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The best free online resources for learning Arabic
In an ideal world, the language would be Arabic. Arabic is a refuge for anyone disenchanted by the arbitrariness of life; the apparent randomness of languages. Because Arabic makes sense. It has logic, it has a system. There is an underlying harmony and coherence. Arabic is like a perfect world in which everything is connected in a logical way. That being said, truth is that Arabic has been the most arduous language journey I have embarked on. Arabic is not one…
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Dubai: world’s least cosmopolitan city
Dubai is possibly the most international place in the world, with less than 10% of its inhabitants holding the local passport. But calling Dubai 'cosmopolitan' would be a mistake, based on a wrong understanding of the term and of reality of life in the Arab Gulf. In fact, Dubai is maybe the least cosmopolitan city there is.
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Schooling is not learning: the state of education in the Middle East
Being young is not always easy, but it is even more challenging if you happen to live in the Middle East. In this region, children and youth face more challenges than almost anywhere else in the world. And one of the very things they need to improve their own lives and advance society is what is affected the most: access to quality education. The facts are distressing. 1 in 4 children in the Middle East are affected by poverty and…
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Identity and nationality in the Gulf
Few countries in the world have more foreigners than locals living within their borders. It is the case in the Arab Gulf states, where the majority of the population consists of immigrants: up to more than 85% in Qatar and the United Arab Emirates. For the locals, this poses unique challenges to their concepts of identity and nationality.
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Islamic State: media and identity
The Islamic State might have been defeated, but ideas does not die so easily. And they are different from what 'the West' thinks.
