Monday, August 18, 2008

The iPOUYA blog

iPouya is the creation of a young, Iranian-American student of Middle Eastern Studies. His blog is known as the "Rebel Radio", and iPouya's opinions or no doubt anti-establishment. iPouya holds scathing criticisms of US foreign policy towards the Middle East, including its support for the state of Israel as well as other US clients in the region. Perhaps iPouya's best attribute is the manner in which he mixes his own personal opinion with cold, hard facts. Some of iPouya's best posts, though, have been when he has used the scholarly resources he has at his disposal to back up his opinions. These include posts from books written by distinguished authors and scholars such as Vali Nasr and Sara Roy. iPouya's blog is not merely a blog about the Middle East, however, as it touches upon issues as far ranging as gay marriage and the Presidenatial campaigns. Without a doubt, iPouya comes from a fairly leftist background, and it shows when he shills for Obama (curious, nay, contradictory, given iPouya's radical views on foreign policy) Recently, iPouya has been on a trip to the Middle East, including visits to Syria, Lebanon, and Jordan. While his recent blog posts have no doubt been sparse, they have nevertheless been fascinating to read given his personal anecdotes from his trip to parts of the Middle East. Despite the personal nature of the blog, iPouya still tries to maintain a somewhat serious, scholarly assessment of his own personal experiences, maintaining that his experiences are his and his alone, and should not be generalized to reflect an entire population. Overall, iPouya is a joy to read, when gets around to writing. Visit his blog as http://www.ipouya.com

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