New Magazine on Arab Higher Education Will Make Its Debut, but Not at a Conference in Dubai

By Ian Wilhelm. When the philanthropist Salah Khalil proposed starting a magazine to cover Arab higher education, he knew it would have to negotiate political obstacles in a region where governments tightly watch scholarly work. Just how quickly that would happen, however, he didn't expect. On Wednesday, Mr. Khalil canceled a higher-education conference that was to launch the new online publication because of concerns about academic freedom in the United Arab Emirates, where the event was to be held this weekend.
That step came less than a week after a similar move by the London School of Economics and Political Science, which canceled a conference it had planned in Dubai after Emirati authorities requested that a presentation on Bahrain, which is facing political upheaval, be dropped from the program. A scholar on Arab politics from the London institution who was to speak at the event was briefly detained at the Dubai airport and barred from entering the country. The new magazine, called Al Fanar, "is committed to strong coverage of academic freedom, and we truly believe academic freedom is an essential condition for excellence in universities around the Arab world," said Mr. Khalil. "We can't talk about upholding academic freedom and launch in Dubai. I don't think it sends the right message." Read more...