Middle East Program - Related Publication

Middle East Notes and Comment: House of the Rising Son

mDziuban — Mon, 16 Nov 2009 00:00:00 -0500

It is a strange kind of republic in which presidents serve for life. It is an even stranger one in which rulers inherit power from their fathers. Yet, that is the direction in which the Arab Republic of Egypt is going.

Iran and Nuclear Diplomacy

pfrank — Mon, 19 Oct 2009 00:00:00 -0400

Q1: Does Iran desire and is it on the verge of developing a nuclear weapons capability?

Middle East Notes and Comment: China's Hard Choices on Iran

mDziuban — Wed, 14 Oct 2009 00:00:00 -0400

On Iran, China increasingly seems to be the odd man out. Not only have the French taken a surprisingly hard line in international efforts to regulate the Iranian nuclear program, but there are signs Russia may be stiffening its resolve as well.

Middle East Notes and Comment: The Revolution Grows Up

mDziuban — Thu, 10 Sep 2009 00:00:00 -0400

The government of Iran struggled for decades to fit into the broader Middle East, and it has finally succeeded: it now sees its people principally as a source of instability rather than a source of legitimacy. Thirty years after the Revolution, the Iranian government has concluded it is far better to anesthetize the population than mobilize it.

Middle East Notes and Comment: Defining Engagement

mDziuban — Wed, 22 Jul 2009 00:00:00 -0400

For much of last month, dramatic images out of Tehran displaced a brewing debate over “engaging Iran.” Similar debates over engaging Hamas and Hezbollah fell by the wayside, too, and the debate over engaging Syria seemed to have been decided in the affirmative, with the announcement that the United States would return an ambassador to Damascus for the first time in more than four ye

Middle East Notes and Comment: The Whole World is Watching

lstephenson — Tue, 07 Jul 2009 00:00:00 -0400

It is easy to be swept up by all of the images coming out of Iran and think that the days of dictatorship—in Iran and the rest of the world—are numbered. Overnight, normally innocuous social networking tools swiftly have turned political, and local events have found international audiences mere instants after they occur.

Middle East Notes and Comment: Authoritarian Democracies and Democratic Authoritarianism

lstephenson — Tue, 26 May 2009 00:00:00 -0400

For a part of the world that doesn't have a lot of freedom, the Middle East certainly has a lot of elections that count. On May 16, Kuwaitis elected a new parliament, sending women to the chamber for the first time. On June 7, Lebanese will go to the polls, and five days later, Iranians will have their turn.

Middle East Notes and Comment: The Magic is Gone

Tue, 07 Apr 2009 00:00:00 -0400

It’s no secret that the U.S.-Egyptian relationship is ailing. As his term went on, President George W. Bush seemed to go to Egypt principally to deliver stern lectures. After years of visiting Washington every spring, President Hosni Mubarak stopped coming Washington at all.

Turkey's Evolving Dynamics

Mon, 30 Mar 2009 00:00:00 -0400

Relations between the United States and Turkey stand at a critical juncture. Turkey is a key ally in the advancement of U.S. interests vis-à-vis the Middle East, Eurasia, and global energy diversification. Turkey still sees the United States as its closest ally and wants to be a partner in advancing mutual interests, particularly in its immediate environs.

China's Soft Power in the Middle East

Tue, 10 Mar 2009 00:00:00 -0400

Chapter 5 from Chinese Soft Power and Its Implications for the United States.