MIDDLE EAST
AP Photo
December 1, 2008
"Law Over Gun"
Op-Ed, Agence Global
By Rami Khouri, Senior Fellow, Middle East Initiative
"Three separate developments now taking place in different parts of the Arab world might have real consequences for this region's future: the International Criminal Court (ICC) indictment against the Sudanese president Omar Hassan Bashir, the Status of Forces Agreement (SOFA) approved by the Iraqi parliament to see the United States withdraw fully by the end of 2011, and the mixed Lebanese-international special tribunal that will try those to be accused of killing former Prime Minister Rafik Hariri and a dozen other public figures."
AP
October 29, 2008
"Six for Six"
Op-Ed, Agence Global
By Rami Khouri, Senior Fellow, Middle East Initiative
"Somalia seems to offer more intriguing evidence about how governments often must come to terms with militias, insurgent forces and other such informal armed groups in countries around the Arab-Asian region -- and the roles these entities play where formal governments appears unable to deliver the basic requirements of statehood."
October 8, 2008
"The High Cost of Incompetent Governance"
Op-Ed, Agence Global
By Rami Khouri, Senior Fellow, Middle East Initiative
In times like this -- global economic crisis -- the dominance of exclusively oil-fueled economies in the Arab World expose a regional lack of competent governance.
Fall 2008
"Making the World Safe for Partial Democracy? Questioning the Premises of Democracy Promotion"
Journal Article, International Security, issue 2, volume 33
By Arthur Goldsmith, Former Senior Research Fellow, Intrastate Conflict Program/International Security Program, 2004-2005
Democracy promotion is a favored strategy to advance the cause of world peace, especially in the Greater Middle East, but undifferentiated democracy promotion has two faulty premises. First, all progress toward the establishment of democratic regimes does not necessarily make the global community safer. Second, regime change is not something external actors have the capacity to direct along desired pathways. The first assumption fails to consider the well-documented security problems caused by partial democracies. The second assumption overstates the ability of powerful outsiders to induce transitions to full democracy. These research findings are grounds for cautious and selective democracy promotion, not a blanket approach that is indifferent to the composition of the regimes designated to be reformed and democratized.
Eva Serraberra
September 15, 2008
"The Tragic Failure of Arab Moderates"
Op-Ed, Agence Global
By Rami Khouri, Senior Fellow, Middle East Initiative
"It is worthwhile viewing George W. Bush's presidency from a different perspective than America's performance abroad, for example by reviewing the efforts and fate of those around the world who partnered with Washington..."
May 6, 2008
"Assessing Repression in Syria"
In the News
By Robert Rotberg, Director, Program on Intrastate Conflict and Conflict Resolution
Even as evidence mounts pointing to a partnership between Syria and North Korea in the construction of a Syrian nuclear reactor, Syria and North Korea continue to deny the allegations, leading the U.S. to condemn both countries’ secrecy.
February 6, 2008
"Power and Authority Reconfigured"
Op-Ed, Agence Global
By Rami Khouri, Senior Fellow, Middle East Initiative
The reconfiguration of power and authority is the big, new, historic and pervasive macro-development now taking place in Arab society, as the prevailing power structure of the past 75 years reaches the limits of its abilities. Not surprisingly, concerned citizens, agile gangs and efficient businessmen alike are moving in to grab their share of power in those spaces where the state is retreating, or franchising its own legitimacy and authority. Handled wisely, this could be a heartening and positive development that allows Arab society to define itself according to the consensus views of its pluralistic citizens -- unless American, British, Israeli or other Western armies invade again and try to re-configure us to their liking, rather than to our rights and wishes.
December 30, 2007
"Revolution and Counter Revolution: The Israeli Supreme Court from the 1980's onward, 1980–2004"
Book Chapter
By Ehud Eiran, Former Associate, International Security Program, 2010–2011; Former Research Fellow, International Security Program, 2005–2010
Ehud Eiran reviews the changes in the Israeli Supereme court since the 1980's and places them in the broader institutional, historical, and cultural contexts in this essay.
September 11, 2007
Six Years After 9/11
Magazine or Newspaper Article
By Rami Khouri, Senior Fellow, Middle East Initiative
BEIRUT -- This week’s sixth anniversary of the September 11, 2001 attack on the United States sees the top American military and diplomatic officials in Iraq speaking to the US Congress about American strategy in Iraq. The juxtaposition is noteworthy: Six years ago, a small band of Al-Qaeda militants attacked the United States and killed some 3000 people. Today, an army of over 160,000 American troops wages a war in Iraq that has seen tens of thousands of people killed since 2003. Neither policy makes much sense to anyone in the world, other than to those fanatics on both sides who decided to pursue these actions.
September 8, 2007
Power and Sanctions or Law and Life?
Magazine or Newspaper Article
By Rami Khouri, Senior Fellow, Middle East Initiative
The United Nations should thoroughly review its optimum role in a transforming world, because its existing contradictory policies risk damaging its credibility and efficacy for years to come.
