The New International Information and Communication Order (NIICO) is a movement dedicated to bridging the information divide between the northern and southern hemispheres. This movement was led by the non-aligned countries, who stimulated vigorous debates in UNESCO meetings, particularly in the 1970s and 1980s. Arab countries, which have historically imported large amounts of Western media content, also participated these debates and attempted to bridge the information divide between themselves and Western countries. For example, Mustafa Masmoudi, an ex-minister of information of Tunisia and a member of the MacBride committee, contributed immensely to the issuing of the Mass Media Declaration that was finally adopted in the 20th General Meeting of UNESCO in 1978. In this paper, through an analysis of news agencies, of information organizations and of the expansion of national broadcasting capabilities, I reveal how Arab countries collectively attempted to modify the established information structures in accordance with the rise of NIICO. Additionally, I reveal how a series of collaborative attempts made by Arab countries became ineffective when many Arab states prioritized the strengthening of their national informational capabilities over these attempts.

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In 1950 and 1951 the American Foundation for the Study of Man sent archaeological expeditions to Wadi Beihân in South Arabia which was once dominated by the Qatabanian Kingdom. During the expeditions, a small mound called Hajar Bin Humeid was excavated, and its report was published in 1969 under the title of “Hajar Bin Humeid: Investigations at a Pre-Islamic Site in South Arabia”. The reporter is Gus W. Van Beek.
This excavation was made mainly for the purpose of establishing a ceramic chronology for South Arabia. For this purpose a small area of the west side of the mound was selected, and dug down to the virgin soil, and eighteen strata or so from A to S were found together with many building remains, potsherds, and other artifacts.
From the lowest stratum S to stratum L, most structures were found to be built of mud brick without stone foundations and few changes could be seen in their alignments. In stratum K, however, the old town plan disappeared, and at the same time stone began to be used for structure foundations. In stratum G the exterior walls of buildings consisted of three or more courses of blocks and superstructure of mud brick. Then, in stratum C ahlar masonry began to be used, the technique of which was also seen in the uppermost stratum of Timna, the capital of Qatabân.
As for pottery, the most obvious aspects are its paucity and primitiveness. For instance, the potters of this site were consistently fond of using straw as tempering material, the technique of which had already been abandoned in other parts of the Near East in the third millenium B. C. Pottery unearthed was classified according to four categories, that is, choice of tempering materials (straw, steatite, mixed lithography, and sand), surface coating (slip and wash), surface finish (burnishing), and surface decoration (incised and painted). Pottery, thus classified, shows different aspects in various strata, and this difference is especially remarkable in stratum C. From this difference and that in the masonry technique mentioned above, the reporter assumes that there might be a gap of fifty or a hundred years between strata D and C.
Though it shows many peculiarities of its own, the pottery of this mound also includes a number of finishing styles and decorative motifs which are parallel and must be contemporary with developments in Syria and other parts of Orient. By comparing the pottery with those of the northern districts, dating of the strata of this site is possible to a certain extent, especially of the earlier strata. Besides these ceramic similarities, radiocarbon tests as well as glass, stone, bronze, iron, and other objects also give some clues to the chronology. From these materials, it is presumed that this site had been occupied by peasants for about fifteen hundred years from the end of the second millenium B. C. to the fourth or fifth century A. D.

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