Does social media reflect meaningful political competition over foreign policy? If so, what relationships can it reveal, and what are the limitations of its usage as data for scholars? These questions are of interest to both scholars and policymakers alike, as social media, and the data derived from it, play an increasingly important role in politics. The current study uses social media data to examine how foreign policy discussions about Israel–Iran are structured across different languages (English, Farsi, and Arabic) – a particularly contentious foreign policy issue. We use follower relationships on Twitter to build a map of the different networks of foreign policy discussions around Iran and Israel, along with data from the Iranian and Arabic blogosphere. Using social network analysis, we show that some foreign policy networks (English and Farsi Twitter networks) accurately reflect policy positions and salient cleavages (online behavior maps onto offline behavior). Others (Hebrew Twitter network) do not. We also show that there are significant differences in salience across languages (Farsi and Arabic). Our analysis accomplishes two things. First, we show how scholars can use social media data and network analysis to make meaningful inferences about foreign policy issues. Second, and perhaps more importantly, we also outline pitfalls and incorrect inferences that may result if scholars are not careful in their application.
This paper documents the evolution of feminist works and struggle in the dual spheres of Islam and the Middle East, focusing on Morocco and Egypt. Foundational support for women’s advancement in Islam can be traced to Islam’s inception in the 7th century AD. Conservatism, first rejected by Islam, also evolved to become an instrument of social change. In post colonial contexts, conservatism opposed the import of foreign and culturally dissonant notions of gender relations, the presence of which subverted domestic feminist constructions. This paper will explore ideological constructions of far ends of the Islamic interpretive spectrum, the puritanical Wahhabists on one end and progressive and mainstream Muslim social scientists and leaders on the other. Throughout Islam’s history, scholars and lay people have sought to deconstruct misogynous interpretations and divide cultural interpretation from the tenets of the faith. Today’s debate on women’s roles and livelihood in the Middle East North Africa region take place in a globalized and decolonized context, in which the image of women results from a composite constructed narrative. These empirical definitions impact current women’s rights in the region, specifically through laws on marriage and family. These laws offer both a danger and an opportunity for feminist advancement, in the context of the Arab Spring.