Travels on Troubled Terrain: Israel & Palestine in 1993

  This travelogue was written by me in 1993 when I was an undergraduate student at Tufts University. It is about my journey to Israel and Palestine two months before the “historic handshake” between Arafat and Rabin. It attempts to provide a backdrop to the peac …

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Latest Wikileaks "revealations" about Pakistan's Blame Culture

Among many revelations of the most recent Wikileaks release from the intelligence firm Stratfor, was a cache of emails between Kamran Bokhari, the Vice President for South Asia for Stratfor and his American colleague Fred Burton regarding the killing of Pakistani journalist Syed …

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Are we wrong about Pakistan? - Telegraph

An British writer finds beauty, joy and courage in a country that many dismiss far too easily

Toning down "Toxic Sugar" rhetoric

This is the full unedited version of my letter published in Nature (February 23, 2012) in response to Lustig et al (Nature 482, 27–29; 2012) Regulating products based on a scientifically-based risk analysis is a worthy goal.

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Benazir Bhutto, Islam and Modernity

Four years have passed since the tragic assassination of Benazir Bhutto. Let's revisit an article I wrote for Pakistan's Daily Times soon after her passing on her unusual relationship between Islam and modernity.

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Shia-Sunni Reconciliation and Rituals

This article created a firestorm of anger when it was published by the Express Tribune (ET) in Pakistan who ended up removing it from their web site. It was a test of free speech in Pakistan and it is clear that the country is still stuck in a time warp of religious hypersens …

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Profiles of Pakistani Diaspora Politically Active Abroad

The Pakistani diaspora worldwide has become increasingly involved in political activities in their adopted countries of residence. Yet, there is no single place to go to find out about these individuals.

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The Philanthropy Game

If there is any core lesson from the Occupy Wall Street movement, it is that gross inequality cannot be ignored indefinitely. Nobel laureate economists such as Amartya Sen have warned us of this reality for decades.

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Pakistan and India at the United Nations

The last few weeks have been a momentous time at the United Nations in so many ways.

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The Greener Side of Herman Cain

Herman Cain is unlikely to come across as an environmentalist by any stretch of the imagination.

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Belgrade Retrospective

At the confluence of the Sava and Danube rivers lies the great city of Belgrade which has been center-stage to arguably the most acrimonious conflict Europe has endured since World War 2.

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India and Pakistan Peace Process: Glimmers of Hope

Last week, I was in Lahore, Pakistan at a forum on environmental peace-building in South Asia. Organized by a group of “Young Global Leaders” under the auspices of the World Economic Forum, this was a unique gathering of professionals and politicians.

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Response to "Pakistan's Middle-Class Extremists"

The following is an email response I made to the authors of an oped written by a group of researchers in Foreign Affairs. My concern is that headline-grabbing opeds based on larger more complex studies can be misleading and often serve little useful policy purpose.

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Muslims and Science

Talk to most Pakistani scientists and they will repeat what Muslim scientists all over the world like to revel in: “we were the best in science during the Golden age of Iberian Islam.

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Valuing Life: From Healthcare to the Politics of War

Casual conversations these days at social events seem to revolve around two key topics - health and war.

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Pakistan and America - No Divorce Option after Osama Raid

Sunday night, May 1: We had just put our kids to sleep and I was about to turn off the TV and yawn my way to bed.

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Water Wars in Africa

As water becomes scarce and population pressures rise, the once remote chance of armed conflict over water is becoming increasingly real in Africa.

Three Cups of Bitter Tea

As a Pakistani-American, I try to follow the work of American philanthropists on the ground whenever I am back in the region. In recent years, I have tried to follow some of the work of mountaineer Greg Mortenson, whose book, Three Cups of Tea, has become a media sensation.

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Climate Change and the Himalyan Flood

The flooding which displaced an unprecedented 20 million people in Pakistan in 2010 is increasingly being blamed on climate change

Islamic Extremism in America

New York Republican Congressmen Peter King has evoked strong responses across the political spectrum regarding the hearings which he is holding on the questionable rise of Islamic extremism in America. As a Muslim -American, I remain ambivalent about these hearings.

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Healthcare Hysteria

As the debate over health care resumes in Washington, and Vermont considers prospects for a single-payer health care system, it is worth humanizing the narrative beyond hysterical statements by politicians that healthcare reform compromises liberty.

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Tunisian-American Perpsective on Jasmine Revolution

Following the tumultuous events in Tunisia in January, I spoke to a distinguished Tunisian-American scholar, Dr. Mokhtar Sadok about his perspectives on current events. Dr. Sadok was in Tunis at the time of the Jasmine Revolution.

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Humble Aid

Foreign aid has become an essential element of attempts to equalize obscene levels of global inequality.

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Synthetic Versus Mined Diamonds

The energy usage and emissions in mined versus lab-created diamonds was evaluated, based on industrial data, since these two factors are often a general indicator of environmental impact that can be useful in product comparisons.

Factory Farms, The Story of Electronics & Our Pursuit of Treasure

Radio program on debating the pros and cons of consumerism with a new video on "The Story of Electronics" and discussion with the author of "Treasures of the Earth."

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  • Travels on Troubled Terrain: Israel & Palestine in 1993

      This travelogue was written by me in 1993 when I was an undergraduate student at Tufts University. It is about my journey to Israel and Palestine two months before the “historic handshake” between Arafat and Rabin. It attempts to provide a backdrop to the peac …

  • Latest Wikileaks "revealations" about Pakistan's Blame Culture

    Among many revelations of the most recent Wikileaks release from the intelligence firm Stratfor, was a cache of emails between Kamran Bokhari, the Vice President for South Asia for Stratfor and his American colleague Fred Burton regarding the killing of Pakistani journalist Syed …

  • Are we wrong about Pakistan? - Telegraph

    An British writer finds beauty, joy and courage in a country that many dismiss far too easily

  • Toning down "Toxic Sugar" rhetoric

    This is the full unedited version of my letter published in Nature (February 23, 2012) in response to Lustig et al (Nature 482, 27–29; 2012) Regulating products based on a scientifically-based risk analysis is a worthy goal.

Profile

Saleem H. Ali

Articles Posted: 69
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Member Since: 11/2006Last Seen: 5/16/2012

Saleem H. Ali is professor of environmental planning and conflict resolution at the University of Vermont and on the adjunct faculty at Brown Universi …

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