Where is all the innovation in the Arab world today?

Rudey · #1 10-07-2004, 01:22 PM

This is taken from an editorial in the New York Times today by Thomas Friedman:

Where is all the innovation in the Arab world today? In the places with little or no oil: Bahrain is working on labor reform, just signed a free-trade agreement with the U.S. and held the first elections in the Arab gulf, allowing women to run and vote. Dubai has made itself into a regional service center. And Jordan has a free-trade agreement with the U.S. and is trying to transform itself into a knowledge economy. Who is paralyzed or rolling back reforms? Saudi Arabia, Syria and Iran, all now awash in oil money.

When did Jordan begin privatizing and deregulating its economy and upgrading its education system? In 1989 - after oil prices had slumped and the Arab oil states cut off Jordan's subsidies. In 1999, before Jordan signed its U.S. free-trade accord, its exports to America totaled $13 million. This year, Jordan will export over $1 billion worth of goods to the U.S. In the wake of King Abdullah II's reforms, Jordan's economy is growing at an annual rate of over 7 percent, the government is installing computers and broadband Internet links in every school, and it will soon require anyone who wants to study Islamic law and become a mosque preacher to first get a B.A. in something else, so mosque leaders won't just come from those who can't do anything else. "We had to go through a crisis to accept the need for reform," says Jordan's planning minister, Bassem Awadallah.

-Rudey

_Opi_ · #2 10-07-2004, 01:56 PM

Interesting article. I found this part especially amusing: "it will soon require anyone who wants to study Islamic law and become a mosque preacher to first get a B.A. in something else, so mosque leaders won't just come from those who can't do anything else.". I wonder though, do priests and Rabbis fall into this category as well?

ETA: Those who study Islamic law usually go to colleges/universities to do that, after which they become scholars, not "mosque leaders". I think the article meant to say Imams.

Kevin · #3 10-07-2004, 02:00 PM

Quote:

Originally posted by _Opi_
Interesting article. I found this part especially amusing: "it will soon require anyone who wants to study Islamic law and become a mosque preacher to first get a B.A. in something else, so mosque leaders won't just come from those who can't do anything else.". I wonder though, do priests and Rabbis fall into this category as well?

In the Catholic Church at least in the US, to get into seminary, you need 24 hours of undergrad work in theology and in most cases a 4-year degree.

The recent-ex-pastor of my church had a doctorate in economics and spoke 8 languages.

ETA: It's not 24 hours of undergrad in theology. It's 24 hours of undergrad in philosophy. Mistyped.

_Opi_ · #4 10-07-2004, 02:06 PM

To be an Islamic scholar, you have to study many areas including History, Theology, Shari'a (law), Sira (sorry I don't know what the equivelant english word for this is, but its pretty much the study of the Koran and the context in which it was revealed), Arabic, among other things. It usually takes them about an intense 4-8 years to accomplish this.

What I was curious about was that was it possible for Jordan to offer a B.A. or an M.A. in Islamic studies or religious studies, which they could do alot with, especially the social services aspect. Or do they simply require them to get a degree in a non-religious field?

honeychile · #5 10-07-2004, 02:23 PM

FWIW, my brother is a non-denominational pastor. While he has the credits to graduate, he never got his BA or BS, he just transferred (several years later) into Seminary.

swissmiss04 · #6 10-08-2004, 12:46 AM

Opi, I think you're confusing sira (biography of Muhammad) with tafseer (explanation of the Quran). Either way, both are necessary to be a sheik.

I thought the article was interesting. There's a lot of potential in the Arab world, but a lot of people choose not to take advantage of it. There's a lot of frustration among the Arabs in all social strata.

Rudey · #7 10-08-2004, 10:53 AM

This isn't an article. It is an excerpt from an op-ed piece that wasn't focused on what I posted here but I thought it was interesting for others to see as well.

-Rudey

_Opi_ · #8 10-09-2004, 09:28 AM

Quote:

Originally posted by swissmiss04
Opi, I think you're confusing sira (biography of Muhammad) with tafseer (explanation of the Quran). Either way, both are necessary to be a sheik.

Well see, I don't speak arabic *

But you're right, I keep getting 'em confused

James · #9 10-10-2004, 01:07 PM

I think the lesson is that we should take their oil away from them for their own good .. . we can give it back later.

PhiPsiRuss · #10 10-10-2004, 01:18 PM

Quote:

Originally posted by James
I think the lesson is that we should take their oil away from them for their own good .. . we can give it back later.

I don't know if you're joking, but that has a lot of validity. If you look past oil, there is almost no economic interdepence between the Middle East and the rest of the world. This, in large part, is why they are so screwed.

Another, and perhaps better, option is for oil-rich nations to adopt Alaska's model. Alaska takes all of their profits from oil, divides it among Alaskan citizens, and just gives everyone a check once per year. This deprives Alaskan government officials of the opportunity to become corrupt. The money goes straight to the people.

A nation like Jordan, with no real oil wealth, doesn't have the crutch of oil money. They are now becoming part of the rest of the world. Jordan is liberalizing its society. The requirements for the clergy are odd, from an American perspective, but this proactive initiative may be temporarily needed so that Jordan can be a liberal nation (free markets, free exchange of ideas, limited government, etc.)

The irony is that liberalizing this society means embracing a set of ideas (that is hated by so many Arabs) that were developed in Europe and the U.S., but that have a lineage that is traced right back to the Arab world.

_Opi_ · #11 10-12-2004, 03:39 PM

Quote:

Originally posted by PhiPsiRuss

Another, and perhaps better, option is for oil-rich nations to adopt Alaska's model. Alaska takes all of their profits from oil, divides it among Alaskan citizens, and just gives everyone a check once per year. This deprives Alaskan government officials of the opportunity to become corrupt. The money goes straight to the people.

Places like Saudi Arabia and UAE do the same thing too. Give money to their citizens from the oil profits, that is. That's why Saudis never gave us citizenships even if we were born and spent years in their country. If you were a Saudi, you were made. The citizens did not have incentive to go out and work. That's the reason why there are so many foreigners in their country now, doing what Saudis should be doing. That is essentially one of their big problems now. So I don't really see how giving money to their citizens would make them more economically sufficient.