Erin Burnett Now ‘Fortune’ Contributor

By Alex Weprin 

Isn’t corporate synergy wonderful? CNN anchor Erin Burnett now has a regular column for Fortune, the financial magazine that–like CNN–is owned by Time Warner.

Burnett’s first column debuts in the “Fortune 500” issue, which hits newsstands tomorrow, but it is online today. The subject: the Arab world’s love affair with English, and the impact that is having in the region.

Arabic is a beautiful language to hear, and Osman Sultan, the CEO of wireless giant Du, told me he’s seen elites learning new Arabic words, post-Arab Spring, because they want to connect with an emerging regional identity. Tom Speechley of UAE-based Abraaj Capital says Arabic language content is the fastest growing segment of the Internet, thanks to surging mobile use among the masses. Here’s hoping that surge helps convince government leaders and the upwardly mobile that Arabic is part of their economic future, not a cultural relic of the past.

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