Op-ed Commentaries

Daniel Martin Varisco

President
American Institute for Yemeni Studies

For my commentaries
on the blog Tabsir, click here.

For my commentaries on MENA Tidningen, click here.

last update 11/19


Middle East

Yemen

Islam

Religion

Arabic


Middle East

Polls can be Appalling
MENA Tidningen (6/26/19)

In a Pig's Bloody Eye
MENA Tidningen (3/18/19)

Open Bible, Closed Mind
MENA Tidningen (1/10/19)

I dvrc u
MENA Tidningen (1/6/19)

The Banana Republic with very few Bananas
MENA Tidningen (10/1/18)

Edward Said, 40 Years Later
Popula (8/13/18)

It Takes a Liar
MENA Tidningen (5/10/18)

Popular Costumes of Turks in 1873
MENA Tidningen (5/5/18)

Isolating Qatar
MENA Tidningen (4/9/18)

Washington, Jefferson, Trump, Bin Salman
MENA Tidningen (3/24/18)

Camels in the News
MENA Tidningen (1/28/18)

New Year, Old Crises
MENA Tidningen (1/2/18)

Just a Video Game?
MENA Tidningen (1/11/18)

Get Ready for Trumpageddon
MENA Tidningen (12/21/17)

Mark Twain on Who Owns Palestine
MENA Tidningen (12/19/17)

Bedouins on Mars
MENA Tidningen (12/8/17)

BS on MBS by TLF
MENA Tidningen (11/26/17)

Saudi Arabia's Newest Citizen
MENA Tidningen
(10/31/17)

Mapping the Middle East
MENA Tidningen (10/9/17)

Arabic Sign Language
MENA Tidningen (8/20/17)

Bombing al-Asad and Arming the Saudis
MENA Tidningen (4/7/17)

With Friends like These
MENA Tidningen (3/17/17)

The Emperor Has No Clothes
MENA Tidningen (11/10/16)

A Toll of Two Cities
Middle East Muddle (10/12/16)

From Dust to Dust
MENA Tidningen (9/30/16)

What is Aleppo?
MENA Tidningen (9/10/16)

Mr. Khan vs. the Con Man
MENA Tidningen
(7/31/16)

The Great Saudi Piñata
MENA Tidningen
(4/21/16)

Branding Expats in the Middle East MENA Tidningen (2/15/16)

It Just Takes Time
MENA Tidningen
(1/8/16)

ISIS, Who's Your Daddy?
MENA Tidningen (11/28/15)

American Interests, Sunni-Side Up
MENA Tidningen (11/26/15)

Russia Gets Syrious about ISIS
MENA Tidningen (10/10/15)

The Canal through Nowhere
MENA Tidningen (9/23/15)

The Refugee Crisis and Orientalism
MENA Tidningen (9/15/15)

Salman Fishing in Washington
MENA Tidningen (9/5/15)
Swedish Translation

An Impish Desire for Imperial Déjà Vu
MENA Tidningen (5/27/15)

So Much for Democracy
MENA Tidningen 4/23/15)

Religion is not Archaeology
Middle East Muddle, Anthropology News (3/15) Archived on Anthro Source

Why I Don't Dig "Dig"
Middle East Muddle, Anthropology News (2/15) Archived on Anthro Source

Holes in the Gender Gap
Middle East Muddle, Anthropology News (12/14) Archived on Anthro Source

Going to Pottery Barn
Middle East Muddle, Anthropology News (11/14)
Archived on Anthro Source

Chilling Prospects for the Arab SpringMiddle East Muddle, Anthropology News (12/13) Archived on Anthro Source

Poison Gas, Cruise Missiles and Drones
Middle East Muddle, Anthropology News (11/13) Archived on Anthro Source

On Pharaohs, Pundits and ScholarsMiddle East Muddle, Anthropology News (9/13) Archived on Anthro Source

Scholars Notebook: Daniel Varisco on What’s in the Sea and Stars for Qatar, ISLAMiCommentary, June 28, 2013

Hezbullies in Syria
Middle East Muddle, Anthropology News (6/13)
Archived on Anthro Source

Sex beyond Sects
Middle East Muddle, Anthropology News (5/13) Archived on Anthro Source

Gender Jihad and Body Politics Anthropology News (4/13) Archived on Anthro Source

Roads to and from Damascus
Middle East Muddle, Anthropology News (2/13)
Archived on Anthro Source

Drone Strikes: The Error in the War on Terror
Middle East Muddle, Anthropology News (1/13)
Archived on Anthro Source

Self-Inflicted Wounds
Middle East Muddle, Anthropology News (1/13)
Archived on Anthro Source

No Olive Branch in Gaza
Middle East Muddle, Anthropology News (12/12)
Archived on Anthro Source

Poster War on the New York Subway
Middle East Muddle, Anthropology News (11/12)
Archived on Anthro Source

Between the Rock of Ages and a Hard Sell
Middle East Muddle, Anthropology News (10/12)
Archived on Anthro Source

Body Politics,
Middle East Muddle, Anthropology News
(9/12)
Archived on Anthro Source

Crisis Hopping
History News Network (5/27/11)

A "No Fly" in the Ointment in Libya History News Network (3/20/11)

All Eyes on Egypt
History News Network (3/2/11)

Milking the Mosque Cow,
History News Network (8/9/10)

Covering Afghanistan
History News Network (8/1/10)

Grinding a Greater Axis of Evil, History News Network (12/28/09)

More Than Just (a) War
History News Network (11/12/09)

What is There to Study? (Re: Afghanistan Study Group)
History News Network (1/31/08)

How Bush's "Mission Accomplished" speech plays today
History News Network (5/1/07)

A lesson for U.S.: Somalia is not Iraq, Newsday (4/30/07)

Another Blow for the Horn of Africa History News Network (12/26/06)

Send more troops?
History News Network (12/21/06)

Bush's Misleading Talk About Democracy
History News Network (9/1/06)

Bombs Away
History News Network (8/6/06)

In Iraq, Mourning Has Broken on a Bridge to the Past
Pacific News (9/2/05)


The Web and the War on Terror. Anthropology News 42:9:48-49, 2001.


Deadening a Beaten Camel: Is Middle East Anthropology Relevant? Middle East Section, Anthropology News, (10/98)

Pearls of the Gulf. The World & I6(5):606-619, May,1991.

The Segment-Dairy Lineage System of the Yort Nomads. MERA Forum (Berkeley)10(1):12-14, 1998.Online: http://www.ahjur.org/humor/yort.html

The Lunar Stations in Arab Tradition. American Research Center in Egypt Newsletter(NY) 127:20-23, 1984.

Orientalism and Anthropological Discourse. MERA Forum 5(4):8-10, 1982.

 

Yemen

Chewing on the "Khat" Issue
MENA Tidningen (5/26/19)

War and the Housing Crisis
MENA Tidningen (5/1/19)

Peace Talks and War Talk
MENA Tidningen (12/7/18)

What One Death Means
MENA Tidningen (11/4/18)

Is the Bombing of Yemen about to End?
MENA Tidningen (11/1/18)

Kashoggi, Yemen and the War on Journalism
MENA Tidningen (10/16/18)

What makes Yemen a "legitimate" state?
MENA Tidningen (10/6/18)

How Many Children Have to Die?
MENA Tidningen
(9/17/18)

Talk about Peace
MENA Tidningen (9/10/18)

Tell Your Representative to Stop the War in Yemen
Popula (8/20/18)

Geocolonialism and the War in Yemen
MENA Tidningen (7/2/18)

Socotra and Little Sparta
MENA Tidningen (5/23/18)

Meanwhile in Yemen
MENA Tidningen (4/28/18)

No Alibi for Tit for Tat
MENA Tidningen (4/3/18)

America, Britain and the Saudi War on Yemen
MENA Tidningen (3/10/18)

Nikki Haley’s Uncomfortable Ignorance about Yemen
MENA Tidningen (2/21/18)

Saudi Arabia’s Filthy Lucre
MENA Tidningen (2/19/18)

Hearts of Glass
MENA Tidningen (2/11/18)

Yemen's Heritage at Risk
MENA Tidningen (2/4/18)

Houthis, Separatists and an exiled Hadi
MENA Tidningen (1/30/18)

Hadi on the Ropes
MENA Tidningen (1/29/18)

A New Front in Yemen's War
MENA Tidningen (1/22/18)

Qat and Famine in Yemen
MENA Tidningen (1/13/18)

Ali Abdullah Salih Reported Dead
MENA Tidningen
(12/4/17)

Have the Houthis Lost Yemen?
MENA Tidningen
(12/3/17)

Of Cholera, Cluster Bombs and Summer Vacation
MENA Tidningen (9/1/17)

A Good Offense?
MENA Tidningen (5/14/17)

Divide and Don't Conquer
MENA Tidningen (5/8/17)

The Toxic Proxy War over Yemen
MENA Tidningen (4/3/17)

The Politics of Famine
MENA Tidningen (3/8/17)

War with the Sexes
MENA Tidningen (1/18/17)

Faith, Hope and Charity
MENA Tidningen (1/9/17)

Violence, Climate Change and the Water Crisis
MENA Tidningen (12/28/16)

Bombs, Billions and Body Parts
MENA Tidningen (12/9/16)

Team Trump and Yemen
MENA Tidninge
n (11/22/16)

Starving for Humanity
MENA Tidningen (10/31/16)

On the Slaying of Thousands
MENA Tidningen (9/2/16)

Bombing a Prophet’s Tomb in Yemen
MENA Tidningen (8/25/16)

Hint: They Don't Care
MENA Tidningen
(8/20/16)

Chipping Away at Yemen
MENA Tidningen
(8/12/16)

Suffer the Little Children
MENA Tidningen
(6/1/16)

The Catastrophe of John McCain
MENA Tidningen
(5/20/16)

Blame the Huthis
MENA Tidningen (5/11/16)

Piecemeal Talks on Yemen
MENA Tidningen (5/7/16)

And the Winner Is?
MENA Tidningen
(4/6/16)

Tunnel Vision on Yemen
MENA Tidningen
(3/31/16)

Yes, Prince Turki, You are a Free Rider
MENA Tidningen
(3/19/16)

The Road to Kawkaban
Middle East Muddle, Anthropology News
(2/29/16)
Archived on Anthro Source

Congressional White Washing the Yemen War
MENA Tidningen
(2/13/16)

Heritage Be Damned
Middle East Muddle, Anthropology News
(2/12/16)
Archived on Anthro Source

The Islamic Anti-State in Yemen MENA Tidningen (1/29/16)

The Voice of which America
MENA Tidningen (1/19/16)

Cluster Bombs and War Crimes MENA Tidningen (1/11/16)

The Blind Bleeding the Blind
MENA Tidningen (1/5/16)

The War Nobody Knows
Middle East Muddle, Anthropology News, January, 2015 Archived on Anthro Source

No Happy New Year for Yemen
MENA Tidningen (1/1/16)

Bombs, Cyclones and Locusts
MENA Tidningen (11/6/15)
Swedish translation

Photoshopping the Yemen War
MENA Tidningen (10/25/15)

The Game of War
MENA Tidningen (10/19/15)

The Usual Suspects
MENA Tidningen (10/7/15)

As Sana'a becomes Aleppo
MENA Tidningen (9/8/15)

Terrorism at the University
MENA Tidningen (9/2/15)

Running out of Patience but not Patients
MENA Tidningen
(8/31/15)

Mosquecide
MENA Tidningen (8/10/15)

Murder in Mocha
MENA Tidningen (7/26/15)

Safeguarding Yemen's Cultural Heritage
MENA Tidningen (7/19/15)

Looking Away from 'Bombs Away'
MENA Tidningen (7/7/15)

Assessing the Damage from the 'Storm'
MENA Tidningen (6/29/15)

Desprecio saudí por los símbolos yemeníes
El Pais (6/12/15)

If faith comes from Yemen, then...
MENA Tidningen (6/12/15)
Arabic Translation

Women in Yemen: a force for change
Insight on Conflict (5/8/15)

Sliding Towards a Virtual Genocide in Yemen
MENA Tidningen (4/13/16)
Swedish Version

It’s Not About Sects
Middle East Muddle, Anthropology News April, 2015
Archived on Anthro Source

When Heritage Turns to Rubble
Middle East Muddle, Anthropology News June, 2015
Archived on Anthro Source

Proxy Morons: The Demolition of Yemen
MENA Tidningen
(3/27/15)

CyberSurfing Yemen’s Arab Spring Middle East Muddle, Anthropology News 12/13 Archived on Anthro Source

Is This the Last Dance for Ali?, History News Network (5/25/11)

In Yemen rebellion, snakes have bitten
CNN (3/22/11)

Yemen is not Tunisia or Egypt
CNN (1/31/11)

Yemen is not a terrorist factory
CNN (11/8/10)

Worth a Response: Why Yemen is Not Afghanistan
History News Network (7/14/10)

After New York ... Before Sanaa: A Postmodern Lufthansa Lullaby Yemen Update (1998)

The Twin Twigs: Coffee and Qat. The World & I 12(7):217-227, July, 1997.

Observations on the Baboons in the Garden of the "Bostan Restaurant" Yemen Update (1991)

"A Trip to the Hadramawt"
Yemen Update (1991)

The Qât Factor in North Yemen's Agricultural Development. Culture and Agriculture 34:11-14, 1988.

Rhinoceros Horn is also the Animal's Achilles' Heel. The Christian Science Monitor (June 28):19-20, 1988.

Recent Ethnography in the Yemen Arab Republic. MERA Forum (Berkeley) 10(2):5-8, 1987.

The Meaning of Chewing. Harper's(NY) 273:1639:27-28, 1986.

From Saba to al-Ahjur. Arab Perspectives (NY) 3:34-36, April,1982.


Religion

The Antichrist, by the numbers
MENA Tidningen (8/4/19)

Just how stupid are Trump supporters?
MENA Tidningen (9/23/16)

Who's Your Antichrist: Eerdogan or Trump?
MENA Tidningen
(8/1/16)

Would Jesus Vote for Trump?
MENA Tidningen(8/1/16)

The Bible, the Quran and Amerian History
MENA Tidningen
(7/13/16)

Terror, Virtue and Barbarism
MENA Tidningen(7/7/16)

Caligula Trumps the GOP
MENA Tidningen
(3/2/16)

No Peace on Earth
MENA Tidningen (12/25/15)

Donald Trump and P. T. Barnum
MENA Tidningen (12/9/15)

Hell is Not in the Hereafter
MENA Tidningen (12/9/15)

Whatever Happened to Fundamentalism? Regarding Religion, Anthropology News, 1/14 Archived on Anthro Source

 

Arabic

Animal House in the 14th Century
MENA Tidningen (6/20/19)

One-Stop Searching of Arabic Dictionaries
MENA Tidningen (4/1/19)

Arabic Dictionaries Online
MENA Tidningen (2/28/18)

Islam

Mark Twain on what a Muslim is
MENA Tidningen (12/5/18)

A Kingly Look at Islamic Astronomy
MENA Tidningen (5/7/18)

Mapping the Islamic World
MENA Tidningen (3/31/18)

Banning (Muslims) Terrorists in the Trump Era
MENA Tidningen (2/1/17)

The Statue against Liberty
MENA Tidningen (1/30/17)

Sikhs are not Muslims
MENA Tidningen (10/16/16)

Trump, Pence and Islamophobia
MENA Tidningen (10/7/16)

Deplorables, Rapists and Islamophobia
MENA Tidningen (9/16/16)

Good Muslim, Bad Muslim, Not Muslim
MENA Tidningen (9/7/16)

Clothed-MindedViews on Burqinis
Middle East Muddle (8/30/16)

Automadness Bombing
MENA Tidningen
(7/4/16)

Deconstructing Salazar on ISIS
MENA Tidningen
(12/16/15)

People of the Book: Why Not the Book of Love?
MENA Tidningen (12/16/15)

Fox and Enemies (i.e., Muslims)
MENA Tidningen (10/2/15)

Trump the Tramp and Trash Talk
MENA Tidningen (9/18/15)

ISIS Lunacy and the Bible Belt
MENA Tidningen (6/27/15)

The Un-Islamic State
MENA Tidningen (4/21/15)

Secularity and Secularism, Islam and Muslims: A Conversation between Daniel Martin Varisco and Hasan Azad
Sacred Matters (6/12/14)

Life without Honor
Middle East Muddle, Anthropology News (3/13)
Archived on Anthro Source

Muslims of Color
History News Network (9/2/11)

Pornographic War Gazing: Why We Don't Look Away,
Religion Dispatches (4/12/11)

The Impact of Muslim Scholars on Western Science. Chonjo (Lamu, Kenya) 10:18-21, 2010.

Ibn Big Ben
History News Network (12/30/10)

The Empire’s New Clothes
History News Network (9/12/10)

Burning Books, Burning Bodies, Burning Bridges
History News Network (9/8/10)

Born Free, Unless You are Female
History News Network (7/19/10)

Facebook vs. the Holy Book
History News Network (5/20/10)

Hate, Times Squared
History News Network (5/6/10)

On Colonels, Pantyhose and Honor Killings
History News Network (5/2/10)

Are the Hutarees on a Jihad for Jesus?
History News Network (3/30/10)

Words Matter: The Linguistic Damage of “Going Muslim”, Religion Dispatches (11/17/09)

Satanic or Silly: Does Yale Press Censorship of Cartoons Insult Muslims?
Religion Dispatches (9/8/09)

Our soldiers are bringing bibles to Afghans? Really?
History News Network (5/5/09)

Mumbai and the Blame Game
History News Network (11/29/08)

So if it’s not about religion …
History News Network (3/8/08)

Muslims on the American Landscape
History News Network (2/26/08)

Hijab, Raw Meat and Catnip
History News Network (10/28/06)

Holy War over Papal Bull
History News Network (9/15/06)

Islam Takes a Hit.
ISIM Review 14:42-43, 2004. [Analysis of websites which attack Islam and how information about Islam is found via search engines.]