Bekaa Photos
A Few Photos from the Bekaa Valley: Anjar, the only Omayyad city of Lebanon Entrance to Temple of Jupiter, Baalbek Temple of Bacchus, Baalbek One of Anjar’s friendly inhabitants
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Off to the Airport
The news is reporting how tense Beirut is going to be tomorrow, but you wouldn’t know it from the hopping cafes and diners in the (mainly Sunni) neighborhood where I’ve…
A Little Trip
I’ll be taking a few hours to visit some historic sites in Lebanon, before more meetings with Arab journalists. (The meetings yesterday went well and I’m hopeful about long-term cooperation…
Beirut Politics
One little observation about Beirut and the political crisis here. As one of my friends observed when we walked through the Hezbollah tent city, there is a remarkable politeness about…
Brink Lindsey’s Modest Proposal in The New Republic
Shifting to the Left My colleague Brink Lindsey, author of the excellent book Against the Dead Hand: The Uncertain Struggle for Global Capitalism, has made an interesting proposal in The…
Starbucks and Globalization — and Why I’d Never, Ever, Shake Jim Baker’s Hand
I had a nice machiatto this evening at the Starbucks near the hotel where I’m staying in Beirut. I like diversity a lot, but I also like seeing well managed…
Joseph Coberly, Rest In Peace
I’ve learned of the death of an old friend, Joseph E. Coberly, Jr., a long-time promoter of freedom and a man of principle and integrity. I met Joe many years…
Professor Yayla’s Defense
I blogged earlier about the unpleasant experiences of a Turkish friend, Professor Atilla Yayla, whose remarks got him in hot water in Turkey, including suspension from his post as a…
Ok, Taliban: No More Beardless Boys in the Barracks!
According to a CNN report about a new Taliban guideline book, “The Taliban’s Rules,” Along with rules about not smoking cigarettes and not allowing murderers to join the Taliban, there…
Beirut By Night
I walked this evening with a mixed group of Turks, Poles, Russians, Georgians, Jordanians, and a few others to the Hezbollah anti-government tent camp in Beirut. It was quite interesting….