Who Is The Regional Power of The Middle East : Iran, Turkey or Al Jazeera Channel ?
source: http://rencadesign.com/wp/2011/11/who-is-the-regional-power-of-the-middle-east-iran-turkey-o...
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RD Magazine | Global & Regional Political Analysis
http://rencadesign.com/wp/2011/11/who-is-the-regional-power-of-the-middle-east-i...
“That’s one small step for a man, one giant leap for mankind.” Everybody knows when and where these words were spoken and by who. Thanks to the power of the media, millions all across the world have watched the unforgettable moment when first foot step of the mankind left its mark on the Moon’s surface. July 21, 1969 witnessed probably the most famous live media coverage of the world so far.
Things have changed a lot since those black&white days. In 2011, media does not only mean TV and radio or newspaper publishing, we have internet, mobile phones, tablets etc. Censorship has become the biggest enemy of the free speech, however, it is not likely to win the war against the will of the people to learn what has been going on around them.
“The media’s the most powerful entity on earth. They have the power to make the innocent guilty and to make the guilty innocent, and that’s power. Because they control the minds of the masses.” This quote is from a person who used the power of media in order to promote his views of freedom and democracy to the American public and the whole world. Of course, he faced exactly the opposite as well. Malcolm X became one of the greatest and most influential African-American in the history, despite spending his 6 years in prison from the age of 20 to 26.
Remember how American public believed that Saddam Hussein had WMD and was a threat for democracy, how media decided that invasion of Iraq was legal and how people accepted it. This will never end. Who ever controls the main stream media, controls the public opinion.
People of the Middle East have witnessed the Arab Spring and still watching how masses are rioting and demonstrating against the dictatorships of the region. The game is underway and media is being used in order to bring the public opinion to the deserved point on different occasions. Syria is occupying the headlines as the people of America are occupying the Wall Street. The game is for the leadership of the next Middle East order. Players are outsiders as well as region’s big boys.
Turkey, Iran and Saudi Arabia are the most influential countries in the region. Iran does not want to lose it’s leverage over Syria. Turkey and Saudi Arabia however, wants to have more control over Damascus, one of the key capitols of the Middle East, by encouraging and supporting the people to overthrow the government. Iran has the backing of Russia and China, while Turkey as a NATO member has the advantage of having the west with her. Turkey wants to use it’s military and economic power, backing of NATO, while trying to keep the Arab League on her side. NATO approval may cancel out a UN resolution requirement and Arab League support means green light from the region for more serious actions against Assad.
But there is one big problem here. The Emirs and Sheikhs of the oil rich Arab countries know that their turn will come sooner or later. Siding with the west may not help always, because the west is not so reliable when the talk is about the oil and energy. Here comes our Weapon of Media Coverage or WMC.
Qatar is another oil rich Arab country with a powerful WMC in her hands. Qatar has an absolute monarchic government, with Hamad bin Khalifa Al Thani as the Emir or head of the ruling family. Qatar has been very busy to promote the country in the world stage lately. They are clearly in a race with the Middle Eastern business center, Dubai in constructing state of the art skyscrapers and trying to become the next Dubai.
Probably Qatar’s biggest move was their bid for the World Cup 2022, which they were chosen to host the event. There were some controversies regarding Qatar’s bid but FIFA did not change its mind and the 2022 World Cup will be held in Qatar.
Doha based news channel Al Jazeera, started its English broadcast in 2005 and since then it is region’s most followed news source in English. Al Jazeera has a very well established news network through out the Middle East and some major world capitols. Lately, Al Jazeera is summoned by some Arab leaders for being biased and trying to create a public opinion against some governments, mainly Libya and Syria. Since, Libya has been “liberated”, the headlines are mostly about Syria.
If we go a few months back, Al Jazeera had a stance of promoting Turkey and it’s PM , Erdogan as a regional leader and you could easily see many news coverage about Erdogan and Turkey, mostly in favor of their speeches and actions against Israel, Libyan and Syrian governments. It is very noticeable that these kind of news have been decreased in number lately and the comments and opinions in the Al Jazeera articles are no longer giving full support to the Turkish government. The authors’ opinions have shifted 180 degrees, mostly claiming that Turkey is never a good model for the region and should stay away from Arab’s internal affairs, just opposite of the same authors’ articles a few months back.
We can explain this change with the ambitions of the Qatari Emir and government. Mr.Al Thani wants to have more say on the regional matters and have influence on the Gulf countries. So Al Jazeera decided that Turkish stance is a threat for Qatari ambitions and started promoting Qatari Emir as the mediator and center of influence in the Middle East. How people would react to the idea of a Qatari leadership is unknown.
We have witnessed through out the world history, taking advantage of the media. However, Qatari use of Al Jazeera Channel seems somehow ineffective, when one considers the location of the State of Qatar and its Emir in the scene of politics. Media itself is not such a great weapon when you lack of the most important properties of being a regional power : a strong military, stable economy (not based on only oil exports, but includes manufacturing industry and a good banking system), a functioning democracy, historical background of leadership and having strong allies.
Qatar seems to have a long way to go, before it claims to be a regional power.
Continue Reading Here ... http://rencadesign.com/wp/2011/11/who-is-the-regional-power-of-the-middle-east-i...
http://rencadesign.com/wp/2011/11/who-is-the-regional-power-of-the-middle-east-i...
“That’s one small step for a man, one giant leap for mankind.” Everybody knows when and where these words were spoken and by who. Thanks to the power of the media, millions all across the world have watched the unforgettable moment when first foot step of the mankind left its mark on the Moon’s surface. July 21, 1969 witnessed probably the most famous live media coverage of the world so far.
Things have changed a lot since those black&white days. In 2011, media does not only mean TV and radio or newspaper publishing, we have internet, mobile phones, tablets etc. Censorship has become the biggest enemy of the free speech, however, it is not likely to win the war against the will of the people to learn what has been going on around them.
“The media’s the most powerful entity on earth. They have the power to make the innocent guilty and to make the guilty innocent, and that’s power. Because they control the minds of the masses.” This quote is from a person who used the power of media in order to promote his views of freedom and democracy to the American public and the whole world. Of course, he faced exactly the opposite as well. Malcolm X became one of the greatest and most influential African-American in the history, despite spending his 6 years in prison from the age of 20 to 26.
Remember how American public believed that Saddam Hussein had WMD and was a threat for democracy, how media decided that invasion of Iraq was legal and how people accepted it. This will never end. Who ever controls the main stream media, controls the public opinion.
People of the Middle East have witnessed the Arab Spring and still watching how masses are rioting and demonstrating against the dictatorships of the region. The game is underway and media is being used in order to bring the public opinion to the deserved point on different occasions. Syria is occupying the headlines as the people of America are occupying the Wall Street. The game is for the leadership of the next Middle East order. Players are outsiders as well as region’s big boys.
Turkey, Iran and Saudi Arabia are the most influential countries in the region. Iran does not want to lose it’s leverage over Syria. Turkey and Saudi Arabia however, wants to have more control over Damascus, one of the key capitols of the Middle East, by encouraging and supporting the people to overthrow the government. Iran has the backing of Russia and China, while Turkey as a NATO member has the advantage of having the west with her. Turkey wants to use it’s military and economic power, backing of NATO, while trying to keep the Arab League on her side. NATO approval may cancel out a UN resolution requirement and Arab League support means green light from the region for more serious actions against Assad.
But there is one big problem here. The Emirs and Sheikhs of the oil rich Arab countries know that their turn will come sooner or later. Siding with the west may not help always, because the west is not so reliable when the talk is about the oil and energy. Here comes our Weapon of Media Coverage or WMC.
Qatar is another oil rich Arab country with a powerful WMC in her hands. Qatar has an absolute monarchic government, with Hamad bin Khalifa Al Thani as the Emir or head of the ruling family. Qatar has been very busy to promote the country in the world stage lately. They are clearly in a race with the Middle Eastern business center, Dubai in constructing state of the art skyscrapers and trying to become the next Dubai.
Probably Qatar’s biggest move was their bid for the World Cup 2022, which they were chosen to host the event. There were some controversies regarding Qatar’s bid but FIFA did not change its mind and the 2022 World Cup will be held in Qatar.
Doha based news channel Al Jazeera, started its English broadcast in 2005 and since then it is region’s most followed news source in English. Al Jazeera has a very well established news network through out the Middle East and some major world capitols. Lately, Al Jazeera is summoned by some Arab leaders for being biased and trying to create a public opinion against some governments, mainly Libya and Syria. Since, Libya has been “liberated”, the headlines are mostly about Syria.
If we go a few months back, Al Jazeera had a stance of promoting Turkey and it’s PM , Erdogan as a regional leader and you could easily see many news coverage about Erdogan and Turkey, mostly in favor of their speeches and actions against Israel, Libyan and Syrian governments. It is very noticeable that these kind of news have been decreased in number lately and the comments and opinions in the Al Jazeera articles are no longer giving full support to the Turkish government. The authors’ opinions have shifted 180 degrees, mostly claiming that Turkey is never a good model for the region and should stay away from Arab’s internal affairs, just opposite of the same authors’ articles a few months back.
We can explain this change with the ambitions of the Qatari Emir and government. Mr.Al Thani wants to have more say on the regional matters and have influence on the Gulf countries. So Al Jazeera decided that Turkish stance is a threat for Qatari ambitions and started promoting Qatari Emir as the mediator and center of influence in the Middle East. How people would react to the idea of a Qatari leadership is unknown.
We have witnessed through out the world history, taking advantage of the media. However, Qatari use of Al Jazeera Channel seems somehow ineffective, when one considers the location of the State of Qatar and its Emir in the scene of politics. Media itself is not such a great weapon when you lack of the most important properties of being a regional power : a strong military, stable economy (not based on only oil exports, but includes manufacturing industry and a good banking system), a functioning democracy, historical background of leadership and having strong allies.
Qatar seems to have a long way to go, before it claims to be a regional power.
Continue Reading Here ... http://rencadesign.com/wp/2011/11/who-is-the-regional-power-of-the-middle-east-i...
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whitepirateQ8
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Nice article. Al Jazeera is the biggest enemy of the syrian government right now.
- 6 months ago
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whitepirateQ8
