Tuesday, 25 June 2013

Newsletter
25 June 2013

Accommodating Diversity: Received Models under Scrutiny
	Philosophical reflection on viable models for the coexistence of diversity is most helpful if developed before the trap of resentment and retaliation is cocked, let alone set off. A workable scheme for the cooperation of free and equal citizens affiliated with diverse and often rival cultural heritages can go a long way toward preventing resentment and the politics of fear from coming into being and gaining ground in the first place. Received models in this respect, however, need a constant updating and finetuning. Resetdoc wants to address this concern in a new chapter of its Essays-series. Interculturalism or Multiculturalism? Charles Taylor, McGill University, Canada Misunderstanding Cultures: Islam and the West CKwame Anthony Appiah, Princeton University, Usa Hyperpluralism and the Multivariate Democratic Polity Alessandro Ferrara, University of Rome Tor Vergata

Looking back at the Arab Springs... from Damascus

Francesco Aloisi de Larderel

Today, two years after the beginning of the “Arab spring”, the region is torn apart by a series of conflicting forces, which go much beyond those who toppled the then current regimes, first in Tunisia, then in Egypt. The clashes witnessed first along Avenue Bourghiba, then in Tahrir Square at the beginning of 2011 pitted authoritarian and largely secular regimes against a protest movement, largely composed of young educated people, who demanded freedom, dignity, justice and, by implication, a measure of democracy. The impression one could receive was that a new generation was in the making that - while not yet a majority in the respective societies - was an indication of their progressive transformation along more modern and open lines, in part thanks to the Internet and the social networks. Read more

Qatar’s few rich and too many poor: a time bomb?

Alma Safira

Doha – In Qatar the world’s wealthiest citizens live alongside those now considered to be among the most exploited in the world. The emirate has the world’s highest per capita GDP of over $100,000 according to the International Monetary Fund (IMF), thanks to the 77 million tons of LNG (liquefied natural gas) the country produces every year from the world’s largest reserves of natural gas. According to data in the 2013 Report on Wealth in the Middle East published by the Qatar Financial Center Authority in cooperation with Campden Wealth, there are over 4,000 millionaires in Qatar, out of a local population of about 300,000 Qataris and 290 so-called “ultra-rich” citizens with assets worth more than $30,000,000. Read more

Turkey’s Problem is Erdogan, not the Akp

Cengiz Aktar talks to Ada Pagliarulo

In recent days the AKP, the Islamic-conservative party led by Prime Minister Erdogan, celebrated its tenth anniversary in government while unprecedented protests were being held in a number of Turkish cities. The epicentre for these protests is Istanbul and more specifically Taksim Square, which the government intends to subject to greatly opposed construction plans, involving a reduction of the Gezi Park, the building of a shopping mall and a large mosque. The police’s brutal reaction to peaceful protests has resulted in thousands more taking to the streets. There protests against Prime Minister Erdogan are extremely harsh and have at times been interpreted as secular Turkey’s reaction to Islamist repression imposing strict religious provisions through laws such as the one forbidding alcohol sales in shops after 10 p.m. Read more