In Conclusion...

I had never done a blog before and I never expected to.  In the past I always associated blogs with people who sat in their dark houses with the curtains drawn all day and wrote to unknown readers about their pent-up negativity.  However, this exercise of blogging about current events and issues gave me an entirely new perspective on online blogs.  At first I was unsure of how to write in my blog--what would interest the people reading it?  But as the semester went on I realized how easy it was to not only have an opinion on the things I was writing about but state my opinion in a clear, understandable way.

Like I said in my presentation, I decided to focus on the Middle East because it is one region of the world that I am absolutely fascinated by and I want to know as much about is as I can.  Even when I was in highschool and living at home, with a newspaper waiting for me on the front counter every morning, I am embarrassed to say that I was awful at keeping up with my current events.  I continually felt too busy to take 15 minutes and glance over the New York Times, at least.  But there was a time in my junior year when I took a current events class and our assignment was a weekly one, very much like our blog in International Relations, and I found that I became an expert on a variety of issues in such a short time.  I like feeling in the know and that I could keep up with the conversations that occurred between my parents and their friends; and that is what this blogging exercise did for me again.

Another interesting thing about this exercise is I found out what kind of stories I gravitate towards.  For instance, my genuine interest in the Middle East derives from the fact that the lives of those millions of people that live there are so drastically different from mine.  Hence why I tended to focus a lot of on the role and lives of women in the Middle East.  It is so bizarre to know that as I sit in Belk Library right now, looking out at this nice sunny day, there are millions of girls and women across the globe who will never feel the carefree happiness that I feel right now; it is weird for me to think that at this exact moment, someone is leading a tragically different life from me.  Of course that is not to say that there are no happy women in the Middle East and that all of them loathe their lives, but is rather a statement about the women that I read about--the pained, the suffering, and the poor women that make the headlines.  

From following the stories of some of these women I benefit in two ways: I become increasingly more knowledgeable about the kinds of lives they lead, and I become increasingly more appreciative of my own life and the people in it.  My appreciation spurs me on to want to help bring change to the regions of the world that need it, and thus my knowledge brings me closer to making that change a reality.

In conclusion, I really liked blogging and hope that I will do it again in the future.  In the meantime, I will be keeping up with the Middle East and other regions of the world as if I were blogging and continue the expansion of my knowledge and deepening of my appreciation.

Model UN Reflection

I enjoyed the UN simulation because it was different from the only other simulation I had participated in before.  During the fall semester, it was required for my Global Experience class that we partake in a Model UN simulation; however, that simulation was not crisis simulation and was more centered around the actions/decisions of the Security Council.  Although that experience helped me to better understand the inner-workings of the Security Council, I was simply not as into it because I felt like I could barely contribute my individual opinion.  The crisis simulation was much more interactive for me as it involved smaller groups and in-depth discussions/debates of the task at hand.  I think what I enjoyed was feeling like my opinion was a valued and useful one.

Because I had partaken in MUN before, I knew how to prepare and I came into the crisis simulation with not only knowledge of my country (Kuwait) but also of how to conduct myself throughout the exercise.  I felt that in the crisis simulation it was important to be knowledgeable of your country, but that it was just as crucial to simply rely on your own personal beliefs and opinions concerning how a country, in general, should be run.  Of course there are social, political, and economic distinctions between all the countries that require varying types of attention; but I believe that when a crisis occurs, the way to handle it extends beyond the factual characteristics of the country.  In other words, the crisis simulation helped me to discover that I have set feelings on humanitarian aid, diplomacy, military action, and all other things that come into play when dealing with both an international or domestic problem.

I was most proud of my group when we attempted to negotiate with China to advance our agricultural industry and they misunderstood our request, sent us humanitarian aid (essentially) in the form of rice and chick peas, and we refused the too-easy gift that we in fact did not need and re-routed the shipment to Africa, a country who truly needed it, instead.  Kuwait is such a small and relatively peaceful country that it is often-times perceived as weak, so I was proud of my group when we not only decided to negotiate with a big-dog like China but then went on to refuse the food they sent us out of pity and instead of directly insulting them, we simply made them look presumptuous while making ourselves look self-sufficient.  Overall, I was proud of my group for wanting to get involved even when a crisis was not directly affecting us.  We were constantly looking for ways to help, reform, and advance.

I wish that my country had taken our installation of new desalinization plants further.  Kuwait has a shortage of fresh water that is becoming increasingly more severe and I think that it was very important for us to have secured an alternative approach to fresh water.  I was excited to be working with Turkey on the matter, who had released an announcement of their newly constructed desalinization plants on the newsfeed, and wanted to continue our talks with them.

Issues of Human Rights and Security

Amnesty International has recently reported that although the Kurdish region of Iraq has made advancements in human rights, security forces continue to “regularly abuse their authority” and inflict violence upon women.  The Kurdish are has reached relative stability throughout the Iraq war and has seen “growing prosperity” in terms of human rights.  Progress has been made but “serious problems remain”.

The local security forces, known as Asayish forces, have been reported to randomly arrest and detain innocent people.  Their detainment oftentimes involving various forms of torture (such as electric shock, sleep deprivation, kicking, suspension by the wrists and ankles, and beatings with fists, cables, and batons) and resulting in forced disappearances. 

Amnesty’s director of the Middle East and North Africa Program, Malcolm Smart, urged that the Kurdistan Regional Government take distinct measures to control these forces and hold them 100% accountable under the law in order for recent human rights progress to ultimately be seen as effective.  Amnesty International went on to state that Kurdish authorities have also been unable to control the security branches of the two most important Kurdish political movements that comprise the regional government: the Kurdistan Democratic Party and the Patriotic Union of Kurdistan.

However, Amnesty’s report cited such progress as the legislation that broadened freedom of expression furthered measures to encourage women’s rights.  In regards to that, it stated that “several agencies” are currently working to regulate and prevent violence against women.  But Smart pointed out that issues like “arbitrary detention and torture, attacks on journalists and freedom of expression, and violence against women” haven’t ended and “need urgently to be addressed by the government”. 

On the topic of violence against women, Smart urges that authorities maximize their efforts to terminate the discrimination and excessive violence that is occurring.  As provided by official reports, at least 102 women and girls in the Kurdish region were killed between July 2007 and June 2008.  This statistic encompasses an unknown number of “honor killings”, or the murdering of women by their mal relatives who view their behavior as a violation of the traditional code of “honor.  Women demonstrated blatant objection to their arranged/forced marriage as well as women engaging in telephone contact with a male sans their family’s approval have also been considered victims of “honor crimes”.

The report also released that an estimated 262 women and children “died or were severely injured in the same period due to intentional burning, including suicides.  Some women were reported to having been burned to disguise a killing”.  In once case a 13-year-old girl burned herself to death in order to escape being forcibly married to an adult man.  Such an example is proof of how much more progress needs to be made in order for women and girls to receive the protection they need and deserve.

On Saturday, a Saudi judge in the city of Onaiza announced his refusal to annul a marriage between an 8-year-old girl and a 47-year-old man.  This is the second time that the marriage has been brought before the judge, Sheikh Habib Al-Habib, and it is the second time that he has prevented its annulment. 

The first time that this case was brought to court was on behalf of the girl’s mother who brought a petition before the judge in the interest of getting a divorce on behalf of her daughter.  However, both times al-Habib has insisted that the girl wait until she reaches puberty to seek a divorce.  The first time, the judge ruled that because the girl’s mother is no longer with her father, she is not her legal guardian and thus cannot represent her in court. 

According to the family’s attorney, the girl’s father arranged her marriage to pay off his debts to the man who is a “close friend” of his.  Upon the initial verdict, the judge ordered that the girl’s husband since a contract pledging that he would not engage in sexual intercourse with her until she reached puberty. 

This past March, an appeals court in the Saudi capital of Riyadh refused to accept al-Habib’s original ruling, and ordered that the case be sent back to the judge for reconsideration.  Due to the complexity of the Saudi legal system, the appeals court ruling meant that the marriage was still legitimate, but that challenges to the marriage would continue.  Thus, the Riyadh appeals court has scheduled another hearing for next month. 

The topic of child marriage has stirred many debates recently as groups have been demanding that the government impose laws to protect children from “this type of marriage”.  However, the kingdom’s cleric continues to approve of child marriage as long as the girls are 10 years or older.  

On Sunday, General Ray Odierno, the top US military commander in Iraq, stated that he is almost certain that US troops will be out of the country by the end of 2011.  Odierno was one of the “key architects” of the Surge strategy in Iraq and believes that the strategy led to significant improvements in safety over the past year.  For example, there were nine US casualties last month, giving March the lowest monthly toll since the beginning of the War. 

Thus, Odierno has stated that security has been improved but begs the question, can it be maintained?  He is placing a strict emphasis on the Iraqi’s themselves being able to maintain the improved safety, not the US.  Although the US military has made it harder for foreign fighters to enter Iraq through Syria, Iran continues to serve as an outlet for Iraqi insurgency. 

Iraq’s national security adviser, Mowaffak al-Rubaie, agrees with Odierno and is intent on taking up the issue of security into his country’s own hands, “We believe that now we are leading and we are planning and carrying out most of the combat operations in the country…and the United States forces are moving or transitioning to a more support role, more training, more providing more logistical support, rather than engaging a in a huge military or kinetic combat operations”.

Development in Kuwait

Kuwait is one Middle Eastern country that is on the rise in terms of economics, infrastructure, and development in general.  Most prominent is Kuwait’s rapidly increasing real-estate development; despite the state of the global economy, Kuwait’s housing market continues to boom as space is limited and demands are high.  The construction and renovation of housing units and related infrastructure began to steadily increase when the Public Authority for Housing merged with the Ministry of Housing in 1986.  But the true real-estate “boom” occurred when the Public Authority for Housing Welfare (or PAHW) established itself as an independent entity that would be replacing the Ministry of Housing in 1993. 

The PAHW receives a yearly budget of more than KWD200 million and dedicates itself to providing decent housing for Kuwait’s citizens by offering them subsidized living in the form of a plot of land, hour, or apartment.  The system is a convenient one as buyers have 20 years to slowly but surely pay off their housing loan.  The PAWH does not simply cater to individuals or families, but since it’s independent establishment has finished and sold over 70,000 units schools, police stations, mosques, and libraries.  However, the crippling problem with the PAWH is a lack of availability; the current waiting period for potential PAWH homeowners ranges from 12 to 15 years.  The limited availability is a result of funding, employment, and space issues, but the establishment’s application process is also a setback for many Kuwaitis looking to find a home.  Thus, 32,000 families are currently registered on the PAWH waiting list and burdening their government in the process (as the country’s total population barely reaches 700,000).

Due in large part to the PAWH, the real-estate market has increased by 57% in value over the course of 2007which has propelled it to a current total value of $855 million.  On a larger scale, the entire property market (not just residential sales) has seen record-breaking growth as massive oil revenues have prompted the construction of 270 new towers and five new urban centers.  Kuwait’s construction industry possesses a current value of $4 billion and has planned future investments that will hopefully skyrocket that value to $11 billion. Reasons for Kuwait’s rapid increase in infrastructure success were due to the state’s stable 4.5% annual population increase, high levels of liquidity, promising regional markets, and relatively secure political system.  However, the ongoing global financial crisis has created obstacles throughout the housing and construction markets.  The Minister of State for Housing Affairs, Dr. Moudi Al-Homoud announced last February that His Highness the Amir Sheikh Sabah Al-Ahmad Al-Jaber Al-Sabah has opted against the housing loan increase that would provide for 100,000 Kuwaiti’s.

Aside from Kuwait’s impressive real-estate growth, the state also boasts the most advanced road network in the Middle East.  Beginning in the 1950’s, the Kuwait government has intensely worked to reconstruct the narrow roads that are periodically ruined because of poor weather conditions.  When the road system was first constructed it was one kilometer in length, but now they span six kilometers long and form a 650 kilometer highway that have greatly improved traffic conditions.  Due to the evident success in the road system, the Ministry of Public Works and Kuwait Central Traffic Department are currently drafting plans to improve the state’s bridge system.

Throughout 2006, Kuwait’s construction industry rapidly grew at an annual rate of 7.5% and is expected to grow at an average rate of 5% between 2009 and 2011.  Kuwait’s infrastructural growth is almost entirely due to its oil reserves, which comprise 10% of the global total of oil reserves.  Before the global financial crisis, the unbelievable demand for oil and soaring oil prices strengthened Kuwait’s economy and allowed its government to focus its investment on infrastructure development.  It is projected that in the next five years, the government will further invest US$3 billion into their construction development with a combined US$8 billion from the private sector.  Kuwait plans on concentrating that investment on large-scale construction projects such as Project Kuwait, which hopes to increase production in the country’s northern oil fields.  Other projects include the installment of new water desalinization plants by 2012, the PAHW’s plan to construct 69,000 new housing units for Kuwaiti citizens by 2014, the US$2 billion expansion of Kuwait International Airport, the construction of a new campus for Kuwait University at Shadidiyah, and the building of a complex road system known as the “eighth ring road”.

But because the financial crisis is a reality that Kuwait cannot ignore, the government has decided to focus on the diversification and privatization of their economy in order to avoid such continued dependence on the oil sector.  Thus, the Kuwaiti government views heightened foreign investment as the key to their problems.  The Foreign Investment Law that was passed in May of 2000 has continued to benefit the country as foreign investors have been allowed to purchase up 10 100% of the companies allotted by the Kuwait Stock Exchange (excluding banks).

 

Basics of Kuwait

Kuwait, a Middle Eastern country bordering the Persian Gulf, is located between Iraq and Saudi Arabia.  Until the country gained its independence on June 19^th 1961, Kuwait had been colonized and overseen by Great Britain. 

Kuwait stretches a total of 17,820 sq km with 499 km of coastline.  Thus, two of Kuwait’s four natural resources, fish and shrimp, derive from the Persian Gulf; the other two natural sources of revenue are petroleum and gas.  Kuwait does not reap much from the land besides oil as freshwater availability is meager and it’s .84% of arable land only yields .17% of arable crops.  A lack of freshwater is one of Kuwait’s current environmental setbacks; however, the country possesses some of the world’s largest and most sophisticated desalination plants that supply the majority of the water.  Air pollution and desertification are two other environmental issues that the people of Kuwait face. 

Kuwait is a country of 2,596,799 with a moderately high birth rate of 21.9/1,000 and a low death rate of 2.37 deaths/1,000.  The total fertility rate is above replacement rate at 2.81 children born/woman.  The average life expectancy of those who live in Kuwait is 77.53 years.  Inhabitants of Kuwait compose a variety of different ethnic groups with 45% Kuwait, 35% Arab, 9% South Asian, 4% Iranian, and 7% other.  The Muslim religion makes up 85% of the population (70% Sunni and 30% Shia) and other notable religions of the country are Christian and Hindu.  The official language of the country is Arabic, although English is widely spoken, and the total literacy rate of the country is at an impressive 93.3%.

Kuwait’s government type is constitutional emirate with a civil law system that places an emphasis on Islamic law when it comes to personal matters.  Women were recently granted the right to vote on May 16^th, 2005.  There are no political parties in Kuwait as their formation is considered illegal.

As touched on before, much of Kuwait’s “small, rich [and] relatively open economy” is dominated by its crude oil reserves that account for 8% of the world’s total oil reserves.  In 2007, Kuwait was producing 2.613 million bbl/day of oil and exporting 2.356 million bbl/day.  Petroleum exports account for 95% of total export revenue, 80% of government income, and nearly half of the country’s GDP.  Kuwait’s economy has experienced rapid growth in the last decade due to it’s oil reserves, but is and will continue to experience reduced success what with the current global financial crisis.  Kuwait’s GDP is $157.9 billion and its GDP per capita is a steady $60,800.  Of the country’s GDP, agricultural production accounts for .3% of the revenue, industry accounts for 52.2% of the revenue, and service account for 47.5% of the revenue.  Kuwait exports $95.46 billion worth of goods and services and imports $26.54 billion worth of goods and services. Kuwait’s main export partners are Japan (19.9%), South Korea (17%), and Taiwan (11.2%), whereas Kuwait’s main import partners are the US (12.7%), Japan (8.5%), Germany (7.3%), and China (6.8%).  Kuwait has a relatively unemployment rate of 2.2%; however this estimate was collected in 2004.

The major transnational issue that Kuwait faces is human trafficking.  Most victims are lured or imported to Kuwait from South and Southeast Asia where they are subjected to involuntary servitude, physical abuse, sexual exploitation, withholding of passports, and countless human rights violations.  Kuwait is a Tier 3 country in terms of trafficking in persons, meaning that the issue is severe and the country’s government is essentially condoning it by failing to cooperate and eradicate it.

Various Forms of Chaos

A suicide car bombing attack killed an estimated 33 people and wounded 20 at a national reconciliation conference in Baghdad on Tuesday.  The attack occurred as the attendees exited the conference and stood outside the municipal building of Abu Grahib in western Baghadad.

Among the attendees were tribal leaders from the Abu Grahib area.  This was the most recent conference between Shiite officials and Sunni Arab tribal leaders.  So far, no one has taken responsibility for the attack; however, such attacks have been known to be committed by al Qaeda in Iraq.

Two days prior to this attack, a man armed with an explosives-laden vest drove his motorcycle, also equipped with bombs, into a gathering of police recruits in eastern Baghdad.  His attacked killed 30 people and wounded 61 others.  The majority of the victims were police officers and recruits who were grouped outside of a police academy on Palestine street.  This academy had also gone under attack on December 1^st in a “double bombing” that killed 16 people and wounded 46. 

Such violence has likely followed Iraqi Prime Minister Nuri al-Maliki’s call for the nation’s sheikhs to get involved in the government.  This request was the most recent effort to prompt reconciliation Sunnis, Shiites, and tribes of different affiliations so as to force former members of Saddam Hussein’s Baath party “into the political fold”.  In the past, Al-Maliki has been scrutinized for unfairly representing Iraq’s various ethnic groups.

On Sunday, the US military announced that in the next six months the number of troops in Iraq will decrease by 12,000.  The official plan is for two brigade combat teams and their supporting unites to be redeployed and not replaced; this would then lower the number of combat teams in Iraq from 14 to 12.  4,000 British troops will also be redeployed without replacement.

This announcement is said to be the first concerning “troop reduction” since the initial announcement of President Obama’s plan to pull out most of our soldiers from Iraq by the end of August 2010.

The reason for the decreasing number of coalition forces is due to the “increased level of security and stability” that the US has promoted in Iraq in the last year.  There are presently 142,000 troops in Iraq.  Throughout Obama’s presidential campaign, he promised to fully remove those troops within 16 months of taking office.  However, as part of Obama’s plan, 35,000-50,000 troops will stay in Iraq to help initiate a “drawdown plan”.  Former President George W Bush had arranged with the Iraqi government for all US forces to be removed from Iraq by December 31^st, 2011.  The US military is still determined to meet this deadline.

Obama plans to keep a small number of US troops in Iraq to fill an “advisory role” by training and equipping Iraq forces, overseeing civilian operations in Iraq, and executing targeted counterterrorism missions.  Obama said to have settled on this plan after reviewing numerous options offered to him by essential military and civilian advisors.

Although levels of violence are decreasing in Iraq, the war-ridden country’s women are being forced to take up the role of the breadwinner.  The years of fighting have left many women without their h

usbands; they have had to take charge of their families as their husbands had been, “killed, disappeared, abducted, or suffered from mental or physical abuse”.  Thus, many have become incapable of earning a substantial living.

It’s estimated that 740,000 widows are living in Iraq as “forgotten victims”.  A recent survey found that 35.5% of its women were heads of their households and that an estimated 25% had never been married.  An enourmous amount of men around the “marrying age” have been lost to the violence.

Oxfam international and its Iraqi partner group Al-Amal Association, collected the survey’s data in five provinces: Baghdad, Basra, Tameem, Najaf, and Nineveh.  Beginning last summer, 1,700 respondents were questioned and surveyed.

1/4^th of the women interviewed are still without a daily water supply, 1/3^rd of the women are unable to offer their children an education, and ½ of them have fallen victim to violence since the war began.  On top of that, 3/4ths of the women fail to receive the government pension that they are entitled to.

This Week In The Middle East

On Wednesday, Iran’s first nuclear power plant was tested at Bushehr nuclear power plant.  “Dummy” fuel rods, packed with lead substituted for enriched uranium (used to stimulate nuclear fuel), were used to test the pressure, temperature, and flow rate of the plant to guarantee that they were at appropriate levels.

Officials released that the next test will utilize enriched uranium but whether or not the plant will eventually become fully operational remains to be seen.  Sergei Kiriyenko, the director of the Russian nuclear agency and Gholam Reza Aghazadeh, the director of Iran’s nuclear agency, oversaw the first test. 

Construction of the plant began in 1974 but stopped abruptly with the beginning of the Islamic Revolution in 1979.  However In 1998, the Iranian government administered a $1 billion contract with a Russian company to resume the plant’s construction.  Atomstroiexport, Russia’s nuclear power equipment and service export company, is completing the plant under the watch of the International Atomic Energy Agency.

Along with the US, several other European countries and Israel worry that Tehran is attempting to obtain the capacity to construct nuclear weapons, but Iran insists that it’s nuclear program has peaceful intent.  An IAEA official who prefers to remain anonymous supports Iran’s peaceful claims by saying that their stock of low-enriched Uranium would have to be converted into highly enriched uranium in order to be considered “weapon-grade” material; this hasn’t been done.

President Obama is expected to sanction a proposal to remove most combat troops from Iraq within the next 15 months.  It is suspected that the final decision will be released on Friday at Camp Lejeune, in North Carolina.

During his campaign, Obama promised to withdraw combat troops within 16 months but not long after being sworn in he requested that the Pentagon provide him with alternative time frames; the Pentagon presented him with 16, 19, and 23 months.  Supposedly, the final plan will withdraw the majority of troops but maintain an estimated 50,000 in Iraq to act as military trainers or advisors.

For the last couple of months, the U.S. Central Command has been discussing how equipment and personnel will be removed from Iraq.  It is undecided what equipment might be returned to the U.S., moved to the Iraqi or Jordanian government, transferred to Afghanistan, or destroyed.  It is assumed that the U.S. military will utilize exit routes through Jordan and Kuwait.

The human rights group Amnesty International is requesting the United Nations place an arms embargo on Israel and the Palestinians.  Amnesty International is in such favor of the embargo because they argue that both sides used weapons provided from abroad to attack civilians throughout the three-week conflict in Gaza.

On Sunday night, Amnesty International published a 38-page report that explained the “Evidence of war crimes and other serious violations of international law by all parties”.  Israeli forces utilized white phosphorus (supplied by the U.S.) to kill hundreds of civilians and wreak havoc on their homes.  The use of white phosphorus is constrained by international law, but Israeli officials have claimed that the only shells execute in Gaza were within the grounds of “international law”.  However, Amnesty International reported finding munitions fragments in school playgrounds, hospitals, and homes after the fighting ended.  The majority of the munitions that the Israeli army used were supplied by the U.S. and funded with American taxpayer’s money.  Amnesty reported that the U.S. is set to provide $30 bullion in military aid to Israel according to the 10-year agreement that is in effect until 2017.