policy in the Middle East might have spawned from a misunderstanding of the region.
“The efforts have been concentrated on democratising the region whereas the western concept of democracy is totally foreign, both literally and figuratively, to several regions in the world,” he wrote.
“Such examination of conscience extends to retired army colonel and military historian Andrew J Bacevich.
“Mr Bacevich’s criticism is associated with the concept of ‘hard power’, an example of which is the militarisation of US relations with the Middle East over four decades. This led to a great loss for the US military – shown at its worst in the Iraq invasion – and to the spread of oppressive terrorist groups whose threat has extended beyond the region to the entire world.”
Ameen also said Mr Obama is being harshly lashed by Congress, with senator John McCain blaming the president’s “adventurous” administration for causing chaos and leaving a power vacuum in the Middle East that was filled by ISIL.
“Mr McCain believes that his country couldn’t but lose its power in the Middle East after the countries of the region lost their confidence in Washington as an ally,” he added.
Former US negotiator and ambassador Dennis Ross saw it coming, noted Ameen. Mr Ross saw that Mr Obama had left a huge void in the Middle East and it was only normal for the Russian bear, which turned into an agile fox, to take a leap in the warm water and achieve the Russian dream.
Pascal Boniface voiced a similar view in The National’s Arabic-language sister paper, Aletihad: “A survey conducted in April 2016 by the Pew Research Centre found that 57 per cent of Americans feel that what their country needs right now is to focus first and foremost on resolving its internal issues and let the other nations solve their own problems.”
The writer said there was no doubt that the exorbitant economic, strategic and moral price of the catastrophic wars in Iraq and Afghanistan had much to do with such a stance.
“Taking into consideration the public sentiment as well as the strategic facts, president Obama adopted a foreign policy that has been described as ‘leading from behind’,” he wrote.
“This explains the lack of US foreign military intervention and particularly in Syria, where Bashar Al Assad has resorted to the use of chemical weapons.”
“The desire to export democracy by force has proven to be yet another failure that led the US to ultimately resort to torture and to open the Guantanamo Bay detention camp, while the best way to spread democracy is to lead by example and to show its positive sides.
“Only when the US forces are sent abroad to aid an ally under real threat will they be received as a saviour and not as an invader.”
translation@thenational.ae
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Starring: Cate Blanchett, Kevin Hart, Jamie Lee Curtis
Director: Eli Roth
Rating: 0/5
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Director: Jared Hess
Starring: Jack Black, Jennifer Coolidge, Jason Momoa
Rating: 3/5
Winners
Best Men's Player of the Year: Kylian Mbappe (PSG)
Maradona Award for Best Goal Scorer of the Year: Robert Lewandowski (Bayern Munich)
TikTok Fans’ Player of the Year: Robert Lewandowski
Top Goal Scorer of All Time: Cristiano Ronaldo (Manchester United)
Best Women's Player of the Year: Alexia Putellas (Barcelona)
Best Men's Club of the Year: Chelsea
Best Women's Club of the Year: Barcelona
Best Defender of the Year: Leonardo Bonucci (Juventus/Italy)
Best Goalkeeper of the Year: Gianluigi Donnarumma (PSG/Italy)
Best Coach of the Year: Roberto Mancini (Italy)
Best National Team of the Year: Italy
Best Agent of the Year: Federico Pastorello
Best Sporting Director of the Year: Txiki Begiristain (Manchester City)
Player Career Award: Ronaldinho
Sheer grandeur
The Owo building is 14 storeys high, seven of which are below ground, with the 30,000 square feet of amenities located subterranean, including a 16-seat private cinema, seven lounges, a gym, games room, treatment suites and bicycle storage.
A clear distinction between the residences and the Raffles hotel with the amenities operated separately.
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Ms Yang's top tips for parents new to the UAE
- Join parent networks
- Look beyond school fees
- Keep an open mind
In numbers: PKK’s money network in Europe
Germany: PKK collectors typically bring in $18 million in cash a year – amount has trebled since 2010
Revolutionary tax: Investigators say about $2 million a year raised from ‘tax collection’ around Marseille
Extortion: Gunman convicted in 2023 of demanding $10,000 from Kurdish businessman in Stockholm
Drug trade: PKK income claimed by Turkish anti-drugs force in 2024 to be as high as $500 million a year
Denmark: PKK one of two terrorist groups along with Iranian separatists ASMLA to raise “two-digit million amounts”
Contributions: Hundreds of euros expected from typical Kurdish families and thousands from business owners
TV channel: Kurdish Roj TV accounts frozen and went bankrupt after Denmark fined it more than $1 million over PKK links in 2013
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Real estate tokenisation project
Dubai launched the pilot phase of its real estate tokenisation project last month.
The initiative focuses on converting real estate assets into digital tokens recorded on blockchain technology and helps in streamlining the process of buying, selling and investing, the Dubai Land Department said.
Dubai’s real estate tokenisation market is projected to reach Dh60 billion ($16.33 billion) by 2033, representing 7 per cent of the emirate’s total property transactions, according to the DLD.
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Tips for taking the metro
- set out well ahead of time
- make sure you have at least Dh15 on you Nol card, as there could be big queues for top-up machines
- enter the right cabin. The train may be too busy to move between carriages once you're on
- don't carry too much luggage and tuck it under a seat to make room for fellow passengers
About Tenderd
Started: May 2018
Founder: Arjun Mohan
Based: Dubai
Size: 23 employees
Funding: Raised $5.8m in a seed fund round in December 2018. Backers include Y Combinator, Beco Capital, Venturesouq, Paul Graham, Peter Thiel, Paul Buchheit, Justin Mateen, Matt Mickiewicz, SOMA, Dynamo and Global Founders Capital
NO OTHER LAND
Director: Basel Adra, Yuval Abraham, Rachel Szor, Hamdan Ballal
Stars: Basel Adra, Yuval Abraham
Rating: 3.5/5
