@luke – “a good discussion about what is going on in Syria over at bloggingheads.tv.”
thanks! i’ll have to go have a watch. (^_^)
@luke – “They talk about everything but clans. Wonder why?”
i think the problem — part of the problem anyway — is simply a sort-of cross-cultural misunderstanding. us westerners don’t think to ask about clans because, since we (or you guys (~_^) ) don’t have them, they’re just not on our radar. and syrians and any other group that is clannish don’t think to mention them because it’s just obvious to them. why would you discuss the importance of clans when everybody knows that? (except westerners don’t.)
one thing i hate hearing about wrt the middle east is the importance of sectarianism. (*ugh*) yeah, that’s somewhat important, but it’s not the crux of the problems there. this guy from lebanon who i quoted in this post explains it:
“According to Allaw, what needs to be understood is that the bond between clan members is very different from the sectarian bond found within certain political parties, ‘which is why there are different sects within the clans … When groups like Hezbollah and Amal tried to enter these areas in the 1980s with sectarian ideals, they were rejected.’”
so it doesn’t matter that there are different sects within any given clan. what matters first is the clan.
@ hbd – “i think the problem — part of the problem anyway — is simply a sort-of cross-cultural misunderstanding. us westerners don’t think to ask about clans because, since we (or you guys (~_^) ) don’t have them, they’re just not on our radar.”
But you would think that after ten years of experience in Iraq and Afghanistan we would start to learn. The British invented cultural anthropology during their imperial phase, we seem to be trying to forget it.
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OT, but a good discussion about what is going on in Syria over at bloggingheads.tv. They talk about everything but clans. Wonder why?
http://bloggingheads.tv/videos/13845
Luke
@luke – “a good discussion about what is going on in Syria over at bloggingheads.tv.”
thanks! i’ll have to go have a watch. (^_^)
@luke – “They talk about everything but clans. Wonder why?”
i think the problem — part of the problem anyway — is simply a sort-of cross-cultural misunderstanding. us westerners don’t think to ask about clans because, since we (or you guys (~_^) ) don’t have them, they’re just not on our radar. and syrians and any other group that is clannish don’t think to mention them because it’s just obvious to them. why would you discuss the importance of clans when everybody knows that? (except westerners don’t.)
one thing i hate hearing about wrt the middle east is the importance of sectarianism. (*ugh*) yeah, that’s somewhat important, but it’s not the crux of the problems there. this guy from lebanon who i quoted in this post explains it:
“According to Allaw, what needs to be understood is that the bond between clan members is very different from the sectarian bond found within certain political parties, ‘which is why there are different sects within the clans … When groups like Hezbollah and Amal tried to enter these areas in the 1980s with sectarian ideals, they were rejected.’”
so it doesn’t matter that there are different sects within any given clan. what matters first is the clan.
@ hbd – “i think the problem — part of the problem anyway — is simply a sort-of cross-cultural misunderstanding. us westerners don’t think to ask about clans because, since we (or you guys (~_^) ) don’t have them, they’re just not on our radar.”
But you would think that after ten years of experience in Iraq and Afghanistan we would start to learn. The British invented cultural anthropology during their imperial phase, we seem to be trying to forget it.
Luke
@luke – “But you would think that after ten years of experience in Iraq and Afghanistan we would start to learn.”
you would think, but people are stupid. (no, they really are!)
some military personnel have gotten it, but i guess their knowledge hasn’t really filtered up or out a whole h*ck of a lot. =/