Rising US unilateralism is a bad thing
Güven Sak, PhD
09 December 2017
Ten years ago, I was in Jerusalem on Jerusalem Day, which marks Israel’s “reunification” of the city in 1967. I got into a taxi in West Jerusalem to go to East Jerusalem. The traffic was heavy, with new checkpoints everywhere. “It has been like this every year,” said my Israeli driver, “reunification, my ass.” Jerusalem was a divided city then, and it is one today. Nobody seems to have told Donald Trump that very basic fact.
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Take the NATO incident more seriously
Güven Sak, PhD
25 November 2017
Have you seen that special Eurobarometer survey on the effect of digitization and automation on daily life? It was released this May. Only 7 percent of the participants say that they find news stories coming from social media trustworthy. 93 percent are not influenced. Considering all that talk about Russian interference, the idea may seem comforting. Not so fast. You may think that 7 percent is not that big, but think about acutely divided societies. 7 percent is more than enough to destabilize a country by itself.
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Fighting sclerosis in KSA
Güven Sak, PhD
12 November 2017
There’s a book-turned-Hollywood film called “A Hologram for the King.” Basically, Tom Hanks is a struggling businessman who takes a plane to Saudi Arabia to sell the King a hologram machine. He’s promised a meeting, but once he is in the kingdom, he finds out that it’s harder said than done. He’s constantly shuttled back and forth to places, told that the king “might come today,” made to wait unspecified amounts of time in hotel lobbies and royal palaces. I felt like that when I was waiting for my meetings in the kingdom last year too. My very own “a hologram for the king” moment. It’s a sclerotic place.
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Why I felt offended by Macron’s remarks
Güven Sak, PhD
05 November 2017
Last week, French President Emmanuel Macron visited the Council of Europe and spoke at the European Court of Human Rights (ECHR). It was the first time a French president was visiting the court. “Today, we are in a situation in which several member states do not respect the terms of the [European Human Rights] Convention in a clear manner,” he said. “For example, with Turkey and Russia, which are not the only examples, the risk is evident,” he added. Despite the note that there were others in apparent violation of the convention, I find this comparison rather offensive. Why?
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A near-total absence of nation-states in the Middle East
Güven Sak, PhD
29 October 2017
It’s strange. You go just a little south of Turkey’s border and all of a sudden there are no nation states around; there are either sectarian and ethnic warlords or companies that govern territories and imitate the actions of nation states.
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Message well received
Güven Sak, PhD
22 October 2017
The last time I was in a crowded room waiting for a visa interview, I saw many Iranians around. That’s the first time I realized what it meant to be an Iranian. It’s not only about having to apply for visas all the time, like Turks, but also about finding a country to apply for your visa in – in this case, Turkey. “Too tiring,” I remember saying to myself. “Too much time and money wasted on something so intangible.” Now, Turks have been reduced to the state of their neighbors in the East.
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Understanding Arbil
Güven Sak, PhD
08 October 2017
Both Arbil and Barcelona recently held independence referendums. Both overwhelmingly supported independence and both seem to be very serious about moving forward with their decision. Both are angry. The Spanish government handled Barcelona very badly, and Catalans saw the ghost of Franco once again, apparently increasing their determination to declare independence.
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What a more inward looking Germany means for Europe
Güven Sak, PhD
01 October 2017
Over the years, I have become a great fan of “Grand Designs,” a British TV series about home construction. In each episode, the presenter works with a couple in the British Isles to help them build their dream home from scratch. They first find some land, then design the thing and finally have it built.
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From Abdüsselam to Masoud Barzani
Güven Sak, PhD
24 September 2017
American writers in Turkey infamously get their ideas from our taxi drivers, so I make a point of returning the favor when I am in the States. Usually, you say the name of your country and the taxi driver tells you what that name resonates with at the moment in the capitol. This time, learning that I am from Turkey, the driver asked me right away: “What do you think about the vote?” Without waiting for an answer, he blurted out a second one “why is Israel supporting the Kurdish referendum?” This truly is still the political center of the world.
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We need a global strategy to help forced migrants
Güven Sak, PhD
17 September 2017
Forced migration is different from migration per se. Forced migrants leave their countries due to deadly conflicts. There are about 250 million international migrants - people born outside their countries of residence - in the world today. There are almost 66 million forced migrants, and their number is rising.
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