In February of this year Joseph Andrew Stack, a 53-year-old software engineer, flew a single-engine plane into an office building in Texas. To the shock of many in the Middle East, the White House released a statement in reaction to the attack that said the attack was not terrorism, but an isolated act.

The declaration that this was not a terrorist incident left many in this region bitterly wondering if the White House would have released the same statement if Stack was an Arab and/or a Muslim.

That terrorism is perpetrated by “others,” or often specifically Arabs and Muslims, is an idea commonly held in the West. In America — the leader of the ‘War on Terror’ for the past nine years — this is especially true.

As Michael Fellman, professor of history emeritus at Simon Fraser University, argues in his new book ‘In the Name of God and Country’ — “Americans prefer to see terrorism as external to the ‘American way.’” But as Fellman deftly illustrates, this is far from the historical truth.

In this lively book, Fellman shows how terrorism has in fact been “intrinsic to the formation of modern American society.” To articulate this argument, he takes five cases of terrorism that occurred in 19th century America. Through these cases Fellman develops a convincing argument that terrorism “colored many of the powerful and contradictory qualities of American state formation during its most crucial phase.”

Fellman states in the book that “from the beginning of the American state (and before), terrorism has pervaded American war making, social transformation and political development, obliterating many conventional fine distinctions of morality, including those between combatants and noncombatants.”

In the first example, Fellman takes the abolitionist and terrorist John Brown. A white American, John Brown had “the perfect combination of Christian holy manliness, American revolutionary zeal and abolitionist righteousness.”

The author illustrates how, in his fight against slavery, Brown committed outrageous acts of violence against noncombatants and innocents that caused deep concern even within his own family. But his ghastly acts for his noble cause appeared to work as he spread fear throughout the white pro-slavery South.

While Fellman focuses on terrorism within US history, lessons are also learnt about the nature of terrorism in general. He makes two general distinctions of terrorism, one revolutionary and the other reactionary, engaged in by both non-state and state actors. It is these two types of terrorism that can become locked in a vicious circle.

“Terrorism provokes terrorism in a cyclical and reciprocal manner — the War on Terror as a concept is falsely one-sided.” These sort of carefully thought out conclusions will no doubt win Fellman few friends in mainstream America. Nor will his uncovering of historical lessons that show how “terrorism can best be understood as a shared process that includes ‘us’ not merely as innocent victims but as participants, even if we did not initiate combat.”

Fellman will likely be brushed aside as an apologist for terrorists despite his clear condemnation of terrorism throughout the book. The typical knee jerk reaction to terrorist acts — to condemn rather than seek to understand — means that such a response to a book that attempts to engage the moral complexities of terrorism is to be expected.

This type of reaction, however, is one of the main warnings running through the heart of ‘In the Name of God and Country.’ To successfully combat terrorism, reactionary counterterrorism is not the solution. But as Fellman shows so well, history is sometimes a tragically broken record.

The last time Executive covered the Lebanon Motor Show, we called it a “regular fixture of the Beirut Exhibition Center.” That was 2004. For the next six years, spates of semi-annual violence kept the show in a state of hibernation… until now. This year, the show made a resurgence, and by some estimates, 2010 was its biggest year yet.

“It’s true that today, things are still a bit tense,” said Samir Homsi, president of the Lebanese Auto Association. “But most of the dealers are quite excited to do something for their country, for Lebanon. They have shown courage, and the result has been a huge success.”

The show was held at the Beirut International Exhibition and Leisure Center from April 8 to 18. Glamour, technological innovation, muscle-bound super cars and more ecologically friendly models all found a place during the 10 days of displays, with the biggest names in the business showcasing     their latest offerings.

Heavy-duty equipment, motorcycle, off-road vehicle and emergency vehicle dealerships also took part.

Although official statistics were not available as Executive went to print, Promofair SAL, which organized the event with the Lebanese Association of Car Importers, estimates that between 100,000 and 150,000 people attended the event over the course of its 10-day span.

The event featured models from 30 dealers from the Auto International Association group, as well as close to 80 others from outside of the group. The last auto show received roughly equal attendance but only drew half the number of dealers.

The Anthony Bonja Fortress watch has a look to match its name. With a thick steel casing held together by six hefty screws and a weighty leather strap, it’s the kind of timepiece you would want on your wrist when facing down an angry bear or a brutish boss. It exudes an aura of solid self-confidence in a way only $5,000 concentrated in four square centimeters of stainless steel can. But inside, there is an entirely different matter at hand — or in this case, on hand.

As a mechanical watch, the Fortress is powered by a system of gears and springs so delicate and so precise that their dimensions and alignment must be measured to the micrometer. It’s this balance of aesthetic sophistication and technical precision that makes a luxury watch, but Anthony Bonja, like the dozens of Middle Eastern brands offering luxury watch lines, is only responsible for half of the equation.

The company is a jeweler, not a watchmaker. The mechanical aspects of its watches — called the “movements” or “ébauches” — are purchased outside of the region, the fruit of a niche market of specialized producers. 

“To the best of my knowledge, all manufacturing of movements used by Arab luxury watch brands occurs outside of the Middle East,” said Susan Maroua, public relations manager at Tabbah Jewelry. “This structure isn’t unique to the Middle East either — it’s the norm for most of the industry.” Companies that produce their own in-house movements — like Rolex, Zenith and Jaeger LaCoultre — and sell to other private groups “are exceptions,” according to Maroua.

Step by step

The majority of the watch making industry is structured ‘horizontally,’ according to the Fédération de l’Industrie Horlogère Suisse (FH) — the association of Swiss watch makers — meaning that any given watch passes through several companies or technicians, each of whom is responsible for a different step in its development, before it reaches the showroom.

“As a luxury jewelry line, we work in participation with a number of specialists to produce our watches,” explained Stephan de Palmas, regional director for Van Cleef & Arpels in the Middle East. “Our company will develop a concept and send its specifications to one of the manufacturers we work with – Jaeger LaCoultre, for example – which will produce and send us the disassembled movement. The movement is then sent to another specialized technician who adds complications [mechanics that run off the movement] that will, say, cause a couple to meet and kiss on a tiny bridge every twelfth hour, or show the cycles of the moon.”

“Finally, when the watch’s mechanical aspects are fully assembled, it returns to our workshops to be decorated and jeweled, and from there goes to our retailers to be sold,” he said.

Regional markets

On the receiving end, Middle Eastern states are among the top importers of luxury watch movements globally. According to the FH, the United Arab Emirates is the 9th largest importer in the world, with Saudi Arabia, Lebanon and Bahrain not far behind.  Taken on a per-capita basis, the Middle East accounts for nearly as many watch sales as some of the world’s largest markets in Japan, Europe or the United States, and the region’s segment seems to be growing.

Middle Eastern markets, along with heavyweights China and India, played a major role in pulling the luxury watch industry out of its 2009 slump, and international retailers are increasing their regional foothold as a result.

“Dior is up this year 6 percent,” said Jacob Hrayki, regional manager for Dior. “I believe retailers are in a more confident position this year, investing better in their stocks and mainly in their strategic brands.”

FH estimates that Swiss watchmakers exported some 2.1 million watches and 35,000 movements, worth a combined $1 billion, to the Middle East in 2009. That constituted a decrease of 22 percent from 2008 sales, which is a testament to the difficulty the industry faced that year. However, sales have picked up sharply in the first months of 2010, with regional sales of Swiss watches and movements increasing by nearly 40 percent in January and February.

As Swiss as cheese with holes in it

Although Japan, Russia and Germany produce and export a portion of the markets’ movements for use in luxury watches, Switzerland is still the industry’s silverback gorilla.

The alpine state exported $12.3 billion worth of watch related products in 2009, while its closest competitor, Hong Kong, achieved sales of only $5.6 billion.

Much of the country’s own industry is dominated by a single company, ETA SA, a wholly owned subsidiary of The Swatch Group, which supplies the movements used by the majority of mid-range luxury watch brands made in the Middle East.

However, that partnership is slated to end in the very near future. In 2003 ETA announced that it would end all sales of movements to makers not allied with the Swatch group by 2006, prompting a panic among smaller makers and driving sales as makers rushed to build up their reserves in anticipation of the closure.

“There was no innovation, no new development, and when I pushed them to start new production, everybody started shouting,” Nicolas Hayek, the chief executive officer of Swatch, said at the time. “I said I was not going to deliver any more of my movements unless they try to do their own production. Otherwise the Swiss watch industry… will go down.”

Following protests by smaller makers, the company was investigated by the Swiss Competition Commission and found guilty of abusing its dominant market position.

During the settlement period, ETA agreed to push its export closure date back to the end of 2010 while engaging in a slower “phasing out” of its movements from the market. By the end of this year, however, Middle Eastern jewelers along with other makers around the world will need to look for new sources to furnish their machinations.

The alpine state exported $12.3 billion worth of watch related products in 2009, while its closest competition, Hong Kong, achieved sales of only $5.6 billion