"There is an element of this in Spanish cultures also. It is called "el enchufo." It come from the verb enchufar, which means to be plugged in (as an electrical cord is plugged to the energy source.) It is how people get noticed for…"

"Yes, that's the book which initially got me going on the topic and it's also the reason why I asked if wasta in your mind has anything to do with conflict mediation. Cunningham and Sarayrah say it does, but if I ask around here in Amman…"

"I hv found this exert quite interesting on WASTA. widespread practice related to business ethics is what in spoken eastern Arabic is called wasta (Cunningham and Sarayrah, 1993), or in spoken Hebrew protektzia (Danet, 1989). While the concept of…"

"The Inadan of northern Nigeria and Niger serve this function for their Taureg overlords. They take care of things for them, acting as intermediaries. They make help to arrange marriages and make arrangements for music at weddings and for…"

"You have covered it from all angles!! I am finalizing my thesis, any input and help will be appreciated. I am looking for a support writer/ethnographer that can help me with the storyboard. This is an exert: "a qualitative ethnographic study…"

"Sure, you have described the wasta concept and the process that concept takes, ideas of what, if one were to un-reflexively apply the ideals of western liberal democracy to it, could be called nepotism. But the word itself, in literal terms, refers…"

"No. A wasta example: You are looking for a job, I happen to know the GM of the company. The GM knows me (samir) and knows my status (power or rich or influential..etc). You mention to the GM my name, you ask me to drop a call or email. The GM sends…"

"Interesting. Would you call someone who settles a conflict between two parties (say after a car crash between two tribes) a wasta?"

"The Israeli-Arab conflict indirectly feeds to maintain the political structure, as leaders over there use it to their favor. But wasta happens at all levels in society, the street level seller selling tomatoes on his cart all the way up to the…"

"Thanks Samir, that's helpful. In your mind, is wasta also related to the resolution of conflicts or was it related to this (maybe in the past or in rural settings) or not at all?"

"I lived in the ME (Lebanon, UAE, Saudi) and traveled throughout the region for 25 years. Wasta, from my experience, is the preferential treatment you give someone. And you do that because for several reasons: religious, expecting the same from…"

"Interesting, I've never heard of that. Can you expand on that a bit?"

"You might pursue the line of metal workers. They have served in the wasta role throughout Middle Eastern history."

"I've read other things by Antoun (Arab Village: a Social Structural Study of a Transjordanian Peasant Community, Bloomington, IN: Indiana University Press, 1972.; Low-key politics: Local-level Leadership and Change in the Middle East. Albany,…"

"Hi I’m currently doing research on Bedouin in southern Jordan and I’m looking into wasta and how it relates to the position of Bedouin within the state. I’m only in the preliminary stages of research and haven’t done my…"

"Hi Ekkardt, email at samir.makarem@hyperlink-me.com to set a tel conversation. I am pHd andidate doing research in the Middle east"