Unseating a liberal democrat

As many thousands of Egyptians gather for their “million man march” after over a week of demonstrations all around the country, with probably hundreds dead, communications cut and tanks on the streets, there is one organisation who must be wondering what all the fuss is about. Yes, of course I refer to the British Council, which in this summary document about Egypt refers to the country as a “liberal democracy” (hat tip Neil).Download Egypt

Or can it be that the British Council knows full well that Egypt is no more a liberal democracy than the British Council is a charity, or accountable, or expert, or committed to “fair competition”, or indeed anything other than a self-serving parasite, which will support any old regime as long as they can use diplomatic privilege and outrageous subsidy to make a buck? Gah.

Comments

[Edward]

C'mon, Blakie! It's barely different from the FCO's own tame (or diplomatic) blurb: http://www.fco.gov.uk/en/travel-and-living-abroad/travel-advice-by-country/country-profile/middle-east-north-africa/egypt/?profile=all

What did you expect? Rather, rejoice in the knowledge that what they do, they now do more efficiently...

[David]

OK, Edward, point taken, although the FCO are not quite as egregious and slimy.

Re. Egypt I find the video stream from Al-Jazeera riveting. http://english.aljazeera.net/watch_now/

[paul]

about as democratic as the BC

[Neil Robertson]

Dismayed to see that self-styled 'security advisor' to The British Council (?) Emma Sky has just popped up
again as a Resident 'Spring Fellow' at The Kennedy School of Government of Harvard University. The
claim on The Kennedy School website that Sky's
role in Palestine was constructive is not one that
was shared by many I have to say .. The evidence
that a DfID public admin project she 'sky-jacked'
after summarily dismissing staff was 'nonexistent'
has been passed to the UK DfID Fraud Desk ........

Her subsequent roles in Iraq and Afghanistan with all those middle-aged US Generals continues to be
a source of astonishment given her BC track record

http://www.iop.harvard.edu/Programs/Fellows-Study-Groups/Current-Fellows/Emma_Sky

[Neil Robertson]

New Zealand-based anti-corruption expert Dr Keith Johnston's blog about British Council's Emma Sky
is aptly titled 'Delusions in the Middle East and The
Little Drummer Girl':

http://kjohnsonnz.blogspot.com/2009/11/from-new-york-times-november-2009.html

[Neil Robertson]

Hudson Institute blog about former British Council 'security advisor' Emma Sky's 'toxic cluelessness' in
dealing with the Kurds in Iraq:

http://talismangate.blogspot.com/2009/04/arabs-and-kurds-and-emma-sky.html

[Neil Robertson]

Philosopher Sissela Bok (who left The Kennedy School
Of Government At Harvard University for Brandeis U)
on the dangers to society of lying, deception and the curious propensity of neo-cons in the United States
to turn a blind eye to the consequences of lying to
foreigners by people like Lt Col Oliver North:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4l01ApRuXqs

[Neil Robertson]

Former British Council 'security advisor' Emma Sky is not it seems the only former Iraq Coalition Provisional Authority person around Harvard Yard - a place that also once harbours Dr Henry Kissinger?

For example here is the CV for a Meghan O'Sullivan which seems to overlap with Emma Sky's trajectory:

http://belfercenter.ksg.harvard.edu/experts/1575/meghan_osullivan.html?back_url=/project/64/middle_east_initiative.html%3Fpage_id%3D291&back_text=Back+to+Middle+East+Initiative

Caveat emptor!

[neil robertson]

British Council EgyptJoin
Wall
Info
Discussions
Photos
Video
Events
There are no discussions.

[neil robertson]

http://www.number10.gov.uk/news/latest-news/2011/02/pm-hails-%E2%80%9Cgreat-opportunity%E2%80%9D-for-egypt-60964

[neil robertson]

Sounds like they also missed the tide of history in Tunisia - according to this piece on BC's website
by Eunice Crook? But now that the Facebook revolution has toppled the Ancien Regime in Tunis they are now hoping to resume business as usual .......

http://blog.britishcouncil.org/2011/02/tunisia-the-facebook-revolution/

[neil robertson]

So what was British Council doing in Tunisia before the revolution? 'Strip The Willow' seems to be the answer according to the blog posted by one of the five Scots (a Chinese psychotherapist from Auchterarder?) they brought in to do a Module on Community Leadership:

http://www.britishcouncil.org/tunisia-leadership-in-community-development-2.htm

[neil robertson]

" As for the Tunisian participant, Zied Touzani, he added “The second project module of the LICD project was more interactive and more efficient than the first one. Indeed, we applied the theoretical methods and techniques discussed in module 1 such as the "system thinking”. Thanks to interaction with Scottish participants, we also acquired new philosophies such as "exploring identities and utilising the magic of difference" to learn from each other and combat stereotypes”

It was an opportunity to build on and practice the use of Noticing, Naming, Reframing and Questioning to interact with community leaders, reflect on future activities and share insights on facilitating positive change in the community."
(from British Council's Tunisia website pages)

[neil robertson]

" The Tunisian English Learning and Teaching Association (TELTA) and the Association Tunisienne de promotion de l éducation scolaire (bureau regional du grand Tunis) are organising a panel discussion, mostly in Arabic:

“Which educational institution do we want now?”

Saturday, 26 February from 9:00-13:00 in room Ibn Al Haythem at Cite des sciences.

For more information, contact: teltaassociation@gmail.com
5 hours ago"
(from the website of British Council in Tunisia)

[neil robertson]

From the Facebook page of British Council Tunisia 'a non-profit organisation' (sic) just a few minutes ago:

'There are no discussions.'

[neil robertson]

Of course the French do dancing too:

http://www.ifctunisie.org/spip.php?article617

[neil robertson]

And back in Cairo: revealed - the secret strategy of the German Goethe Institute to get young Egyptians
to join hands along the Nile Corniche ....................

http://www.goethe.de/ins/eg/prj/jgd/leb/pug/de2038821.htm

[Neil Robertson]

Interesting admission from the ubiquitous Emma Sky that she was in Cairo in 2001 during 9/11 helping The British Council build up Egypt as a 'liberal democracy':

http://ricks.foreignpolicy.com/posts/2011/05/31/letter_from_cairo_a_stroll_through_the_ancient_city_in_search_of_the_new_egypt