What is the inSIGnificant block?

Greetings,

the inSIGnificant block is a blog intended to reflect my personal thoughts and analyses of various political, economic and social issues in the Sudan, Iraq and the Gulf States; hence the capitalized portion of the title, inSIGnificant.

The idea behind this blog originated as a combination of a number of factors. Firstly, on a personal level, the Sudan and the Gulf States present great significance as places of residence where I spent more than half of my life. Secondly, in a different order, yet on an equal footing, the Gulf States, Iraq and the Sudan, are case studies to my academic thematic interests; particularly, political economy of the rentier states and governing systems of ethnically diverse countries. Thirdly, I found it to be indispensable to jot down my perspectives on the current developments in these three states/regions. Individually and collectively, the SIG, are at a turning point of their histories on national and regional levels and to allow my thoughts to wander off and vanish into thin air is a disservice to them as well as to my personal and academic prospects. Lastly, the insignificance of my blog as a title is not in any way attributed to the SIG as trivializing their peculiarity is irrational, if not altogether foolish, but rather descriptive of the status that this block (my blog) may assume in this ever-expanding blogosphere and the larger 3Ws. Often times, one stumbles upon remarkably thought-provoking posts, out of sheer randomness of quick tap on the touchpad, that only a handful have perused, and the majority of net-surfers had inadvertently, yet sadly, overlooked.

Thanks for stopping by.

JE