In
the context of IslamOnline.net’s coverage of the issue of the US
role in Middle East reform, we sponsored an e-mail-based dialogue
between American university student Benjamin B. Brandenburg and
Egyptian university student Mona Akil El-Kouedi.
In
an exchange of e-mails between Ben and Mona, they answered the
following question:
Does
the US have a genuine intention to achieve reform and
democratization in the Middle East? Or is Washington’s announced
goal to bring democracy to the region empty rhetoric used to justify
the country’s policies?
Mona
Akil El-Kouedi, 21, is a senior
student majoring in political science at Cairo University. She is
currently representing Egypt in a Euro-Mediterranean Study
Commission conference in London on terrorism and justice. She had
the opportunity to travel with an Egyptian delegation to Washington
DC, where she had an internship in the office of Senator
John Warner (senator of Virginia) during the 2004 presidential
campaign. Mona took part in many activities organized by Cairo
University’s Faculty of Economic and Political Science, such as
the model US Congress and the model United Nations.
Benjamin
B. Brandenburg, 22, currently works
as the executive assistant to the Minnesota Secretary of State Mary
Kiffmeyer. He previously worked for the Republican National
Committee as a Minnesota political field staffer and as a researcher
at the Middle Eastern Forum. Benjamin graduated from Northwestern
College in 2005, earning highest honors in history. Prior to
college, Benjamin lived in Germany, earning his German Arbeitur
from John F. Kennedy Gymnasium in Berlin. He intends to begin
work toward a doctorate in Modern European & Middle Eastern
Studies next fall. Benjamin prides himself in his international
background, especially his time at the Middle Eastern Studies
Program in Cairo, Egypt.
Click
the parts below to read the e-mail exchange between Ben and Mona:
What
do you think of this dialogue? Which argument do you support? E-mail
us your comments:
mideast@islamonline.net
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your comments online!
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