New Book Assesses the Middle East’s Growing “Knowledge Economy”

New Book Assesses the Middle East’s Growing “Knowledge Economy”

Research Report Investigates the Region’s Capacity to Speed Development Through International Higher Education

For Immediate Release

June 15, 2010

NEW YORK, NY– A new book from the Institute of International Education (IIE), a world leader in the international exchange of students and scholars, examines the focus of the governments of several Middle Eastern countries on education as a central feature of national development policies. Innovation Through Education: Building the Knowledge Economy in the Middle East contains chapters written by thought leaders from the United States and the Middle East. It comes at a time when many new exciting initiatives are taking place in region, such as the opening of King Abdullah University of Science and Technology (KAUST), the development of NYU Abu Dhabi, and the convening of major new global gatherings such as Qatar Foundation's World Innovation Summit for Education and the Education Without Borders Forum produced by the UAE’s Higher Colleges of Technology. The book looks at aspirations within the region to build human capacity through increased access to higher education, and examines new models for higher education opportunities. The new book is the latest in a series of timely reports published through a partnership between IIE and the American Institute For Foreign Study (AIFS) Foundation. 
Authors from a wide range of organizations describe and analyze current innovations, trends, and issues that countries and institutions in the Middle East are facing as they move toward educational reform and development in both Gulf and non-Gulf states. The book addresses institutional planning in the region, branch campuses in the UAE and Qatar, women's education, youth exchange, Arabic language education, and more, and offers a contemporary examination of role of global education in building the knowledge economy in the Middle East. It also provides an overview of exchange projects between Middle Eastern countries and the United States.


Innovation Through Education is the fourth book in the Global Education Research Reports series from IIE and the AIFS Foundation. Previous books have examined higher education initiatives and exchanges in China and India, as well as new developments in global mobility.

Authors of the chapters in Innovation Through Education represent the diverse perspectives of leaders in higher education, government, and the corporate sector in both the United States and Middle East. IIE CEO Allan Goodman and AIFS CEO Bill Gertz wrote forewords to the book. Chapter authors include: Jamil Salmi, World Bank; Daniel Kirk, Gulf Comparative Education Society, Spencer Witte, Ishtirak; Robert G. Ayan Jr., Cambridge Advisors LLC; Hana A. El-Ghali, Qianyi Chen, and John L. Yeager, University of Pittsburgh; Haifa Reda Jamal Al-Lail, Effat University; Sherifa M.B.E. Fayez, AFS Egypt, and Dan Prinzing, Idaho Human Rights Education Center; Jerome Bookin-Weiner, AMIDEAST, and Ahmad Majdoubeh, University of Jordan; and Norman J. Peterson and Yvonne M. Rudman, Montana State University. The book was edited by Daniel Obst, Deputy Vice President for International Partnerships at IIE, and Daniel Kirk, Founding President of the Gulf Comparative Education Society. (Table of contents following release.)
Innovation Through Education has been produced by IIE’s new Center for International Partnerships in Higher Education, with funding from the AIFS Foundation. It is one of several IIE initiatives targeted at strengthening higher education bonds between the U.S. and Middle East. IIE delivers programs in the Middle East and North Africa (MENA) region that reach more than 7,000 students, scholars, and professionals. As a result of the Institute’s partnerships with corporations, governments, ministries, foundations, and the U.S. government, thousands of students, scholars, and professionals from the region have gained access to the world’s leading higher education and training programs.

In academic year 2008/09, more than 29,000 international students from the Middle East were studying in the United States, an increase of more than 17% over the previous year, according to IIE’s 2009 Open Door Report on International Educational Exchange, supported by the Bureau of Educational and Cultural Affairs of the U.S. Department of State. More than 3,300 students from the U.S. received credit for studying abroad in the Middle East in academic year 2007/08, an increase of more than 21% over the previous year.

IIE-administered programs in the MENA region have wide-ranging and tangible impact. They help to build capacity through training in science and technology, youth leadership development projects and women’s empowerment initiatives. IIE partners with the U.S. Department of State, and with universities such as KAUST and NYU Abu Dhabi, energy companies like Exxon Mobil, and technology companies like Microsoft to serve the region’s need for international education and training.

# # #

The Institute of International Education is a world leader in the international exchange of people and ideas. An independent, nonprofit organization founded in 1919, IIE has network of over 20 offices worldwide and over 1,000 member institutions. IIE designs and implements programs of study and training for students, educators, young professionals and trainees from all sectors with funding from government agencies, foundations, and corporations. IIE also conducts policy research and program evaluations, and provides advising and counseling on international education and opportunities abroad. www.iie.org

The American Institute For Foreign Study (AIFS) Foundation, an independent, not-for-profit, 501(c)(3) tax exempt public charity, was established in 1967 to help young people from many nations and diverse cultures to better understand one another. The AIFS Foundation provides grants to high schools and institutions to encourage international and educational travel. The AIFS Foundation also sponsors the Academic Year in America (AYA) program, which enables international teenage students to live with an American host family while attending the local high school. www.aifsfoundation.org

A Country Called Amreeka -- adds real depth to the image of the Arabs

I am working my way through an excellent dratf of "A Country Call Amreeka" and I find so much that touches on my own life as an American Arab.

Here's some information on the book from the publishers. I urge you to read it

-- Ray Hanania

www.RadioChicagoland.com

What does American history look and feel like in the eyes and skin of Arab Americans? There are an estimated 3.5 million Arab Americans living in the United States today. Since 9/11, they have become the object of relentless scrutiny and suspicion, yet little is known or understood about them. For example, current statistics show that most Arab Americans (75%) are NOT Muslims, and most Muslims in America (76%) are NOT Arab.

In A COUNTRY CALLED AMREEKA: Arab Roots, American Stories (Free Press; October 6, 2009; $25.00), Syrian-American civil right lawyer Alia Malek weaves the stories of the Arab-American community into the story of America, using lively and moving narratives of real people who have lived history all around the country. “Infectiously readable,” says Her Majesty Queen Noor of Jordan, “the profiles in A COUNTRY CALLED AMREEKA add character and texture to the history of the Arab-American community, challenging every tired stereotype and giving us new insight into what it means to be an Arab American today.”

Organized around a central timeline of events that are important from an Arab-American perspective, each chapter corresponds to one event and one Arab American, allowing readers to live that moment in history in the skin of an individual Arab American. Readers come away understanding the effect of these events not only on their vicarious guides, but also on the shaping of an entire community. From the Birmingham, Alabama church bombing in 1963 to the 2003 US invasion of Iraq, the book introduces an ensemble cast that represents the diversity within Arab America itself. There are Christians and Muslims; naturalized and native-born citizens; Southerners, Midwesterners, East Coasters, West Coasters, and Texans; urban, suburban, and rural residents; Lebanese, Syrians, Jordanians, Palestinians, Egyptians, and Yeminis, women and men; rich and poor; adults and children; lovers and fighters. “The purpose is not to separate them out,” says Malek, “but to fold their experience into the mosaic of American history and deepen our understanding of who we Americans are.”

A civil rights lawyer, Alia Malek has worked both in the U.S. and the Middle East. She also holds a Masters in Journalism from Columbia University. An accomplished speaker and writer on ethnicity and race in America, her work has appeared on Salon.com, in The New York Times, The Columbia Journalism Review, and has been featured on National Public Radio and MSNBC.

For more information on A COUNTRY CALLED AMREEKA, or to arrange an interview with Alia Malek, please contact me at 212-698-1252 or jill.siegel@simonandschuster.com.

Advance Praise for Alia Malek’s

A COUNTRY CALLED AMREEKA

(Free Press; October 6, 2009)

"Alia Malek's impassioned and harrowing set of profiles of Arab-Americans gives vitality and resonance to a cause that is dear to my heart: fostering cross-cultural understanding and respect. Infectiously readable, the profiles in A Country Called Amreeka add character and texture to the history of the Arab-American community, challenging every tired stereotype and giving us new insight into what it means to be an Arab-American today. This book gives us the faces behind the names, and tells the story of a community that both enriches and embraces the American fabric. A Country Called Amreeka, and the Americans who inhabit it, are remarkable."

—Her Majesty Queen Noor of Jordan, author of A Leap of Faith: Memoir of an Unexpected Life

“If you’re not an Arab-American, then it’s really imperative for you to read this fascinating book. You couldn’t ask for a more informative, engaging, and provocative introduction to millions of our fellow citizens. From football star to soldier, from gay activist to union leader, cheerleader, minister, Democrat, Republican, Christian, Muslim – Alia Malek brings the entire spectrum of Arab America to vivid, three-dimensional life.”

—Samuel G. Freedman, author of Letters to a Young Journalist and Jew vs. Jew: The Struggle for the Soul of American Jewry

“In a beautifully rendered work, Alia Malek succeeds in a challenging task: restoring humanity to a community too long buffeted by the vagaries of chauvinism, bias and ignorance. Her book, written with wit, compassion and insight, is at once timeless, in its telling of immigrants in America, and unique, in its exploration of the diversity of the Arab-American community. In the end, A Country Called Amreeka is a stirring story of humor, loss, love and triumph.”

—Anthony Shadid, Pulitzer Prize-winning author of Night Draws Near: Iraq’s People in the Shadow of

America’s War

“Alia Malek's A Country Called Amreeka is a unique, engaging portrayal of Arab American lives. Malek deftly combines the genres of biography, history, memoir, and commentary to produce a story of Arab Americans that is nearly impossible to put down. Malek takes the reader on multiple journeys, from the Arab World to the American heartland, all the while introducing us to lovable, quirky, diverse characters who all have in common a desire to find comfortable spaces in A Country Called Amreeka. Malek does not romanticize or vilify Arab Americans. She presents them in all their complex lifeways and worldviews. The result is a book of great imagination and unusual depth.”

—Steven Salaita, author of Anti-Arab Racism in the USA: Where it Comes From and What it Means for Politics and The Uncultured Wars: Arabs, Muslims and the Poverty of Liberal Thought

end

Arab author Aladdin Elaasar dissects Sarah Palin in new book "Barracuda"

Award-winning author Aladdin Elaasar released his latest book, “BARRACUDA: THE UNAUTHORIZED BIOGRAPHY OF SARAH PALIN: WHAT YOU DO NOT KNOW AND SHOULD KNOW ABOUT AMERICA’S POTENTIAL VICE PRESIDENT”.

This timely book describes how McCain’s choice of ‘the Barracuda’, a.k.a. Sarah Palin, as his running mate, opened the flood gates of the media to controversy and speculations.

While Radio host Rush Limbaugh and former Bush adviser Karl Rove hailed Palin, some Republicans were dismayed, who felt the choice underscored McCain's weaknesses. Palin is facing an investigation in Alaska for alleged abuse of power involving her former brother-in-law.

McCain’s choice of Palin could not have been more timely and savvy. Palin managed to steal all the attention and the limelight from Senator McCain who could not be happier!

American media has quickly turned its attention from JoeBama to McPalin – but more so to Republican VP and Alaska Governor Sarah. Where does Palin buy her eyewear? Will Oprah ever have Palin on her show? She’s been in the spotlight for few days and has given plenty of news for the media to talk about

McCain-Palin Republican presidential campaign buttons now read “The Hottest Chick,” “Our mama is better than your Obama,” “Read my Lipstick,” “She proved you can throw a punch with a French manicure.”

“Though Sarah Palin is clearly a powerful speaker, I kept thinking it was a monologue on Saturday Night Live and Palin was "news roaster" Tina Fey, says one commentator.

“Will the media test her on substance or let her play "Ms. Congeniality?" It is up to the public to see through the fact-free diet we're being fed. Despite Campaign Spin, McCain Would Be a Disaster on Women's Rights”, claims columnist Laura Flanders.

Columnist Kimberly Gadette describes Palin pick as “The Bikini Car Wash: One Sexist Tradition” “in selecting Alaska Governor Sarah Palin as his running mate, John McCain is dusting off an old GOP tool: the estrogen guard. Slap a friendly, female face on a hard core-conservative political platform, and pray that the pundits will only take pot-shots and talk about gender. It worked for George W. Bush and it just may work for Palin”.

The choice of Sarah Palin, as it seems, is a high risk bet that could bring high rewards, but there are no guarantees. Many wonder whether she is ready to be vice-president and lead the US, should something happen to McCain if he is elected president.

Democrats said they felt insulted that McCain thought he could woo women by just putting any woman on his ticket, with one sentence making the rounds: "Palin, you are no Hillary Clinton".

Aladdin Elaasar’s BARRACUDA is a must-read for all American voters and those following American elections and politics. The result of this year’s election will not only impact the USA, but many nations around the globe.

In this timely book, Aladdin Elaasar investigates: Who is the real Sarah Palin? Palin’s Political Records; Palin’s connections with Big Business and Big Oil. Is Sarah Palin’ an Extremist? Is she a Zombie Republican or a Right Wing Feminist? How Populist is Sarah Palin? Can Sarah Palin's faux-feminist machismo and her handlers succeed in using purely symbolic appeals and Culture Wars to camouflage her actual record and the plain contradictions in her story? Will the Slogan of the McCain/Palin Administration- in their quest for oil- be: Drill, Baby, Drill?

- END

For media reviews and interview:
Please contact

Aladdin Publications
1723 Hudson Bay,
Palatine, Illinois 60074
Tel 847 668 4206
Email: omaraladin@aol.com
http://www.mobipocket.com/en/eBooks/eBookDetails.asp?BookID=110858

About the Author

Aladdin Elaasar is a syndicated columnist and lecturer. Some of his writings are: “Iraq, the State and Terrorism”; where he predicted the downfall of former Dictator Saddam Hussein. Elaasar also wrote: Silent Victims: The plight of Arabs and Muslims in Post 9/11 America. And “The Last Pharaoh: Mubarak and the Uncertain Future of Egypt in the Volatile Mid East”. Elaasar has been a frequent commentator on Middle Eastern affairs on several local American TV and Radio networks and media and cultural consultant since 1992. Email him at: omaraladin@aol.com

Praise for the Last Pharaoh

"Peeling back layer after complex layer of Egyptian intrigue, culture and politics, Aladdin de-mystifies Egypt without tarnishing her almost mystical status as the pinnacle of Arabian culture, and the bedrock of human civilization. The book is stunning in its revelations of Mubarak’s stranglehold on every aspect of life in this glorious, long suffering nation. Connecting one mysterious dot to the next, Aladdin teases the reader from chapter to chapter as he lucidly explains the details of Egypt’s worst kept secrets of all…the ‘secret’ of Mubarak’s power and how he plans to rule from his own royal crypt. "

- Professor Tate Miller, expert on International Negotiations; Conflict Management; Government Relations and Diplomacy; Cross-cultural Communication, and Senior Lecturer at the Monterey Institute of International Studies.




The Last Pharaoh should be indispensable to anyone -

“Combining an uncanny sense of clarity and understatement, Aladdin Elaasar weaves Egypt’s historical grandeur with an unnerving cascade of political intrigue that reveals a side of Mubarak the world cannot long ignore. In one fell swoop, my admiration for Egypt is both strengthened, and the source of my unease revealed, as the author sheds light on the darkness of Egyptian politics that could one day turn catastrophic. With so much at stake, the west is slowly coming to grips with a new reality; a reality which no single book or author could possibly address. But the views expressed by Aladdin Elaasar in The Last Pharaoh should be indispensable to anyone hoping to understand Egypt’s role, not only the Middle East, but the potential for Mubarak’s Egypt to impact the destiny of global events.”

- Professor Tate Miller, Assistant Dean for Academic Programs and Senior Lecturer of International Studies at the Monterey Institute of International Studies

Why everyone has to read this book? -

“Let me give you the four scariest words I can't pronounce in Arabic: Egypt after Hosni Mubarak. Mubarak's "emergency rule" dictatorship is deep into its third decade, making him one of Egypt's most durable pharaohs. His succession plan is clear: Son Gamal tries to replicate Beijing's model of economic reform, forestalling political reform... “

- Thomas P. M. Barnett, Esquire columnist and author of “The Country to Watch: Egypt"

The Last Pharaoh: Mubarak and the uncertain future of Egypt in the Volatile MidEast

A new book predicts the end of the Mubarak and the coming political earthquake

THE LAST PHARAOH: MUBARAK AND THE UNCERTAIN FUTURE OF EGYPT IN THE VOLATILE MID EAST
By
Aladdin Elaasar

For Immediate Release
Chicago, IL - Award winning journalist, Aladdin Elaasar has just released his latest book: THE LAST PHARAOH: MUBARAK AND THE UNCERTAIN FUTURE OF EGYPT IN THE VOLATILE MID EAST, predicting the downfall of President Mubarak of Egypt and the aftermath of the collapse of his regime .
Packed with facts and telling the story of both modern and Ancient Egypt, how the modern Arab and Islamic Worlds evolved, and interviewing and quoting experts, politicians, journalists and Western diplomats, Elaasar tells a compelling story that needs to be read by every one. Combining an uncanny sense of clarity and understatement, Aladdin Elaasar weaves E gypt’s historical grandeur with an unnerving cascade of political intrigue that reveal a side of Mubarak the world cannot long ignore. In one fell swoop, my admiration for Egypt is both strengthened, and the source of my20unease revealed, as the author sheds light on the darkness of Egyptian politics that could one day turn catastrophic. With so much at stake, the west is slowly coming to grips with a new reality; a reality which no single book or author could possibly address. The Last Pharaoh should be indispensable to anyone hoping to understand Egypt’s role, not only the Middle East, but the potential for Mubarak’s Egypt to impact the destiny of global events.
"Peeling back layer after complex layer of Egyptian intrigue, culture and politics, Aladdin de-mystifies Egypt without tarnishing her almost mystical status as the pinnacle of Arabian culture, and the bedrock of human civilization. The book is stunning in its revelations of Mubarak’s stranglehold on every aspect of life in this glorious, long suffering nation. Connecting one mysterious dot to the next, Aladdin teases the reader from chapter to chapter as he lucidly explains the details of Egypt’s worst kept secrets of all…the ‘secret’ of Mubarak’s power and how he plans to rule from his own royal crypt, " says Professor Tate Miller, expert on International Negotiations; Conflict Management; Government Relations and Diplomac y; Cross-cultural Communication, and Senior Lecturer at the Monterey Institute of International Studies.
“Egypt is the next domino to fall and, as they say, so goes Egypt so goes the Middle East...explaining why a pillar of American dominance in that part of the world is about to crumble.” Says Robert Baer, former Middle East-based CIA operative and author of See No Evil, and Sleeping with the Devil.
The 83 years old President Mubarak of Egypt has been in power since 1981 and was elected for six more years in 2005. Concerns about Mubarak’s health draw much greater attention to the question of who will next rule the nation of Egypt? Succession plan for Mubarak’s son Gamal is already in place.
Haunted by the memories of the overnight fall of the Shah of Iran to the Ayatollahs, U.S. policymakers fear a similar event in Egypt. Once thought to be a strong U.S. ally, the Shah, lost his grip over power to the zealous clergy sabotaging every effort for peace and stability in the region. Marcos and Suharto, two old dictators considered strong U.S. allies, as well, fell to the angry mobs in the Philippines and Indonesia. Bush's successor is likely to=2 0find himself (or herself) facing an unbelievably bad choice in the largest Arab country. Would America intervene militarily to preserve Gamal’s faltering rule? Is Africa where Al-Qaeda hides its money, guns, recruits, training camps—and its future? Africa would be the last gr eat stand in this Long War, where all those impossibly straight borders will inevitably be made squiggly again by globalization's cultural reformatting process. Now this fight heads south...and yes, the Long War could be even uglier there.
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About the Author
Born, raised and educated in Egypt, lecturer and writer Aladdin Elaasar is one of the foremost authorities on Egypt and the Arab World. Some of his writings are: “Iraq, the State & Terrorism”; where he predicted the downfall of former Dictator Saddam Hussein. Elaasar also wrote “Silent Victims: the Plight of Arab & Muslim Americans in Post 9/11 America”, 2004. He has been a frequent commentator on Middle Eastern affairs on several local American TV and Radio networks since 1992.

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