Middle East Opinion: What "Lincoln" Shows Us About Personal Politics in the Gulf States

Sean Foley writes for EA:

Tonight, we will find out if "Lincoln" wins Best Picture in the Academy Awards Ceremony in California. Set in early 1865 during the closing months of the US Civil War, the movie features Daniel Day Lewis as President Abraham Lincoln, trying to win Congressional approval for the 13th Amendment to the Constitution --- a measure that would outlaw slavery in America.

With Barack Obama as the first African American President and hailing from Lincoln’s home state of Illinois, many commentators have made comparisons between the two men and their political eras in America.

But Lincoln offers insights for politics beyond American shores and the 1860s --- for example, in today's six Gulf State monarchies.

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US Opinion: Thoughts on Gun Control and Friday's Mass Murder in Connecticut

Photo: Adrees Latif/ReutersAt the end of the day, the politicians are woefully weak, and campaign dollars win the debate, the National Rifle Association and other gun lobbies too strong for their grip on legislators to be broken.

I doubt that the newly re-elected President Obama will take on the gun lobby. He has other battles that he will choose to fight with Congress. And I am sickened --- yes, after thought, that is not too strong a word --- by an American society where those who try to avert the next mass murder are overwhelmed by the forces of money.

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A Lesson for Climate Change: History, Slavery, and the Power of the Incremental (Mouhot)

In comparison to the headlong flight towards more technological fixes, self-restraint and humility in admitting our human limitations present far fewer dangers. But could it work? Self-restraint clearly failed to abolish slavery in the American South --- nothing bar a war succeeded. But the future is not written, and we can learn from our mistakes. History suggests that in order to reduce the risk of runaway climate change, governments and people should push for incremental self-restraint while making sure people are offered an alternative to fossil fuels.  

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