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Author Archives: Laleh Khalili
Medieval Arab Naviation
“More interesting is the testimony of Ibn al-Mujawir who reports that in 626 A.H./1228-9 A.D. a ship arrived in Aden from Qumr (Comoros or Madagascar); the art of navigation of the people of Qumr impressed him as superior to that … Continue reading
Posted in Middle East, ports, seafaring, the sea, Travels, Uncategorized
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Of Ballast and Land Reclamation
That extraordinary image is from some time in the 1970s, and the container-ship steaming so serenely in Hudson River is a Jugolinija ship belonging to the Yugoslav national shipping line. What is of course poignant about the image is that … Continue reading
The Multivalence of Infrastructures II – Rail
I am reading a fascinating article about colonial engineering. Canay Ozden’s fabulous “Pontifex Minimus” is about the British engineer of the Low (or old) Aswan Dam, and the article just drips with all sorts of wonderful quotable sections. For example, … Continue reading
The Multivalence of Infrastructure I – Roads
As always Paul Rabinow’s French Modern is an extraordinary reminder of how transport infrastructures serve functions at once military and commercial – and in fact “war, commerce, and transit” (in Paul Nizan’s memorable phrase) cannot be prised apart. Here is Rabinow … Continue reading
Logistic Routes and the Détente
Reading an interesting article on the alignment of USSE with Siad Barré’s regime in Somalia from 1969 onwards and it has some interesting tidbits having to do with military logistics and transport. The article by Gary Payton is standard Cold … Continue reading
Posted in logistics, Middle East, militaries, Uncategorized, war
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Labour and Capital
From Walter Rodney’s wonderful How Europe Underdeveloped Africa, this passage on the making of infrastructures in Africa: The combination of being oppressed, being exploited, and being disregarded is best illustrated by the pattern of the economic infrastructure of African colonies : … Continue reading
Malta-Dubai; 26 August 2016 – Day 17, Steaming towards Hormuz
26 August 09.25 (GMT +4) Steaming towards Hormuz Straits The only thing that lightened the monotony yesterday was the alarm at around 10 last night. And the ridiculous conversations between the Iranian ship’s captains on channel 16 (which is supposed … Continue reading
Posted in 2016 Trip, Uncategorized
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Malta-Dubai; 24-25 August 2016 – Day 15-16, The Indian Ocean
24 August 09.15 (GMT+4) Steaming in the Indian Ocean The “rough seas” promised by the weather bulletin appeared somewhere close to 21.00 last night. It really wasn’t all that rough in any case and the rolling was more like being … Continue reading
Posted in 2016 Trip, Uncategorized
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Malta-Dubai; 23 August 2016 – Day 14, the Arabian Sea
23 August 10.46 (GMT+3) Steaming through the southern Arabian Seas – somewhere between Aden and Mukalla What a surprise this morning when the Filipino A/B, Alexander said to me “khasteh nabashid”. Turns out he was for two years between 2009 … Continue reading
Posted in 2016 Trip, Uncategorized
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The Gamming 