Dr. Haytham Mouzahem

Iran is not about to collapse The strength of the Islamic republic's economy and government are so understated in analyses that errors of policy could follow Arshin Adib-Moghaddam guardian.co.uk, Tuesday 22 November 2011 14.12 GMT Article history The Safir satellite-carrier rocket, carrying Iran's Omid 2 satellite, is launched in 2009. Iran plans to send astronauts into space by 2019. Photograph: Fars News/Reuters There are two central narratives that presume the Iranian state is likely to collapse under the pressure of sanctions and/or threats of war. In my opinion, both are flawed. The first maintains that Iran is running out of money and that its economy is teetering on the brink. This has been repeatedly presented as an argument in support of sanctions or as an example of the incompetence of the Iranian state. But that narrative does not correspond to the facts. The World Bank set the economic growth of Iran at 3.0% in 2010, and the IMF says nominal G...

http://english.dohainstitute.org/Home/Details?entityID=5ea4b31b-155d-4a9f-8f4d-a5b428135cd5&resourceId=51a32473-a9fa-434d-ba6b-c773376f568c Soft Power Revolutions in the Arab world: Towards the Deconstruction of Dictatorships and Fundamentalisms Haytham Ahmad Mouzahem 21/11/2011 Book Title: Soft Power Revolutions in the Arab world: the Deconstruction of Dictatorships and Fundamentalisms Author: Ali Harb Publisher: Al-Dar Al Arabiya Liloloum Publishers - Beirut 1st Edition - 2011 The revolutions being witnessed by several Arab countries have prompted the Lebanese philosopher and writer Ali Harb to examine them and to "deconstruct dictatorships and fundamentalisms"; the book is a collection of articles covering these revolutions. Harb says that he did not originally intend to publish this booklet on the ongoing revolutions in several Arab arenas. The disparate articles contained in the book represent readings, from multiple angles and perspectives, of...

Lebanonwire, September 13, 2002 The Daily Star Arab Press Review PA leader’s comeuppance and Arab doublespeak The row between Palestinian legislators and President Yasser Arafat that led to the resignation of his Cabinet competes for front-page space in the Arab press with reports of America’s commemorations of the Sept. 11 anniversary and its ongoing diplomatic and military preparations for a blitz on Iraq. The pan-Arab daily Al-Quds al-Arabi sees the refusal by the Palestinian Legislative Council (PLC) to endorse Arafat’s ministerial lineup as both its “first real revolt” against him, and a “clear message” to the Americans that it wants the Palestinian Authority (PA) reformed to suit Palestinian, rather than Israeli, interests. Arafat’s eagerness to convene the PLC despite Israel’s attempts to prevent it from meeting shows that he was confident the legislature would do his bidding, i.e. give a vote of confidence to his reshuffled team of ministers. But he was trumped by m...

عبدالكريم سروش وإعادة الاعتبار للأشعرية السبت, 12 نوفمبر 2011 هيثم مزاحم * ألقى المفكر الإيراني الإصلاحي عبدالكريم سروش محاضرة قبل سنوات بعنوان «الكلام الإسلامي بين نزعة الاعتزال العقلية ومذهب الأشعرية التجريبية»، نقلها إلى العربية الشيخ حيدر حب الله في مجلة نصوص معاصرة، العدد الرابع. سروش يعيد قراءة المذهب الكلامي الأشعري والسجال الأشعري – المعتزلي ويردّ الاعتبار للأشعرية، من منطلق فلسفي وعلمي حديث ومقارن، وليس من منطلقات تاريخية ومذهبية ضيقة. ومعلوم أن تاريخ الثقافة الإسلامية شهد ظهور مدرستين كلاميتين كبيرتين هما: المعتزلة والأشاعرة، ارتبط أهل السنة لاحقاً بالمذهب الأشعري في العقائد، على رغم أن المعتزلة كانوا يضمون مفكرين ومتكلمين من مختلف المذاهب الفقهية (سنة، وشيعة إثني عشرية، وزيدية)، إلا أن الشيعة قد تبنّوا الكثير من أفكار المعتزلة، وبخاصة في التوحيد والعدل، والحسن والقبح الذاتيين والعقليين. بينما ورث أنصار الزيدية تراث المعتزلة وحفظوه من الاندثار. يقول سروش: «على رغم ما قيل عن استقلال الشيعة آنذاك بمذهب كلامي، فإنّ هذا المذهب كانت تربطه بمدرسة الاعتزال أواصر من القرابة»...