Scattered thoughts

* First thought: I would have never imagined that a blog would require this much dedication, but since I am getting informed feedback from very nice people I will keep it up and running until I am told I am talking rubbish :)

* Second thought: tomorrow is the World AIDS Day. A sad anniversary which reminds us of the millions of human beings who are affected by this disease, but also those who, in addition, do not have access to treatment. Which reminds us of the billions of people out there who are living in extreme poverty. Which also reminds us of the billions of people out there who, in addition, do not have access to basic food and clean water. I'll terminate the circle here, because otherwise I will go on talking about wars and injustice and I am sure you have heard enough of those talks.... but obviously not seen much action.

* And to end on an nicer note, a big thank you to the coach driver who brought me back my lost wallet, with nothing missing in it, to Gatwick airport. As we say back home, mezzel el khir feddenia. God bless.

Euromed, what's wrong?

The recently held Euro-Mediterranean Summit did not achieve any concrete results and was not well-attended.

At the risk of sounding blunt I would say, no surprise. The EU is behaving with its neighbours with the same authoritarianism it is applying to its members. While these can ‘bear with it’ because of the wide range of benefits they otherwise get out of their membership, what would encourage the leaders of Mediterranean countries to comply with the EU directives on security, trade and good governance, and in addition come to meetings?

Let us have a closer look at how this partnership is going on. Europe, on the one hand, preaches for: “peace and prosperity for all”, which in less diplomatic terms, translates into: “monitoring immigration, tackling terrorism and pushing for free trade”. North African and Middle-Eastern countries, on the other hand also want “peace and prosperity for all”, which also in less diplomatic terms translates into “money for development, and effective EU mediation in conflict zones.” Neither of the two parties is getting what they are looking for, and discrepancies between their expectations of what partnership entails have resulted in a fragile relationship with many ups and downs for more than a decade now.

In my opinion the Euromed partnership in its current version will not yield any benefits, not until two main conditions have been fulfilled.

- First, common institutions must be created. European Commission delegations are conducting a one-way diplomacy that limits the prospects of cooperation with Mediterranean countries to funding development projects, a role that is already played by other specialized agencies such as the World Bank and the African Development Bank. There is no forum for Arab countries that would allow them to widen the prospects of cooperation with the EU, or simply have an ongoing dialogue with its members.

- Second, and most importantly I should believe, Mediterranean countries have to find a way out of their fragmented economic and political landscape. We see them signing off cooperation programmes with the EU with very similar terms of reference, and yet very different timelines. It is a waste of time and resources to deal with the EU in those bilateral terms. Countries of the Maghreb, in particular, have similar development priorities and would largely benefit from combining their agendas.

It's all a matter of common sense and political will though isn't it?

Research...

No less than three people a day ask me what my PhD (which is called 'DPhil' here) is on. Typically, my answers start with an 'ehmmm…', followed by 2 seconds of reflection :)

I am specializing in Science and Technology Studies, a discipline that formally falls under the Management rubric, but more correctly under Social Science. I am what you would call: “an economist-with-a-quantitative-background-turned-into-a-social-scientist-with-a-focus-on-the-impact-of-scientific-innovation-on-human-welfare”. The reason why I have elected to specialize in this area is, simply put, the fact that I needed to get answers to questions which began with 'why' rather than 'what'.

I also spent a year and a half working as a consultant for the United Nations during the preparatory phase to the World Summit on the Information Society. I was part of the Secretariat of the Working Group on Internet Governance which was established by the UN Secretary-general to discuss the future the Internet in terms of public policy-making. My stay at the UN provided me with numerous opportunities to interact with people who held conflicting interpretations of the relationship between technology and society. So I decided to take this issue forward and I am now interested in how governance is experienced when it comes to the Internet, how much sustainable governance arrangements between governments and nonstate actors will be, and whether this will have an impact on our lives. This is in brief what my research is on.

I am based in Oxford’s Martin Institute for Science and Civilisation, a place where you can meet people who devote their time and energy to reflecting on the future of Humanity, not only in terms of technological development, but also as regards other hot topics such as climate change, ageing, epidemics, genetics, ethics in science, etc. A wonderful multi-disciplinary research platform that makes one realise the multiplicity and complexity of challenges ahead of the human civilisation in the coming centuries.

Les femmes au pouvoir?

I borrowed this title from Zied Limam's blog on Afrique Magazine. I was interested to see how he drew a list of women in power, a hot topic that was triggered, again, with Ellen Sirleaf's recent election for Liberia's presidency. I also come to realise that women who rise to power are still regarded as exceptions, particularly in the developing world, and more stereotypically in muslim countries. And yet, women have historically been more prone to take power in those very countries which carry the heavy stigma of religious extremism, illetracy and/or poverty.

Indira Gandhi, Benazir Bhutto, Gloria Arroyo, Bangladesh's Khaleda Zia, and Sri Lanka's Chandrika Kumaratunga were all elected by their people to take power- not honorary presidency positions, not number2/advisor/chancellor positions- but genuine credentials to decide and enact under constitutional systems that precisely do not cater for women's rights. Obviously views can differ as to how efficient they were in carrying out those duties, but they all have in common the rise to power in societies which, a priori, would never allow a woman to challenge established patriarchal systems.

Also women in my country, which is muslim and developing, have been exercising their full rights (including voting, abortion, parliamentary representation, spousal independance) since 1956, that is well before many, many advanced countries and old democracies.

Now if we look at the developed world's side: democracy should also, a priori, allow women to have equal chances to take power, because they are educated, have easier access to the job market, are independant, live in constitutional systems that (almost fully) protect their rights etc. Could you count for me the number of European female leaders in the past 50 years? Thatcher, okay...who else...ehmm...the Latvian President, alright....Finland?...true... and very, very recently, Germany. Nothing that would fill more than a few pages in a history book really, isn't it?

My point therefore is that the status of women does not depend on political systems, nor is it linked to education, culture, religion or economic development. It is simply an issue of access to the political arena, access that is usually hampered by the natural (conscious or not, expressed or implicit) men's need for constant oversight. Urgent homework for all countries of the world is then to think of ways in which gender equality may become an ideology, rather than a mere legal principle.

On being an Oxonian...

I think I have been dreaming of studying in Oxford since my high school teacher back in Tunisia gave us this (surely simplistic) talk on the British education system. I was then 12-13, and for the first time was introduced to the jargon of 'Oxbridge', 'redbrick', 'public and private' schools, etc. It all sounded incredibly new and catchy, and since I was already in love with the English language, I started gaining interest in the British culture and lifestyle. My lovely parents spotted this interest and enrolled me on a two-week host-family language programme in London that very year 1992. It was a nice experience, although I was tested in a London-based language centre which decided that I spoke 'elementary' English. I was very angry at that decision because I was sure my English was not that basic and I could handle much more than all the 'hellos' and 'how are yous'...

Ten years later, I had the opportunity to come again to the UK and do a Master's degree at the London School of Economics and Political Science. I will dedicate a specific post on the wonderful LSE days, but for now all I need to talk about is that day I came over to Oxford as a tourist with my Kenyan friend Alice Kang'ethe. We spent the day visiting colleges and were both struck at their grandeur and beauty, as well as the distinctive dress code of students who were matriculating. On the coach back to London I remained speechless, but determined to come back, as a student this time.... It took me another three years to catch the following coach for Oxford :)

This university is simply fabulous. Fabulous because of its history, architecture, peaceful atmosphere, but also because of the high quality of the education it is providing me with, of the people I am interacting with at Keble and outside, and the so much stimulating setting of my research - the James Martin Institute for Science and Civilization-. And of course, the long, long list of notable alumni who in this place shaped History with their outstanding ideas, theories, work and talent.

Some pictures of me at Keble College (pronounced 'Keeble', please!)

These are pictures taken at the traditional and sacred "matriculation ceremeony", partly conducted in Latin, and at which you dress up in subfusc (a black-and-white special dress code) and are formally admitted as a member of the University of Oxford. Really an experience of a lifetime!

Keble is an splendid college with a unique Victorian architecture that makes it stand out of the 40 other Oxford Colleges and Halls.

WSIS, ICT, Tunisia...

It didn't take me long before I came up with an idea for a first topic. Last week I went home to Tunisia to attend the second phase of the World Summit on the Information Society as a UN delegate (which was a bit funny since I 'retired' two months ago and finally got used to the idea of being back to the student life). I was very much impressed with the quality of logistics, run like clockwork, and indeed proud to see that my fellow Tunisians have pushed the envelope much further than the ordinary potential of a developing country. The total number of Participants, I was told, ranged from 25,000 to 30,000 representing 170 nations. Mind you though, this did not come as a one-off event. The country has a very well-established hosting tradition that involves international cultural events, civilizational dialogue fora, maghreb-specifc, arab-wide or euro-mediterranean summits, car rallies, African football championships and Mediterranean Games. This flows naturally from the geopolitical situation of Tunisia, which strategically lies at the crossroads of Africa, Europe and the Arab World.

The Summit led to the adoption of two documents which will normally pave the way for future policy-making and deployment of Communication Technologies. I was however, left with much food-for-thought in three main respects:

- For one, we have not yet come to terms with all the normative and taken-for-granted assumptions about the potential benefits of technology on economy and society. The 'ICT revolution' is still regarded as an unquestionable 'instrument for sustainable development', and a 'tool to promote peace and stability'. The link between all those sectors is rather vague to my mind. Telephone, television and fax were all regarded at the time of their advent as instruments of booming human development. But have a cursory glance at how the world is going on. Communication technologies - old and new- are everywhere, in developing and developed countries alike. But poverty is expanding, wealth is unevenly distributed, conflicts are still occuring, apartheids still exist, terrorism is more organized than ever, and war crimes are still carried out. If you ask me, peace and prosperity only come through education, civilisational interchange, and acceptance of the alternative view, which unfortunately are all standing still in our "globalized" and "digital" times. There might be value then in asking why information technology did not live up to expectations, and whether this signals a problem with technology per se, or with us humans.

- Second, on the topic of Internet governance, I was... say interested, to see that a World Internet Forum will shortly be set up. Certainly, the formula is praiseworthy: an open and transparent forum with a concern for collective and democratic decision-making. But the terms of reference of this international instance are rather ill-defined as they stand now. The 'launch-and-see-how-it-goes' modus operandi which I could sense in my interaction with some WSIS participants made me think that several questions will remain unanswered. Who has overall responsibility for what? What type of decisions will be made? are they enforceable? who holds legitimacy to represent nonstate actors' concerns and why? and also...who is funding the whole venture?

- And last,amidst the various debates on the future of the Information Society- which I am currently following with close scrutiny as part of my doctoral thesis work- the discussion has at times shifted to the 'future of Tunisia' tout court. While I find it interesting, an indeed essential to discuss Tunisia's political agenda, I can hardly see any valuable reason why this should occur right in the middle of a debate on the agenda for the knowledge society of the world-at-large. WSIS was simply not the appropriate forum to talk about Tunisian internal politics.


So now I am back to Oxford, trying to frame all those interesting questions within a defendable thesis. And this, I can assure you, is worth a second blog! :)

My! am I a blogger?

I usually find blogging dull and too.... common, and also I must confess,'teenish, girlish'. But here I go, drafting the first lines of what I hope will be the liveliest blog of all time (no I'm not serious!).

I still don't know what made me surrender to the blogging fad. Perhaps a simple curiosity to see what it looks like to maintain an online diary, or an urge to 'stay tuned' and not lag behind, or ....or maybe Oxford is again giving me insipration to try something I would have otherwise never ventured if I were living or studying somewhere else.