Middle Eastern Studies - Essay Example

It is important to understand how the countries came to be and what the balance of power has been. But things are changing rapidly. By looking at the following three media sources, we can get a sense of what is happening and how modern people from the Middle East view the world. Haaratz is a liberal Israel newspaper. One of the main issues in Israel these days is the problems in Iran. Israeli government officials are plotting a potential attack on Iran. Haaretz, as a liberal voice, can sometimes be critical of this idea.

There is clearly an emphasis on politics over other issues. The paper is not concerned with oil (as Israel has none) or youth issues. Much of the discussion is existential: how should Israelis live, how should they treat the Palestinians, etc. There is much opinion and much discussion in this newspaper, and many ideas are generated by it. It is a great example of Israel’s free press. There is no censorship of the materials—and the paper is frequently critical of the government. Tehran Times appears to be strongly influenced by government censors.

The stories present the president of Iran in a favourable light. The paper also pushes a paranoid line, suggesting that Iran is surrounded by enemies which wish to do it harm. There is an article about Iranian prisoners who may be executed in Saudi Arabia. The attitude appears to be negative. The oil sanctions are clearly affecting the Iranian economy, and there are stories about this. Youth unemployment is high. Iran is suffering from the kind of huge demographic change which Richards talks about in his chapter.

The old order is fading, but not fast enough. The old order still has enough power to put down uprisings, as they did in 2009, but this will last forever. One day they will fall and the consequences of this will be unforeseeable. Reading the Tehran times, it is clear that there is kind of siege mentality the people of Iran are suffering from. All of this is evident from the paper. It appears to be a sad country. The United States is considered to be an enemy, according to this paper. We can see how Iran is trying to build alliances with other misfit countries in the region.

Overall, this is a depressing newspaper for a depressing country. Al Jazeera is like the CNN of the Middle East. It is based out of Qatar and provides regional coverage in a less biased manner than other local media. The headlines are often outward looking and focus on the international scene, but from the point of view of all people in the Middle East. The tone is a unifying and quite liberal one. It is clear that Al Jazeera is not the organ of any dictator or tyrant. They have done a lot to inspire the revolutions that have occurred over the last few years.

They appear to support democracy and even women’s rights—ideas which are alien to many Arabs in the region. There is even some objectivity shown towards Israel. There is an emphasis on oil news as this the main commodity traded in the Middle East and the source of much wealth. Overall, the news is a bit soft-ball but it is clearly not censored by any government. The Middle East is a rapidly changing area of the world. Every month brings something new. All of last year the world focused on Libya.

Now, with Gaddafi dead, the world has turned to watch the civil war unfolding in Syria. Only a few years ago, we all watched Iraq