February 25, 2013
"Syria's Breakup is a Levantine Norm"
Op-Ed, Daily Star
By Rami Khouri, Senior Fellow, Middle East Initiative
The talk about Syria by knowledgeable friends and colleagues whose views I respect has turned increasingly pessimistic in recent weeks, with expectations ranging across a span of bad outcomes. These range from Syria becoming a Levantine Somalia, where power is in the hands of hundreds of local warlords and tribal chieftains, to a totally fractured state that is defined by a combination of raging civil war and sectarianism that pulls in interested neighbors and perhaps ignites new regional wars.
Associated Press
February 20, 2013
"Obama and Kerry Should Listen Hard"
Op-Ed, Agence Global
By Rami Khouri, Senior Fellow, Middle East Initiative
It was inevitable that the announcement of U.S. President Barack Obama’s visit to the Middle East in mid-March would trigger expectations of new proposals for re-starting Palestinian-Israeli peace talks. This visit, coupled with John Kerry’s appointment as secretary of state and the start of Obama’s second term, heightens speculation about what, if anything, the United States may do to prod the parties towards fresh negotiations
AP/Muhammed Muheisen
February 15, 2013
"Arabs Seek Citizenship and Statehood"
Op-Ed, Agence Global
By Rami Khouri, Senior Fellow, Middle East Initiative
As we navigate this period that marks the two-year anniversary of the uprisings and revolutions that began to change the face of the Arab world in January 2011, we witness a dizzying array of conditions across the Arab countries: street demonstrations, clashes between groups of young activists and police, outright warfare, slow-motion constitutional transformations, the occasional assassination or bombing, many elections and referendums, and recurring government crises.
Photo Credit: Noelle Janka
February 9, 2013
"Remaking Arab Civil Society"
Op-Ed, Agence Global
By Rami Khouri, Senior Fellow, Middle East Initiative
At a workshop this week at the Radcliffe Institute at Harvard University, I had the pleasure of engaging with colleagues from the United States, Europe and the Arab world on the question of how scholars can study current developments in “civil society” in the Arab world, during this historic moment of uprisings, revolutions and change. One of the fascinating aspects of the discussions was whether we could accurately use a term like “civil society” in the context of the current situation in Arab countries.
February 6, 2013
"Dreaming in Washington, D.C."
Op-Ed, Agence Global
By Rami Khouri, Senior Fellow, Middle East Initiative
We will find out in coming months whether the second term of the Obama administration will herald any significant changes in United States policies in the Middle East. Four main issues should be monitored for any signs of change: the Palestine-Israel and wider Arab-Israeli conflicts; tensions with Iran; the Arab uprisings, revolutions, and constitutional transformations; and socio-economic conditions across the region.
February 1, 2013
"The Gangland Policies of Certain ‘Exceptional’ Nations"
Op-Ed, Agence Global
By Rami Khouri, Senior Fellow, Middle East Initiative
For anyone who wonders why so many people around the world criticize American and Israeli foreign policy and militarism, this has been a valuable learning week. I refer to the U.S. Senate Foreign Relations Committee hearings on Chuck Hagel’s nomination to be the next U.S. Secretary of Defense, and the twin Israeli attacks against military targets in Syria.
January 29, 2013
"Iraq and Egypt: Learning Democratic Republicanism"
Op-Ed, Agence Global
By Rami Khouri, Senior Fellow, Middle East Initiative
The events in Iraq and Egypt these days are particularly important to follow and understand as best we can, because of what they tell us about how some Arab citizens and leaders behave at stages of the process in which they have the opportunity to shape their own political governance systems.
January 25, 2013
"Consolidating Its Center or Its Criminality?"
Op-Ed, Agence Global
By Rami Khouri, Senior Fellow, Middle East Initiative
All that can be said with certainty now about the Israeli election results is that the deck of political cards in parliament has been dramatically reshuffled: Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s coalition with Avigdor Lieberman won 31 seats (much less than expected, and down from the 41 seats it held before) and remains the single biggest group, the extreme right Bayit Yehudi party of Naftali Bennett took 11 seats, and Yair Lapid’s new Yesh Atid party made the biggest splash with its 19 seats (more than the predicted 12 seats), making it the second biggest party in parliament.
January 23, 2013
Israel’s Election Will Have Sharp Consequences
Op-Ed, Agence Global
By Rami Khouri, Senior Fellow, Middle East Initiative
For the past generation and a half, since the late 1970s, Israeli society has been moving steadily to the right in three main trajectories: greater reliance on military force as a primary foreign policy tool, more social and policy-making influence by religious Jews, and a growing super-nationalist commitment to a greater Israel concept that includes building new settlements and preventing the birth of a Palestinian state in the West Bank and Gaza.
November 28, 2011
"Arab Exceptionalism: Ending in Different Ways"
Op-Ed
By Rami Khouri, Senior Fellow, Middle East Initiative
It has been eleven months since the Arab citizen revolts started in Tunisia last December and rolled through the Arab world in a wave that has manifested itself in different ways across the region. The two most striking things about the past eleven months are also slightly contradictory. On the one hand, in virtually every Arab country, street demonstrators -- or less kinetic political protests in the form of petitions to the rulers -- have persisted, with several common issues defining citizen demands in all countries: real constitutional reforms that define citizenship rights and the limits of government powers, and a focus on social justice in a new social contract between rulers and ruled. On the other hand, this contrasts with the very different regime responses and the trajectories of the political reform process across the Arab region.
