On Thursday, the House Foreign Affairs Subcommittee on the Middle East and South Asia held the second in its ongoing series, "Shifting Sands: Political Transitions in the Middle East.” The witnesses for the hearing were Michael H. Posner, Assistant Secretary for the Bureau of Democracy, Human Rights, and Labor (DRL), and Tamara Wittes, Deputy Assistant Secretary for the Bureau of Near Eastern Affairs, both at the U.S. Department of State. ...

On Wednesday, the House Foreign Affairs Subcommittee on the Middle East and South Asia held the first in a proposed series of hearings entitled, “Shifting Sands: Political Transitions in the Middle East.” Testimony was given by a panel featuring, Elliott Cohen, Ph.D, Professor of Strategic Studies at The Johns Hopkins University’s School of Advanced International Studies, J. Scott Carpenter, Keston Family Fellow at Washington Institute for Near East Policy, and ...

On Friday, the Center for the Study of Islam and Democracy (CSID) held their 12th Annual Conference under the theme “Tunisia’s and Egypt’s Revolutions and Transitions to Democracy.” CSID President Radwan Masmoudi opened the conference by giving special attention to discerning real and fake stability and development in Egypt and Tunisia. The first panel, chaired by George Washington University Visiting Scholar and Program Committee Chair for the event, Radwan Ziadeh, was ...

In two similar pieces,  Marc Lynch and Joseph S. Nye, lament budget cuts to U.S. State and Foreign Operations, defending the efficacy of soft power.  Nye defends the relevant instruments of soft power, the term he coined: “public diplomacy, broadcasting, exchange programs, development assistance, disaster relief, military-to-military contacts.” He argues for an overarching governmental structure to coordinate these similarly minded efforts. Lynch focuses on public diplomacy particularly. Lynch vindicates the Obama ...

Tuesday marked the opening of the U.S.-Islamic World Conference hosted by the Brookings Institution, the Qatari Government  and the Project on U.S. Relations with the Islamic World.  Secretary of State Hillary Clinton gave a speech that emphasized U.S. commitment to cooperating with Middle East countries to achieve shared interests in values.  Clinton said the region-wide uprisings have exposed the myth that “Arabs do not share universal human aspirations for freedom, ...

On Tuesday, the Senate Appropriations Subcommittee on State, Foreign Operations and Related Programs held an open hearing to discussFY2012 budget appropriations to the United States Agency for International Development (USAID).  The Committee —Chaired by Senator Patrick Leahy (D-VT), and with Senators Ronald Johnson (R-WI), Mark Kirk (R-IL) and Barbara Mikulski (D-MD) in attendance – requested the testimony of Dr. Rajiv Shah, USAID Administrator. For full notes, continue below.  For pdf version, ...

On Thursday, the Middle East Institute (MEI) hosted Hady Amr, Deputy Assistant Administrator, Middle East Bureau at the United States Agency for International Development (USAID), and Thomas Garrett, Vice President for Programs at the International Republican Institute (IRI), to discuss “Reform and Development in Egypt: U.S. Goals and Priorities.” The event was moderated by Kate Seelye, Vice President at MEI.   For full notes, continue below.  For pdf version, click here.   Seelye opened ...

The 2012 budget proposal presented by Rep. Paul Ryan (R-WI) will cut the budget for diplomacy and foreign assistance by 29 percent in 2012 and 44 percent by 2016, while increasing the defense budget by 14 percent in the same period. House Appropriations State and Foreign Ops Chairwoman Kay Granger (R-TX) supports cutting the international affairs budget, as does House Foreign Affairs Committee, chairwoman Ileana Ros-Lehtinen (R-FL). Sen. Patrick Leahy ...

American commentators have criticized the Obama administration's "tepid" response to violence in Syria, as well as Senator John Kerry (D-MA) and Secretary of State Hillary Clinton referring to Assad as a "reformer."   In contrast, Rep. Gary Ackerman (D-NY), ranking member of the House Subcommittee on the Middle East and South Asia, said "Assad is not a reformer. Anyone who thinks so is at best fooling ...

On Wednesday, the House Appropriations Subcommittee on State and Foreign Operations held a budget hearing for the US Agency for International Development (USAID). Administrator of USAID, Dr. Rajiv Shah, testified before the subcommittee. The Congressional panel was moderated by subcommittee Chairwoman Rep. Kay Granger (R-TX). Ranking Member Congresswoman Nita Lowey (D-NY) and House Appropriations Chairman Rep. Jerry Lewis (R-CA) were also in attendance along with Reps. Jesse ...

On Thursday, Senators passed H.J.Res. 48, a three-week spending measure to fund the government through April 8th by a vote of 87-13.  The vote, which passed in the House on Tuesday, includes $6 billion in cuts to domestic spending.  Senators Mike Crapo (R-ID), Jim DeMint (R-SC), John Ensign (R-NV), Orrin Hatch (R-UT), James Inhofe (R-OK), Mike Lee (R-UT), Jim Risch (R-ID), Rand Paul (R-KY), Marco Rubio (R-FL), Patty Murray(D-WA), Jay Rockefeller (D-WV), Carl ...

Anne-Marie Slaughter, former Director of Policy Planning at the State Department, counters the five main arguments against the U.S. implementing a no-fly zone over Libya, in an op-ed piece for The New York Times.   Slaughter states that a no-fly zone is in the U.S. national interest as it presents a real chance to "support a real new beginning in the Muslim world," and that detractors against such a policy ...

In an op-ed piece published in The Daily Beast, Leslie H. Gelb argues against the growing "hordes of humanitarians and neoconservatives," who are pushing for American military intervention in Libya.  He states that this would be tantamount to going to war with Libya, because in order to implement and enforce no-fly zones, the U.S. would first have to destroy Libyan air defenses on the ground.  Even then, he argues, U.S. jets would ...

In his opening statement to the Senate Committee on Foreign Relations'  national security and foreign affairs budget hearing, Committee Chair Senator John Kerry (D-MA),  called the revolutions happening the Middle East, "one of the most important transformations in the history of the modern world."  Kerry went on to say that this is a time of great challenge to the U.S. and that "events this powerful demand a response of equal power." ...

As the debate continues this week in the House of Representatives on proposed budget cuts, including those to State and Foreign Operations, Senator Mark Kirk (R-IL)  and other senators are "looking to add a generous foreign aid package for Israel, Egypt, Jordan, and other Middle Eastern countries." In an interview at The Cable in Foreign Policy, Kirk stated, "A that had full year funding for the troops plus an Egypt, Israel, and Middle East ...

The U.S. Global Leadership Coalition recently commended the Obama administration's proposed budget for International Affairs in FY 2012 as "a critical investment in America’s national security." The USGLC goes on to state: "At a time of intense pressure to cut spending and in the context of an overall freeze on non-security funding, the President has presented an International Affairs budget that protects America’s security interests and maintains ...

Press Secretary Robert Gibbs urged all parties in Egypt to refrain from violence and called for the Egyptian Government to respond to protests peacefully: "We have an unyielding belief that all people yearn for certain things: the ability to speak your mind and have a say in how you are governed; confidence in the rule of law and the equal administration of justice; government that is transparent and free of ...

On January 10, former Congressmen Dan Glickman and Vin Weber addressed a special Policy Forum luncheon at The Washington Institute. The discussion focused on the future of US Foreign Policy in the Middle East in regards to the incoming Congress and potential new initiatives under the Obama Administration. Glickman suggested that, "If the President can recapture the agenda in a State of the Union message with a couple of big ...