Qahwa Sada

Want to know why posting has been relatively light lately, aside from the obvious teaching, writing, professional obligations, and child care?  It's because I've been working hard pulling together a top-secret project, which I am now thrilled to be able to announce:  Qahwa Sada, a new blog-journal by Middle East experts edited by me. 

Qahwa Sada means Black Coffee (technically, coffee without sugar), which has no particular significance other than that it is my primary form of sustenance.    Here is an excerpt from the mission statement:

Why a new blog-journal by Middle East experts?  Because Middle East studies specialists have a phenomenal amount of quality knowledge about the Arab and Islamic world: deep knowledge about the history of the region, detailed empirical knowledge of political and social trends, sophisticated theoretical insights into their meaning.  Many are out there in the region, seeing things happen and talking to people over a sustained period of time.  But they often have trouble getting that knowledge out into the public realm.   Part of the problem is that there just aren't nearly enough of the right kind of outlets.  Academic journals are not well suited to getting information and analysis out to a wide public, and many have yet to adapt to the internet era.  Blogs are wonderful, but not everyone wants one or has the time to run one.   The op-ed pages are a crapshoot. MERIP and the Arab Reform Bulletin can't do it all on their own.  That means that debate is too often dominated by people with, shall we say, a less empirically rich or theoretically sophisticated understanding of the region. 

Qahwa Sada aims to fix this market failure by providing a public forum for Middle East studies specialists to talk about what they know.....  First, it will post original medium-length essays on interesting things happening in the Arab or Islamic world.  Second, it will organize on-line symposiums about new books in the field, with the authors taking part (for models, see The Valve and the TPM Cafe's Book Club). Third, it will host roundtable discussions centered upon either an article published elsewhere or else a question posed by the editor. Finally, I'll reprint appropriate contributions published elsewhere. 

.....

I hope that Qahwa Sada becomes an important source for a public deeply interested in the Arab and Islamic worlds.  I hope that it improves the quality of public debate.  And I hope that it becomes the core of an emerging community of Middle East scholarship.   

All essays, book clubs, and symposia will be presented in blog format, with hyperlinks and open comments.   I expect a wide range of contributors from a broadly defined Middle East studies community, both academic and policy, and a wide range of topics - but with a principle focus on the Arab and Islamic worlds themselves, not more general political issues.  I'll be editing (with a light hand), and participating in some of the book clubs and symposia, but only occasionally contributing:  this is less about me than about creating a forum by which Middle East experts can get their ideas out and engage with the public - and with each other - in new ways.

I've just posted the first essay:  Bahrain:  It must be election season, by Toby Jones (a Stanford PhD, formerly of the International Crisis Group and currently a Mellon Fellow at Swarthmore).  We've got a number of exciting essays, book clubs, and symposia lined for the next couple of months, which I'll announce when they come online, and I'll be actively encouraging Middle East experts to contribute and participate.  So consider this an open call for proposals:  Want to contribute?  Drop me a line at abuaardvark at (google mail).

Comments

[moi]

This is a great idea and I look forward to reading such analysis from experienced and learned academics on these subjects. It will be refreshing to read these articles as compared to the superficial analysis provided by the mainstream media these days. Great job Marc!

[Leila]

Qahwa Sada has no particular significance? This shows the difference between your Egyptian sojourn and mine. You were no doubt studying hard and associating only with serious-minded comics fans like yourself. I was cutting class to hang out at bars and cafes with dissipated persons, some of whom later became serious-minded (see the Middle East Correspondent of the Economist). One of these dissolute youths, a native Cairene who later became my first husband, taught me not to order Qahwa Sada, because this is the preferred drink of opium addicts, and you wouldn't want to arouse the contempt of the waiters at Cafe Riche.

Now he could have been making it all up. But you might want to check with some of your sources.

Just sayin'. I don't want them snickering at you in the poli sci depts of Egypt because the Khawagga professor doesn't realize the subculture implications of Qahwa Sada. OTOH I haven't lived in Egypt for 23 years and my info could be out of date or just plain wrong. But I still remember the smirk on the waiter's face when I ordered Qahwa Sada...

[Yohan]

One could write a (very entertaining) book about the millions of subtle behaviors that give one away as either a drug addict and/or a prostitute in the Arab world.

Love the site so far AA, keep up the good work! I don't know how you find the time for all this.

[the aardvark]

.... well, who knows? Maybe I and the waiters all knew what was going on....

[praktike]

aha, so that's why the maid at Ibn Khaldun always laughed at me when I ordered black coffee ... she must have thought i was a junkie.

seriously, though ... great job, ya ustez. perfect idea for these times.

[Leila]

Glad to be of service, ya praktike.

[Abdurahman]

[...] Qahwa Sada (which means coffee with no milk or sugar) is a new blog edited by Marc Lynch ... His new project Qahwa Sada will publish the work of other Middle East Especialists, and so far looks great [...]