In the latest issue of their “Middle East Notes and Comment” newsletter, the Center for Strategic and International Studies’ Middle East program notes a new ad campaign that is airing on Arab satellite stations: Anyone hoping to enjoy a light-hearted hour of Survivor Middle East or Lebanese Star Academy this fall should be prepared for some sobering commercial breaks. That’s because a shadowy organization called the Future Iraq Assembly has unleashed a big budget anti-terrorism ad campaign onto Arab airwaves. The campaign consists of several television advertisements, as well as billboards, flyers, and a website. The flagship commercial, running on [...]
MACARAO, Venezuela – We got off the train in this mountainside settlement of barrios on the outskirts of Caracas and walked into a mob-scene of red t-shirts. Reggaeton, Carribean rap music, thumped from tall stacks of black speakers, thousands of people danced in the street drinking bottled beer and sangria. Motorbikes revved through the crowd spewing blue smoke and the smell of gasoline. At first, the whole scene reminded me of the wild “block-parties” I attended as a child on the outskirts of Boston. Entire streets would be blocked for the sole purpose of giving people a place to drown [...]
