Women in the kingdom: at least the debate is picking up steam

Piece in The Economist is the latest in a recent string of MSM articles about things opening up--ever so slightly--in the Saudi kingdom with the blessing of 85-year-old Abdullah, who is living up to expectations of being a consistent-if-gentle reformer.

Story leads with the apparent survival-in-his-job of Ahmed al-Ghamdi, head of the Mecca vice squad.  He recently came out for the innocent mixing of sexes, a notion that elicited many calls for him to be sacked.  In late April he was, only to have the official state news agency story rescinded two hours later.  So he remains in his post and the debate continues, apparently with some shielding from above.

The telling stat:  60% of college students are women.  For now they're a small bit of the workforce, but it grows with time.  Iran has this "problem" in a much worse fashion.

It's an old story:  educate a man and you've got yourself a productive head of household, but educate a woman and you're got yourself a transformed household.

The Saudi household is being transformed.  The government can pave the way for what must come next, or try to bar the door.  Abdullah sees that but will only rule for X many years longer, thus the great importance of who comes next.

Pass me that hamburger, and my cousin's phone number!

NYT story about how globalization is changing diets in the Persian Gulf and how Qataris' tendency toward tradition (marrying cousins) combine to render the population unusually unhealthy--as in, too heavy, too much diabetes, and too many genetic issues.

Like other oil-rich nations, Qatar has leaped across decades of development in a short time, leaving behind the physically demanding life of the desert for air-conditioned comfort, servants and fast food.

While embracing modern conveniences, however, Qataris have also struggled to protect their cultural identity from the forces of globalization. For many here, that has included continuing the practice of marrying within families, even when it predictably produces genetic disorders, like blindness and various mental disabilities.

“It’s really hard to break traditions,” said Dr. Hatem El-Shanti, a pediatrician and clinical geneticist who runs a genetics testing center in Doha, the capital. “It’s a tradition carried from one generation to the next.”

Qataris live in a nation no larger than the state of Connecticut where they are a minority among the more than a million foreign workers lured here for jobs. But their problems are not unique.

Kuwait, Bahrain, the United Arab Emirates and Saudi Arabia all share similar struggles with obesity, diabetes and genetic disorders, each suffering the side effects of an oil-financed lifestyle and a desire to hold on to traditions.

Yet, even in this neighborhood, Qatar stands out.

You know the old Godfather bit about, "Leave the gun, take the canoli"?

When globalization comes to you town, my advice is, "Forget your cousin, take the spinach salad."

But tradition is a hard habit to break:

For all of these challenges, and for all of its wealth, Qatar has primarily focused on the treatment of diseases rather than on prevention.

Everyone here points to lifestyle and tradition to explain the nation’s health crises. While it was once taboo to talk about the problems involved with marrying relatives, they are now talked about openly. There have been some discussions about premarital genetic screening, or genetic testing done at birth. But the tradition is so strong, no one has raised the prospect of curbing it.

“You can’t tackle the issue,” said Moza al-Malki, a family therapist and writer. “There are some big families, clans, they don’t marry outside the family. They won’t allow it.”

The issue of obesity seems to run into the same wall of tradition, health experts here said.

“If you don’t eat, it’s considered a shame, and if you leave someone’s home without eating it’s a shame,” said Abdulla al-Naimi, 25, who refers to himself as “chubby” but is noticeably overweight. “Half of my family has diabetes,” Mr. Naimi said. “My mother has diabetes. Three cousins younger than me have diabetes. For me, I eat too much and I don’t exercise.”

He is also married to his first cousin.

 Everywhere I have traveled in this world, I find the same attitudes:

1. Everyone says their culture is based on food; and
2. Everyone says everybody else's culture is more sex-obsessed than their own.

The inter-marrying thing is tough.  It pretty much has to change from within--as in, grandmas getting too unhappy about their damaged progeny.

On the food front, though, I'd love to America led a positive redefinition.  We need it desperately for ourselves, and we should make money spreading to the world.

ElBaradei is all but running to replace Mubarak--with something else

Pic found here

A National story by way of WPR's media roundup.

ElBaradei's impact as a spokesman for democracy in Egypt seems to be galvanizing segments of the population, some even toward regular protests (a recent Tweet of mine).

Whether he has the ambition or not, and I think he does, one can imagine that he will be forced by his own success--eventually--to press for the presidency himself (technically, he does not currently meet the requirements for office, but . . .), probably against the son once the old man dies (his 82nd birthday was just spent in suspicious seclusion).

A serious democracy in Egypt, coming on the heels of one developing in Iraq?  That would be a major positive turning point.

So this is one to track--and for the US to support quietly.

Israel should resist any Obama bid to rid the Middle East of all nuclear weapons

WSJ piece says Obama administration is negotiating with Egypt to co-present a proposal to make the region an nukes-free zone at the UN's month-long nonproliferation conference that began on 4 May with Ahmadinejad's speech.

The goal?  To prove the US isn't unduly forgiving re: Israel's known-but-unacknowledged nuclear arsenal.

Not the first time this tried:  done also in 1995 review of non-proliferation treaty (NPT), but the non-binding designation meant nothing.

The zone is meant to include Israel and Turkey, as well as Iran and Arab states.

Israel, of course, supports a freeze on nuclear developments, just like the nuclear powers do WRT world.

According to the WSJ, the Egyptian proposal aims to put Israel's program under the "auspices" of the UN's International Atomic Energy Agency.

I see this going nowhere, and constituting a useless gesture on Obama's part.  Then again, his nuclear policies have been full of such symbolism-equating-to-no-real-change.

The Economist piece points out that a lot of second-tier powers cannot be counted upon to fall in line behind the US anymore.  Brazil, for example, renounced nuclear weapons years ago but still won't let IAEA inspectors view its enrichment sites.  Like Turkey, Brazil has sought to insert itself in the West's dialogue with Iran as an intermediary.  Then there was the US strong-arming the Nuclear Suppliers Group on its special deal with India.

Any rising power has to be left with the impression that, if you're a friend of the US, you can have nukes, and if you're not, you can't.  Friendship, as we know, comes and goes, so why commit yourself to never being able to access such a hedge?  The US can change its mind about your regime at any time.

To me, this is an attempt to reshape the entire global security structure simply because Iran's getting nukes and may trigger a couple more states to do the same (Turkey, Saudi Arabia).  Since we won't backtrack for real on Israel and India--and shouldn't, we won't really get anywhere on Iran, thus logically Saudi Arabia and Turkey should be ready to arm up.  Better to work these four powers (Iran, Israel, Saudis, Turkey) in their own region than all this showy effort to rewrite the global rule set.