I could do that!
The Eurasia Foundation is looking for a Program Officer for Special Initiatives in the Islamic World. Written and spoken English, plus fluency in Arabic, Dari, Farsi, Pashto or Turkish along with strong computer skills are required. The Eurasia Foundation "believes that societies function best when citizens take responsibility for their own civic and economic future", and it promotes the advancement of civil society and private enterprise in 12 host countries: Armenia, Azerbaijan, Belarus, Georgia, Kazakhstan, the Kyrgyz Republic, Moldova, Russia, Tajikistan, Turkmenistan, Ukraine and Uzbekistan.
Special initiatives and the promotion of civil society are very much needed in the Islamic world as the past week's events showed. On Thursday, Aljazeera.net headlined "Blast bloodies wedding reception" and reported: "Jordanian groom Ashraf Mohammed al-Akhras and his new bride, Nadia al-Alami, both lost their fathers to a deadly blast that ripped through their wedding reception in an Amman luxury hotel." Also killed: five members of a Chinese delegation. "Body parts are all over the place, we are still collecting them," a police officer at the scene told another reporter.
By the way, has anybody noticed how far Aljazeera has distanced itself from "martyrdom" these past few months? Highly unlikely we'll see them screening Abu Musab Zarqawi's snuff videos in the future. And then there was this in the Gulf News by Maggie Mitchell Salem: "Ten ways to fight global terror". No 7 caught our eye: "Your passport is not a reason to discriminate: Irrespective of the nationality, the same treatment should apply to all. A country's national security is ill-served by degrading prospective visitors, students, businesspeople and academics."
Those familiar with the UAE and its attitude to this regional neighbour, will not need much prompting to understand what's being said between the lines here. Still, the fact that's its being said at all suggests that the advancement of civil society in the Islamic world may be more than a mirage.
