The correct spelling of Dr Souag's first name is: MOSTEFA.
You spelled it correctly in your book, Hugh. What happened here?

Al Jazeera's broadcasting 'riipple effect' through the Middle East show how entrepreneurship can be more efficient in delivering human values through organizing local reports by using local people with high technology. During the Cold War, the US government allocated more money from the budget to Radio Liberty and Voice of America to tell truth happening in the Soviet bloc. Since the ending of this 'evil' empire the Western governments got more relaxed and have paid not as much attention in increasing power of broadcasting. Thanks to high technology advancement, both radios use internet, blogging, interactive commenting, video attachments from youtube, facebook to increase their audience. Al Jazeera has become voice of abused people without any western governments' support. They have been getting more credibility in covering local and worldwide news. If private entrepreneurship in broadcasting has more become more efficient in spreading democracy, how taxpayers' money really helps with the same quest?

This article did not address some far more sinister factors in Al Jazeera's Effects.

First, since the development of systemic organization in the industrial age, the modern nation state has dominated and altered humanity, making it easy for a tiny few to control 100s of millions through the state's systems.

Second, this reality has set the past 100 years, from colonial imperialism (eg. British viceroy was able to rule all of India) to the USSR (Lenin's pogroms, Stalin's gulags) to Mao's China and Pol Pot's Cambodia to mention some extremes. But for the Muslim world, Kemalist Turkey is the keen example. Applying French republicanism, Kemal used the trickery of democratic politics to get in position to form a state that literally worshipped him. His sayings were forced in public events and all education. His likeness was everywhere. His practices were emulated. And his laws were enforced.

Third, this world order was dominated over the past 50 years by America in particular so that America created a global empire for itself, and that empire relied on authoritarian regimes to maintain 'stabilitiy' which in reality meant subjugate their people to serve Western interests. And this relationship was sanctioned and legal according to liberal democracy.

Fourth, America's world order is ideological driven where all other ideologies are warred against until destroyed or severely weakened, thereby enabling American intervention, colonization, and essentially assimilation to America's world order.

Fifth, after Persian Gulf War I, America asserted itself in the Persian/Arabian Gulf by implanting several military bases and as in the case in Qatar, brought to power a new ruler that played "America's Game" and catered to American interests. That including introducing ideologically driven secular media that transcended the old authority of the modern nation state.

Sixth, the last 20 years and the end of the Cold War has enabled America to bring about a globalization, aka Americanization ( via the UN, World Bank, IMF, various NGOs), wherein nation states undergo uniform deregulation, privatization, and globalization so that American and Western corporations transcend the power of local nation states, wherein uberelites form a new global citizenry, wherein more and more medians exist that transcend the once predominant authority and autonomy of the nation state, including satellite TV, internet, mobile phones, high speed travel. al Jazeera and its global media power is included in this.

Seventh, Qatar has been allowed to produce Al Jazeera as long as it agreed to abandon any Islamic identity or ideas. Instead, it has ABANDONED AND NEGLECTED the very real intellectual and ideological sources of the Muslim people and followed the Western command to rely on Western intellectuals and their Arab secular counterparts. Thus Al Jazeera routinely ignores Islamic political parties and goes only to secular parties for various commentaries, because various Arab regimes have outlawed them. Al Jazeera has only started voicing Muslim Brotherhood opinions now that the people have widely revolted in Egypt.

Eighth, Al Jazeera's censorship of Muslim and Islamic thought is part of the tyranny of liberal democracy which has even used torture, murder, rape, and extrajudicial killings and imprisonment to suppress Islamic thought on political affairs in the Muslim world. Al Azhar University, the crown of Egypt's intellectual and Islamic thought for 100s of years as the world's oldest continual university, has been under government repression and control for over 100 years- since Napoleon invaded followed by the British colonization. Mubarak has run it like a fox treats a hen house, with Orwellian style. And Western liberal democracies have sanctioned this tyranny on thought. Al Jazeera has continued in this tyranny by upholding this censorship of Islamic thought and consent to the tyrannical, Orwellian censorship of al Azhar.
And Al Jazeera English is even more ideologically driven.

So this is where we are today. Egypt is STILL under Mubarak's martial law and secular democratic republic. Mubarak is still a repressive regime. And Al Jazeera, still failing to REPORT all the views in Egypt, essentially attempting to 'provide a secular revolution'- ala Hearst's attempt to 'provide' a Spanish American war.

Al Jazeera operates at the good graces of the royal family in Qatar and the House of Saud will let the streets run red before they concede power. Libs need to put the bong down and open the garage door, it's way too early to celebrate Mubarak's departure and AL Jazeera is about as responsible a news outlet as MSNBC is.

I was chatting with a friend in BBC World Service TV Arabic service (who, incidentally, is likely to lose her job as the Foreign Office has made deep cuts to the grant in aid ahead of the funding responsibility going back to the BBC), talking about how great it was that the Middle East now has an heavyweight, authoritative and credible home grown news outfit. (Which I stand by.) She did point out though, that those in Tahrir square opted to screen the BBC, not Al Jazeera.

The inside story of Egypt's TV wars and how Saudi Arabia could be next. I was chatting with a friend in BBC World Service TV Arabic service (who, incidentally, is likely to lose her job as the Foreign Office has made deep cuts to the grant in aid ahead of the funding responsibility going back to the BBC), talking about how great it was that the Middle East now has an heavyweight, authoritative and credible home grown news outfit. (Which I stand by. ) She did point out though, that those in Tahrir square opted to screen the BBC, not Al Jazeera. "But the lid on Pandora's box has been prized open, and undemocratic regimes across the region are now looking over their shoulder at Al Jazeera -- for history shows that where Egypt goes, other Arab countries soon follow. Given Al Jazeera's enormous influence on the Arab street and its electrifying message that Arab dictatorships are, in fact, mortal, it is no wonder dictators and despots across the region have been left feeling rather rattled blood pressure medications. There have already been hints of insurrection's ripples in Algeria, Jordan, Yemen, and Bahrain. But could Al Jazeera threaten Saudi Arabia?" Egypt is STILL under Mubarak's martial law and secular democratic republic. Mubarak is still a repressive regime. And Al Jazeera, still failing to REPORT all the views in Egypt, essentially attempting to 'provide a secular revolution'- ala Hearst's attempt to 'provide' a Spanish American war.

Aljazeera influence is well feared even beyond the Arab world , that's why the previous US gov boomed its offices in Iraq and Afghanistan and even thought to boom its HQ in Qatar. I read in aljazeera English website that US cable companies refused aljazeera because "The majority of the Americans are not interested in world news".