Featured campaign: "Khede Kasra - Women Empowerment"

42 cm squared

Eid Mubarak

كل عام وانتو بخير

كل عام وبلادنا وشعبنا بخير

وكل عام والمحبة جامعيتنا

Amman Twestival

I've been struggling the past few days since attending Amman twestival to blog about it... i came back home after the event.. trying to tide up my thoughts and all the info i got from the extremely heated discussion but decided to sleep it over.. and blog about it the next day..

The next day... i woke up.. did my usual morning things.. and checked my email.. at first i couldn't believe what my eyes were seeing... i thought am clearly still sleeping.. let me go make some nescafe.. and read the emails.. i came back.. and there it was again! i wasn't dreaming.. i got the Job interview i've been waiting for since last month.. i got all hyper and fuzzy and lost any possible concentration :D .. i suppose you still wonder whats the big deal about having an interview.. but in my case.. its my very first Job interview since i came to Amman.. plus its in one of the places i've always dreamt to work at.. aside of being directly into my major (Mechatronics) its also one of the coolest jobs in Jordan! so there.. at the moment.. i completely forgot about my intentions to blog about Amman Twestival!

So lets go back to Amman Twestival... many posts where dedicated to the event.. many even blogged about it or twitted it live.. some even posted the most powerful 10 quotes mentioned.. all of which in general covered all the details of the event.

For me it was impressive.. for different aspects... the organization itself was a huge success.. thanks to Malik Shishtawi and his foundation.. who made it possible... amazing effort.. and organization in suh a short period. On the other hand, the speaker's (M. Khawaja) presence and personality made the entire experience fun and professional.. including the casual attitude and friendly atmosphere that managed to transform the tiny mistakes into funny situations.. that allowed us to be actually enjoying the discussion. All in all.. it was a huge success! Thank you Malik and Mohammad!

The event guests... were actually very informative.. and encouraging.. i mean.. they managed somehow to make what am doing more sense..i mean i've been blogging and twittering for a while.. and i haven't found any support from any of my friends or my family.. probably coz they can't comprehend what actually am doing when blogging.. but that night .. it all made sense and gave me a push forward to continue.. so Thank you for that!

The idea of live twitting during the event was actually an interesting enhancement to the discussion.. as it gave the attendees more power for interacting... it gave the chance to regular bloggers.. and internet "geeks" to be able to express their opinion..in rather a fun way.. so the discussion wasn't exclusive to the more professional ones.. but to everyone! which is something i really liked.. it also gave the chance to many twiterjeyyeh :) to be part of the event who for many reasons couldn't be there with us... It also got us a special iPhone discount from the CEO of Orange Mrs. Majd Shweikeh who was also attending the Twestival ... her precense is deeply appreciated.. hoping that more customer - client communication will be conducted in the near future! Thanks for that as well! :) am definitely going to use the discount :)

It was one of those moments when i actually was proud of seeing such event being conducted in Jordan... it gives back high hopes of the Jordanian Youth and Enterprenurs.. i won't go into details about the event.. as its too late for me now to talk about what happend .. hehe .. others have already talked about it in details.. i just wanted to share with you my experience at the 2nd Amman Twestival and waiting for the 3rd one in the near future! Way to go guys! keep it up!

p.s. this post is exclusivley dedicated to Amman Twestival and the Organizers :)... will keep u posted of what happend in the interview day.. (yesterday) in my next post !

What history tires to forget...

Apparently i've been.. or better said my readers have been experiencing some difficulties using my blog. Well not reading it obviously.. but commenting on it. Dunno what exactly was the problem.. but my fellow blogger Naser has pointed out that problem to me and thanks to his note i changed the template and made some blog makeover hoping that would solve the problem and refresh a bit the boring background/template i was using.

So here is the outcome of the "makeover" and the commenting problem no longer exists. I would like to express my apology to all those who have tried to comment during the past period and their comments weren't published.. but i didn't actualy know that there was a problem and that the commenting was disabled. I hope that won't be repeated again. :)

That being said, during my blog makeover... i decided to give my blog a more specific direction.. and purpose. Although mainly during the past 2 years of its existance.. it has been a runaway corner where some ideas emerged.. or some frustrations were expressed as well as some topics that have some historical conotations. Now, after some experiements.. i noticed that the topics that provoke me to write are those concerned with some attempts to change history or better said to create fake history. That doesn't only mean political history.. but everyday events and facts.. that some try to forget.. or other try to hide and eventually become forgotten history. For that purpose, i will try to go for more hidden topics and stories.. about our history.. about our nation.. about our people.. in both Jordan and Palestine.. as well as my second homeland Macedonia.

Hence, "what history tries to forget..." is going to be the new theme of the blog.. that will touch many stories.. events.. people.. and destinies. Stay Tuned! :)

اسمحولي احكي

أول ما بلشت المدونة، كانت الفكرة الأولية أنها تكون بالانجليزي لأنه القراء المستهدفين هم الأجانب بالدرجة الأولى أو العرب المغتربين. استمرت المدونة سنتين تقريبا على هذا الحال...لغاية اليوم! اليوم قررت أنه أكتب بالعربي وبالعامية كمان لأكتر من سبب. أولا من باب ما ننشر غسيلنا الوسخ بالشارع والاجانب يضحكوا علينا وتانياً لأن المستهدفين من هذا البوست هم الأردنيين و مواطنين ها البلد أولا وأخواننا العرب تانياُ.

السبب الرئيسي اللي خلاني أطلع من سكوتي عن مجتمعنا الأردني هو درجة التخلف اللي كل مالها بتزيد بمجتمعنا اللي إحنا نازلين نفتخر فيه. ليش تخلف؟ ما إحنا متعلمين و مثقفين وماشاء الله علينا؟ جايكم بالحكي حبه حبه

أولا بالرغم من كل الحملات اللي عم بعملوها أفراد أو مؤسسات ضد جرائم الشرف ...كلو عالفاضي... لأ والاسوء من هيك انه عم بزيد! كأنه لما بنحكي عن الموضوع بنزكر الناس انه ممكن تعمل هيك بخواتها ؟ يعني مش عارف ها الأخ اللي عامل حاله شريف انه إذا قتل نفس واحد كأنه قتل أمة كاملة فما بالك لما تكون أخته؟ وين التربية الدينية الصح؟ ولا التربية الدينية بنحكي فيها بس ع امتحان التوجيهي و رمضان؟ كيف بنام ها القاضي الي بحكم على قاتل بس سنه؟ كيف إلو عين يصوم برمضان مش فاهم! كيف ما بخجل من أمه اللي ربته وعللمته يحترم كل الناس ...كيف بيتطلع ع بنته أو زوجته أو أخته وهو بعرف إنه عم بشجع قتل صبايا متلهم بس لأنه في واحد شريف قدر يجيب كم واحد يشهد بالمحكمة أنه فعلاً وسخت سمعة العيلة! يا سيدي وإذا وسخت سمعة العيلة مين أعطاك الحق تتعالى على ربنا وتقرر متى تنهي حياة خلقها الله مش انت؟

كيف ممكن النواب بالبرلمان يكونو ساكتين!! ما بخافو ربنا؟ ولا الدين صار موضه هالأيام... والشرف أهم! كيف؟ حد يفهمني !

وبعدين ليه التمييز العنصري بين الزلمة والمرة! يعني ليه بلوموا المرة مش الزلمة؟ ولا البنت نص بني آدمة؟ ربنا هيك علمنا؟ ولا إمكم هيك ربتكم؟ أشك بهذا الحكي

كيف ممكن الاساتذة بالمدارس والجامعات يطلعوا ويضلوا ساكتن على أكبر تخلف بضرب هالمجتمع. والاسوء من هيك أنهم راضيين يخرجوا شباب قليلين ترباية ! قال تربية وتعليم قال !

تانيا نيجي لمشكلة جريمة القتل اللي صارت مؤخرا وعملت زوبعة إلها أول ما إلها آخر... حد يفهمني ها الجماعة مش عاجبهم يعني القانون الأردني؟ ولا مش عاجبيتهم فكرة انه في قانون بين الناس؟ طب مش هدول الناس بآمنو بربنا؟ والتشريع والقانون جاي من ربنا؟ ليش مش محترمين ربنا ؟ ليش مش محترمين سيادة البلد؟ ليش مش محترمين الدستور الأردني؟ طب أوكي بدنا الحق يبين... وقفت ع هاي الجريمة؟ والجرائم اللي بيسووها اليهود بشعبنا بفلسطين ما بدو عطوة أمنية؟ أنا بقول بس يتفقوا ها الجماعة نروح ع غزة نعمللنا كم دراما هناك بنكهة أردنية مع اليهود

أييييح ع هال بلد شو بدو يشوف كمان

في الوقت اللي كل العالم بيحترمنا ع الجهود اللي بنعملها كشعب أردني وكعائلة مالكة عشان ننشرالسلام والثقافة... ونغير الصورة النمطية عن العرب و الاسلام... وبنحارب التطرف بأنواعه، لسه في ناس عايشة في الجاهلية.

أكتر شي مؤذ بالموضوع هو الإعلام الفاشل زي موقع سرايا و غيرها من المواقع الإعلامية اللي نسيت أو بالأحرى عملت حالها معهاش خبر عن موضوع بيع شركة مكتوب دوت كوم لـ ياهو وفضلت تحكي عن قصص فاضية هبله زيهم.

ع كلِ بتمنى شي مسؤول يقرا اللي كتبتوا و يفهمني ليه هيك عم بيصير ببلدنا...وليه عم نرجع لورا وشكراً

P.S. This post is targeted to Jordanians.. to all Non-Arab rearders...its an internal Jordanian issue that i don't wish to share with you.. for personal reasons.

Tawjihi? Very over rated event..

Looking at the news and following the raising euphoria in the Jordanian Media / streets about announcing the tawjihi results.. i couldn't help it .. but going back 5 years in time. Yes.. i finished tawjihi in the doomed year of 2004.. when the tests were stolen.. and i had to repeat 3 exams (Arabic, English and Chemistry)... but thats not really the point of this post...

I mean.. yea it was a big deal at that time for me.. only because i felt there is an enormous tension raising around me.. my parents.. my brother.. my family... hell even my school teachers where expecting me to get high average.. "abayed esm el madraseh".. its like they look at my success as a way to get their name out of the mud?! ma 3alena..

Bottom line.. it was a big deal to me... but after that.. i started my university journey.. which by all means was 500 % harder than the tawjihi ! even though i was still on the older system (not 7ozam) which was even harder than the new one. You have 10 subjects.. 10 books.. the questions are limited to the text book given... the Ministry.. has never .. literally never asked questions that are not available clearly in the book... or teacher's notebook.. which really makes the task a lot easier on the student.

They just ask you to study... simply... its not like they are asking students to discover a new anti-matter bomb .. or go to CERN and be part of the experiment of the century!

Even though the examing system has been changed slightly.. and made more easy.. people tend to make a big deal out of it... making a huge pressure.. on the students.. who are supposed to have the time of their life as their puberty period hits the climax at that age. Do you know what the result is? Once they pass this step.. students have this illusion that if u manage to pass tawjihi.. they will manage to pass everything ahead... - the biggest mistake ever!

Tawjihi is just a selection way .. designed by the education system.. to find out the strong and weak points of our students... It should be a big deal for the students.. but not a big deal for the family or the society for that matter. Families should point out to their students.. that its just the first step.. and that from now on.. u should start fighting to get anything.. thats how life works.. u need to fight to get whatever u need... and Tawjihi is just the first lesson... every next step.. is just a harder "tawjihi experience"...

Believe me Tawjihi Graduates.. after 4 or 5 years.. when u finish inshalla your University.. u will not be able to describe your happiness and satisfaction.. u will even look back at ur tawjihi experience as a piece of cake. Celebrate today.. you have won a battle.. but not the war.. Congratulations for now.. and good luck in your next "tawjihi" experience.

p.s. for those who didn't pass.. well... there is a natural phenomenon called "Natural selection".. in which only the strong can survive... put that in mind.

Things i miss in Jordan

- Abu el Abed coffee (@ the cliff )

- the noise of Amman's Taxis

- going by bus to JU.. ( mojtama3.. zera3a... 3oloom..w ra2eessee :) )

- Hummus, Foul and Falafel :D.. + fatteh from Kal7a el Gardenz..

- Mansaf.. (ever since i travelled everyone started promising 3ozomet Mansaf when i come back... yalla prepare jameedatkom ! :D )

- buying DVDs from Downtown Amman.. ( Abood probably thinks i switched to someone else :) )

- a freshly squeezed Orange Juice in Downtown Amman..

- Cocktail Ranoush - Jabal Hussein

- Shawerma 3arabi ..

- Nescafe from JU - Engineering Cafeteria...

- Irth Academy outings.. :)

- Orthodox Club family dinners..

- singing with my Choir..

- trix ! - naa i hate that game.. i just liked how my friends get competitive during the game.. while i couldn't care less!

- Shopping from Safeway Shemisani @ midnight

- Madaba..

- my friends "birthday" gatherings..

- dancing on Arabic music..

- Cups&Kilos coffee latte..

- Hani Mitwasi's events..

- Sport City running track..

- Nutella Saj.. from Saj Haretna Rabyeh

- Ka3ek from Salahdein Backery in Abdali...

- Village Cafe..

- my friends..

- my friends..

- and my friends :)

Officially coming soon to Jordan :)

Jordan takes you beyond...

Valley of Peace

The "Two Seas Canal" project... is apparently transforming into the "Vally of Peace" initiative. A project that is supposed to "create" peace.. and bring the peoples of the region together... Take a look at the clip below.

where is Jordan?? :)

Once u travel, one of the best experiences ever is hearing what normal people from around the world think about your culture and country.. and more importantly... get to know if they know about your country in the first place.. :)

During the past few years, i have visited several countries.. and met wide variety of nationalities and ethnicities.. and upon introducing myself.. of coming from Jordan.. some had very interesting reactions. I would like to share with you some of them:

Polish guy (hostel receptionist): Ah nice you know, u r the first ones who come to our hotel from Jordan... where is Jordan anyway?? please tell me anything about ur country.. i really wanna know !

Polish guy again: Do u have cars? (Dear God) :S

French man (artist): Ah Jordan! I was there..Petra is just goregous.. its a shame people don't speak french there.. 

French man 2:  ah oui oui.. Jordanie.. lovely people.. there is this lovely city i can't forget.. i can't remember its name.. 

me: Amman? 

FM2: no no.. it starts with B ?

me: ha?? are u sure?? 

FM2: yes yes.. its on the sea.. 

me: are u talkin about Beirut?

FM2: YES.. thats the one..

me: sir this city is in Lebanon..

FM2: Oh.. (speaking to his friend) i should stop drinking.... (and falls into a deep laughter)

Bulgarian guy: oh Amman!  how exotic!! (i dunno what did he meant by that - but i guess he had a flashback image of Arabian Nights)

Swedish flat-mate: Ah Jordan... yea ... King Abdullah and Queen Rania.. also the late King Hussein.. very lovely Royal family..

Swedish flate-mate 2: you have a lot of water pipes there no?? :)) Dude Shisha rocks..!

Swedish colleage at University: oh you from Jordan?? Assalamu Alaykom! I Study arabic for fun!

Swedish girl (my friend's flate mate): do you have a lot of terrorists?? ( WTF?)

Swedish man (at Westren Union office) :

WU: where do u want to sendmoney to? Jordan? where is that? 

me : You know Jordan.. middle east..? Amman..?

WU: Ahh Yordaniaa 

me: yea thats what am saying.. 

WU: no sir.. u said Jordan.. how am i supposed to know!

my Greek Professor: Jordan.. and Amman.. i love them.. it reminds me of my home in Greece.

Turkish hotel receptionist: Ah Urdon! Urdon! :)) (and that was it =) )

2 Macedonian old ladies: 

OL1: So u lived in Jordan?

me: Yes

OL1: but u speak fluent Macedonian...

me: yes am half macedonian and half jordanian :))

OL2: there must be a macedonian school in Jordan... hence the fluency..

me: ha?! macedonian school in jordan!!? ( didn't expect such answer)

Macedonian friend: Jordan?? hmm.. yea yea.. Jordan River.. wasn't Jesus Christ baptised there?

to be continued :)

On Homesickness...

Ever since i left Jordan 4 months ago, i have been undergoing constant changes, changes that i haven't even dreamt of occuring or even touching my life. I guess it all started the minute i arrived in Sweden, when the freaking cold weather went through my bones.. and reminded me of the wonderful weather of Amman. But it all was for a good cause..i pulled myself together and started my journey. 

Probably the most interesting phenomena, was accepting my identity as an Arab.. in the best possible way. We all grow into certain identity as puberty hits our wanna be personality.. and the result of this clash usually defines what u will end to be in ur future life. But you may spend few years before realising urself the outcome of this clash.. and make peace with it and accept it.. and even become proud of it. 

Um Kalthoum, the symbol of classical Arabic music was probably the first thing i fell in love with after i left Jordan. I couldn't believe how could my parents spend an entire hour on one song..and actually enjoy it.. ! Now all of a sudden ... i find myself every evening... preparing my coffee and go through youtube or my limited music library and put Um Kalthoom.. and just enjoy every note coming out of her voice.

Fairouz, was always part of my morning routine, even when i was in Jordan, but when i was in Paris last week... you can't imagine how does it feel like to eat "Labneh w Zaatar" from a lebanese restaurant in the morning with Fairouz in the background. It just brings the goose pumps all over ur body. 

Arabic writers... and novels.. were never an option for me when i was searching for a good book to read... I dunno why.. but the only arabic book that i have read while being in Amman was "The prophet" by J.K. Jubran, but ever since i came here.. i started looking for Arabic authors in the university library. Its not that i didn't appreciate them before.. but its like they were just hidden in the darkness.. and surrounded with a pre-given idea that everything from the west is better. 

I can go for hours giving u smaller and smaller ideas of how i started appreciating our Arabic culture, music, tradition, values and literature.. but i think the idea is sent already. 

Its always good to have new experiences.. and explore new places.. it reminds u how great is your own home.. that u will always tend to go back to. 

Miss you Amman. 

On Double identity...

I wanted to join my voice and gratitude with AquaCool to Fadi Andrawos for his piece "Palestine and Lebanon". Its probably the first singer who attempted to approach this delicate "double identity" issue. Why? I mean why hasn't anyone before stumbled upon this problem that many many Palestinians scattered around the world in general or the Arabic countries in Particular?

I believe identity is created by direct interaction of the person with his present society, with his parents roots and with the personal belifes and ideologies. But often there are certain conflicts in such mixture.

Fadi Andrawos in his song "Palestine and Lebanon", adressed his personal double identity of being a Palestinian refugee in Lebanon. Some Palestinians may argue, that by speaking the lebanese accent or by declaring himself being Lebanese that he is forgetting his roots.. and that his not loyal to his own people.

He is only a simple example of thousands of refugees.. everywhere.. including those in Jordan.

Many times during my study period at the University, i faced the very direct question... "where are you from?" Are you Jordanian or Palestinian.. ? You have to choose.. either tick or tack!

And I couldn't help but thinking in myself.. why can't I be both? does that make me less of a Palestinian? if i feel obligated to respect the dignitity and soverenity of the country hosted my grandparents when they were refugees. Or if I declare my self as a Palestinian (even though i hold a Jordanian citizenship) ,does that make me less of Jordanian? or maybe accused of being a "careless" Jordanian...and thus treated as a second class citizen..?

I guess that issue, in the previous generations was solved by the Arab nationalism ideology. (though that doesn't resolve the situation palestinians faced in non-arabic countries). Ideology that at that time united everyone against the Israeli agression, but failed these days.

It gets even more complicated if you travel. Again the very same question... Where are you from? Am I Palestinian ? Am I Jordanian? :S so i settle down with answering "I am from Jordan".. but if the one who hears this question knows a bit about Jordan.. he will be like: " are you Palestinian or Jordanian Jordanian ?! So back in the loop.

Yes it is hard , to have double identitiy.. I am not Jordanian with Palestinian originis, i am not Palestinian staying temporarily in Jordan, i am not Jordanian Jordanian not Jordanian Palestinian.. I am not Palestinian Jordanian... I am simply both. Not 50 % Jordanian and 50 % Palestinian.. but 100 % Palestinian and 100 % Jordanian.

Yes we can be both, and am so proud of both as i happen to be proud of even anther whole issue of having even third identity.. the Macedonian one...

New Palestine

Red and dark sky
the door bell is ringing, silence
a soldier and a small kiddo are standing behind it
but only one of them is real...

Children are screaming in agony
mothers are falling in despair
houses are torn down
this is the 21st massacared Palestine

The door is opened
the soldier comes in
tired from all the fired gun shots
the kiddo goes to the kitchen
it all seemed to him new

exhausted mothers walk together
holding pictures of that small kiddo
with pain, anxiety and desperate looks
but with pride, dignity and heroism

Our kiddo thanks the soldier
for so he helped him to go to paradise
for so he made Paradise our new Palestine
filled with innocent looks and honest hearts

Thats our new Palestine
from there comes our support
we will not give up
you will not be forgotten

Think about Macedonia as a place to invest

A campain released a while ago by the government of the Republic of Macedonia, pretty impressive i gotta say.. check out their website with its benefits.. http://www.investinmacedonia.com/ ..Maybe be can use such offers to attract investments in Jordan as well.

Below there is an article by Thomas Barnett who agreed with me that their offer is pretty impressive taking into consideration all their circumstances.. (again sth we can use here) check it out.

"By THOMAS P.M. BARNETT

Scripps Howard News Service Friday, November 23, 2007

I recently caught a glimpse of what victory will look like in this long struggle against radical extremism, and it didn't involve a trial or a corpse or a parade. Actually, it's an advertisement you've probably already run across in the back pages of the Economist or Wall Street Journal. Its message is disarmingly simple: Invest in Macedonia.
Now, I know what you're thinking: "Macedonia? Isn't that one of those lousy Balkan countries we fought in a while back?"

The answer is, sort of.

The Balkan Wars (1991-2001) encompassed the break-up of Yugoslavia, which until that time constituted a federation of six republics. Three successive wars defined Yugoslavia's initial fracturing: Slovenia's secession in 1991, the 1991-95 Croatian war of independence, and the infamous Bosnian civil war of 1992-95. Additional conflicts ensued among the Albanian populations of Kosovo (1997-99), southern Serbia (2000-01), and Macedonia (2001).
After the United Nations failed to stem the initial armed conflicts and incidences of genocide, U.S.-led NATO forces intervened twice in the second half of the 1990s, leaving behind peacekeepers who continue serving today -- under UN auspices -- in Kosovo, a Serbian province still seeking independence.

Of the six independent states to emerge from the ruins of Yugoslavia, Macedonia is arguably least well known internationally, in large part because it escaped mass bloodshed following its quiet departure in 1991. Thanks to a continuing naming dispute with Greece, Macedonia is still formally known in global circles as the "former Yugoslav Republic of Macedonia," or F.Y.R.O.M. -- an awkward moniker befitting its centuries of living anonymously under other civilizations' great empires.

Having joined the UN in 1993, Macedonia seeks future membership in both NATO and the European Union, which named it a "candidate country" two years ago. Roughly the size of Vermont and landlocked amidst Albania, Greece, Bulgaria and Serbia, Macedonia offers little beyond its location as a major transportation corridor between larger economic players.
To that end, Macedonia, with the help of the U.S. Agency for International Development, made itself the first all-broadband wireless country of its size in the world. The name of that USAID program, "Macedonia Connects," is wonderfully symbolic of this small country's dogged determination to join the global economy. So when I first came across those "Invest in Macedonia" ads, I couldn't help but think to myself that this is what victory would look like in places like Iraq and Afghanistan -- not our victory but theirs.

The ad, appropriately enough, is one big sales job. Describing itself as the "new business heaven in Europe," the unspoken come-on in the ad seems to be, "if you can't afford Croatia any more, try us instead!" Most impressively, the ad promises that investors can register their new company in four hours or less. Try matching that in your average developing country and you'd be lucky to get your papers signed in four months!

As for investor benefit packages, which the ad declares "will be approved within 10 business days," try these on for size: no corporate tax for 10 years; 5 percent individual income tax for five years; free connections to gas, electricity, sewer and water; and concessionary land leases "for up to 75 years." All that for joining a free economic zone with "immediate access to main international airport, railroad and vital road corridors."

As an international businessman who focuses on infrastructure development, let me tell you, that sort of offer gets my attention, along with the fact that the World Bank's "Doing Business 2008" report just named Macedonia the fourth-best reforming economy in the world (China was ninth).
What I like about the ad is how shamelessly Macedonia sells its existing connectivity to attract even more: Free economic zone, transportation hubs, and free trade agreements encompassing 650 million consumers. Toss in cheap labor and nationwide wi-fi, and you've got yourself a country just itching to be "exploited."

And yeah, that's what victory looks like for your average failed state: getting yourself off the front page and into the business advertising section.
One last image: the ad includes a map that delineates, in successive 500 kilometer rings, Macedonia's connective grasp across Europe. Think about that for a second: not the reach of Macedonia's missiles but its economic ambition.
Show me a similarly plausible "invest in Iraq" advertisement and I'll be the first to light up your cigar.

(Thomas P.M. Barnett is a visiting scholar at the University of Tennessee's Howard Baker Center and the senior managing director of Enterra Solutions LLC. Contact him at tom(AT)thomaspmbarnett.com. For more stories, visit scrippsnews.com.) "

all rights reserved to the author. Mr.Thomas Barnett.