Ali Writes on 'Aqoul

I found out recently (when going through traffic referrals on my site counter), that my blog features on the "'Aqoul Aggregator", a syndicated feed of MENA-related blogs which also include Liberals Against Terrorism, Juan Cole's blog Informed Comment, and The Arabist Network.

'Aqoul itself is a blog that covers issues relevant to the MENA region and beyond, from a world perspective. Here's what they have to say about themselves:

The intention behind ‘Aqoul (the name derives from an Arabic word for “reasonableness” or “understanding” that also deliciously is the name for a thorny and prickly desert shrub, Camel's Thorn) is to create a space for reasoned discussion, debate and blithering on about the Middle East, North Africa (MENA) and to a lesser extent other regions associated with Islam. Let us call it “MENA writ large”
...
The intended scope of interest ranges from the political, to the social, to the cultural, to the economic, to literary. The intended point of view is rational, self-critical and iconoclastic. The “founding group” – to use a slightly absurd phrase – contains a variety of views and nationalities, so should, one hopes, the readers and contributors.

At first I was a little surprised that my blog was included as a "MENA Blog". I should think my posts were more broadly focused (is that an oxymoron?) than that, although, given the above mission statement, I can see there is a significant overlap between that and what I write about.