Program Related Multimedia Feeds

Audio: Games Kids Play

mentman — Wed, 28 Jul 2010 16:46:58 -0400

As the United States celebrates its 234th birthday, we should consider an important question: What if the United States were acting like a two-year-old?

Audio: Middle East Notes and Comment - The Real Threat

mentman — Mon, 14 Jun 2010 13:32:01 -0400

GCC countries can almost certainly survive physical threats, but unless they can create dynamic, hard working and creative populations over the long term, they will fail. The true threat that GCC societies face is not so much a conquering from without, but a crumbling from within.

Audio: Moment of Truth

sherry — Mon, 24 May 2010 11:36:02 -0400

Beneath the recent public embrace, a genuine crisis is emerging in U.S.-Israeli relations. Increasingly, the two countries have fundamentally different strategic priorities. In the past, high-level political understandings narrowed such differences; today, such understandings seem elusive.

Audio: Clear Gold

mentman — Tue, 20 Apr 2010 14:05:48 -0400

The most likely source of political and social unrest in the Middle East over the next twenty years is not warfare or military coups—it’s water. Military threats get all the press, but it’s water that is the real game-changer.

Audio: Dangerous Brinkmanship

sherry — Wed, 17 Mar 2010 16:06:00 -0400

The Israeli government’s surprise announcement of plans for new Jewish housing in East Jerusalem during Vice President Joe Biden’s visit last week does not bode well for U.S.-Israeli relations or for U.S.

Audio: Victory over al-Qaeda

pfrank — Tue, 23 Feb 2010 12:23:16 -0500

In an important way, al-Qaeda has been defeated. At one time, many Muslims admired the organization for its courageous opposition to Western domination, and many Westerners feared that al-Qaeda might draw Muslim communities into a battle with the West. Immediately after the events of September 11, 2001, it was not always clear how the battle for Muslim hearts and minds would end up.

Audio: A U.S. Role in Yemen

sherry — Mon, 25 Jan 2010 14:15:03 -0500

This is the audio for Middle East Notes and Comment: A U.S. Role in Yemen.

Audio: Waiting for the Deluge

pfrank — Tue, 05 Jan 2010 12:28:47 -0500

In a region that already has enough conflicts, another one is brewing, and it comes from a surprising source: the Nile. The river that witnessed history from the pharaohs through the Bible and on to the nationalist revolution of 1952 seems poised to enter a new phase, and there may not be enough water to go around.

Audio: House of the Rising Son

pfrank — Wed, 25 Nov 2009 10:09:41 -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.

Audio: China's Hard Choices on Iran

pfrank — Tue, 27 Oct 2009 10:26:18 -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.

Audio: The Revolution Grows Up

pfrank — Fri, 18 Sep 2009 14:47:03 -0400

In the September issue of Middle East Notes and Comment, Jon Alterman argues that Iran has moved from being a unique revolutionary state to becoming an ordinary authoritarian one.

Audio: Defining Engagement

sherry — Wed, 22 Jul 2009 10:14:54 -0400

In the July/August issue of Middle East Notes and Comment, Jon Alterman argues that engagement with Iran is a sign of strength, not weakness.

Audio: The Whole World is Watching

pfrank — Mon, 01 Jun 2009 14:53:26 -0400

In the September issue of Middle East Notes and Comment, Jon Alterman argues that Iran has moved from being a unique revolutionary state to becoming an ordinary authoritarian one.

Audio: Authoritarian Democracies and Democratic Authoritarianism

sherry — Tue, 26 May 2009 10:25:34 -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.

Audio: The Magic is Gone

sherry — Tue, 07 Apr 2009 11:04:18 -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.

Audio: Justice is a Virtue

sherry — Fri, 06 Mar 2009 10:08:51 -0500

In a recent Middle East Notes and Comment Jon Alterman talks about a pivotal speech President Obama gave in the 2008 presidential campaign and its broader implications.

Audio: The Middle East Moves East

sherry — Tue, 10 Feb 2009 10:12:59 -0500

In a recent Middle East Notes and Comment Jon Alterman talks about the U.S. governments map of the Middle East and how its conceptions are drifting eastward.

Audio: The Beginning of the End?

sherry — Sat, 20 Dec 2008 10:22:58 -0500

Last month, the U.S. intelligence community published an assessment of what the world might look like in the year 2025. Americans treated the report as an interesting exercise, if a somewhat esoteric one. For many leaders in the Middle East, however, and especially in the Gulf, the report was not esoteric at all. It was a glimpse at their personal futures.

Audio: Yankee Go Home

sherry — Wed, 22 Oct 2008 11:16:52 -0400

To hear some people tell the story, anti-Americanism will end on or about January 20, 2009. On that date, a new president will move into the White House, bringing with him a traditional American respect for foreign cultures, international law, and multilateral diplomacy.

Audio: The Bush Administration's Legacy in the Middle East

sherry — Tue, 21 Oct 2008 11:50:22 -0400

Jon Alterman's article for the blog: Middle East Strategy at Harvard.