Posts Tagged ‘Islam’
Muslims and New Social Media
Connecting through virtual communities has become the norm of social life for people across the globe. From acquiring cooking skills to dealing with relationship problems, from expressing political views to cribbing about economic incentives at workplace, the social media has emerged as a platform to discuss anything and everything. You can tweet the Iranian political protests, blog live about President Obama’s Inauguration Address, upload videos of you sky-diving stint and meet your long lost High School crush on social media sites. A group of young American Muslims have taken upon themselves to put these impressive features of the social media to constructive use. They have sought to create a space where the Muslims, generally viewed as insulated and segregated, connect and interact within and outside the community. Contrary to popular expectation, this aggregate of diverse forums is not limited to explaining Islam; it is not confined to focusing on a liberal/moderate enunciation of the Quranic texts. It is simply a social networking tool for Muslims; platforms where Muslims discuss cooking skills, relationship problems, political views, economic concerns and even meet their long-lost High School crush.
Reactions to President Oabma’s Cairo Moment
President Obama’s Cairo moment was anxiously awaited around the globe. Anticipations about President Obama’s speech had dominated the international media for the past week and managed to wrestle the headlines from the striking Tiananmen Square commemorations. The content of the speech will continue to be analyzed by scores of scholars across the globe for days to come. But what were the immediate responses of the common people and political leadership to President Obama’s speech? Here are a few reactions.
Expectations from President Obama’s Cairo Speech
From taxi drivers to high-ranking bureaucrats; from university students to renowned political analysts, everyone in the Arab and Muslim world seems to be waiting for June 4 – the day when President Obama is expected to address the Muslim world. Student exams scheduled for June 4th have been postponed at the Cairo University, the venue for President Obama’s speech. This is not the first time that President Obama would approach the followers of Islamic faith with the objective of clarifying the U.S. policy towards the ‘Muslim world’. Since the inception of his term, President Obama is attempting to re-define America’s diplomatic outreach in an effort to reverse the tide of anti-Americanism among the Muslims across the world. So what makes the June 4th speech so special? To me it’s the burden of expectations. From open letters in leading newspapers of Egypt to op-eds by scholars of international affairs everyone has a list of dos and don’ts for President Obama. Though we cannot appropriately anticipate what President Obama will say we can examine what the Arab and Muslim world expects him to say.
[AP Photo/Ben Curtis]
Replacing Huntington with Morgenthau in U.S. Foreign Policy
Islam has emerged as a dominant influence in U.S. domestic and foreign policy in recent years. A variety of issues ranging from Islam as an organizing principle of the socio-political systems to the nationalistic expressions of Islam; from Islam as a political force to Islam as an international threat – the U.S. and Islam have interacted in every possible way. Yet clouds of distrust have thickened and a sense of hostility marks mutual relations. Despite the positive rhetoric of President Obama not much has changed on the ground. Is there any approach that the U.S. can adopt for reconciliation with the followers (both nation-states and common people) of Islam? Click to continue…