14th Nov 2006
thoughts turn to the middle east
I’ve been thinking and reading quite a lot about the middle east lately, first with Kite Runner and research on the resurgence of the Taliban and then with keeping up on the Iraq conflict. Today I read that probably at least 50 men were kidnapped at a Baghdad University (does this mean the school is not open to women? Or do the kidnappers not target Iraqii women — as at least one western female has been taken hostage over the past three years). What was even more interesting to me (and disturbing) was that the article casually mentioned that academics are often targeted. Why? What’s the threat of the University? Westernization? Iraq is now hemhorraging highly skilled and educated people, which can only stunt the country’s potential for growth and self-government. Far from being locked in an ivory castle, I think being an academic today means bridging the worlds of ideas and actions — and all countries need that. Even our own.
Leave a Reply