MIDDLE EAST
AP Photo
September 17, 2011
"The 'Glocalized' Roots of Religious Politics: Extremism from Below, Not Abroad"
Op-Ed, The Huffington Post
By Monica Duffy Toft, Former Associate Professor of Public Policy; Former Board Member, Belfer Center for Science and International Affairs, Former Director, Initiative on Religion and International Affairs
"What the Arab uprisings revealed is that today's people, in the Arab world assuredly but not only there, desire less a unified ideology around a single leader or leadership that touts triumphalism over some form of evil and more a system of governance that promotes accountability, transparency and protects every individual's needs and interests."
AP Photo
August 15, 2011
"The Diplomat"
Op-Ed, Boston Globe
By Juliette Kayyem, Lecturer in Public Policy
"...[I]n the real world, nations like Saudi Arabia, Turkey, Iran, and China have complicated strategic interests in Syria and it behooves us to properly weigh those interests in order to protect our own. It is because, in the real world that we discovered in Libya, an uprising may be far more complicated than we first believed."
AP Photo
August 11, 2011
"The Dangers of Secularism in the Middle East"
Op-Ed, Christian Science Monitor
By Daniel Philpott, Timothy Samuel Shah and Monica Duffy Toft, Former Associate Professor of Public Policy; Former Board Member, Belfer Center for Science and International Affairs, Former Director, Initiative on Religion and International Affairs
"...[W]e find that religious groups are most likely to be peaceful and supportive of democracy when they live under regimes that respect their autonomy. Islamic countries as diverse as Bangladesh, Indonesia, Malaysia, Mali, Senegal, and Turkey demonstrate that when Islamic parties participate in politics they not only operate by the rules of the democratic game but also, in time, become more moderate."
AP Photo
July 5, 2011
"Southern Sudan Has Many Lessons to Learn from Juba University"
Op-Ed, The Guardian
By Calestous Juma, Professor of the Practice of International Development; Director, Science, Technology, and Globalization Project; Principal Investigator, Agricultural Innovation in Africa
"Critics of the role of universities in economic transformation argue that higher education takes too long to show results and that its focus is usually too academic. However, the evidence suggests that practically oriented universities offer the fastest and most durable ways to incubate new states. With the right vision, universities can confer their attributes to a new state."
AP Photo
May/June 2011
"Fool Me Twice: How the United States Lost Lebanon—Again"
Journal Article, World Affairs
By Eric S. Edelman, Senior Associate, International Security Program and Mara E. Karlin
"For the second time in three decades, a substantial American investment of time, money, and effort to strengthen the Lebanese government and support its fledgling democracy has come to very little. Hezbollah, Tehran, and Damascus now dominate the country’s intractable domestic politics. US diplomacy is left powerless, wondering how to make the best of an increasingly untenable situation in the Levant."
AP Photo
June 9, 2011
"Much Ado About Very Little"
Op-Ed, BitterLemons-International.org -- Middle East Roundtable, issue 16, volume 9
By Chuck Freilich, Senior Fellow, International Security Program
"Denuded of the boilerplate rhetoric, the president's message was clear: the United States will continue to pursue the same policy it has adopted since the Arab spring began. Events in each country will be treated as discrete policy issues, not as part of a broad regional vision or normative commitment, and the US will support reform where it serves its interests and as long as the price—politically, economically and especially militarily—is minimal. No clarion call for democracy, no broad strategic vision, just reactive realpolitik, with best wishes."
AP Photo
June 6, 2011
"The Future of al-Qaeda"
Op-Ed, Foreign Policy
By Hassan Abbas, Former Senior Advisor, Belfer Center for Science and International Affairs and Tariq Parvez
"[W]hether al-Qaeda's ideology resonates with segments of the world's Muslim populations will have a critical bearing on the organization's ultimate fate. Recent political developments in Egypt, Tunisia and across the Middle East have exposed the bankruptcy of al-Qaeda's ideas as a means of challenging dictatorships in Muslim countries....Much will depend in the coming months and years on the extent to which the changes heralded by the "Arab Spring" improve the lot of common Arabs in terms of governance and economic prospects."
AP Photo
June 6, 2011
"Too Soon to Indict Khadafy"
Op-Ed, Boston Globe
By Juliette Kayyem, Lecturer in Public Policy
"The American goal in Syria and Yemen — just like Libya — must be to convince authoritarian leaders that, absent significant internal reforms, they must go. The indictments against Khadafy not only threaten to undermine a potential exit strategy for him, but may also give other Arab leaders more incentive to fight till the end."
AP Photo
May 30, 2011
"Post-revolution Uncertainty"
Op-Ed, Boston Globe
By Juliette Kayyem, Lecturer in Public Policy
"This spring belonged to the Arabs in Tunisia and Egypt. It is now officially over. The inspiring events in those nations, and the continuing pursuit of freedom within the region, is more complicated now. Egypt, the darling of dramatic change, is economically and politically unstable; we have all but forgotten Tunisia; and moderate reforms in other countries throughout the region may be illusory. Nations such as Libya and Syria are still in a violent winter of discontent."
AP Photo
May 26, 2011
"Is it Really a New Start for Palestinians?"
Op-Ed, The Providence Journal
By Peter Krause, Former Research Fellow, International Security Program, 2010–2011
"The internal unity of social movements has often served as the deciding factor between movements that have succeeded and failed to secure independence. In the cases of Algeria, Vietnam, and even the Zionists in the Palestinian Mandate, competing factions were able to come together to present a united front to their adversary at key moments."
