POMED Notes: HFAC Hearing on Middle East Transitions

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 ...

POMED Notes: “19th Annual Arab-US Policymakers Conference”

The National Council on US-Arab Relations held its 19th annual Arab-US Policymakers Conference on Thursday. Opening remarks were made by Dr. John Duke Anthony, President and CEO of the National Council on US-Arab Relations and Rear Admiral Harold J. Bernsen, chairman of the Board of Directors at the National Council on US-Arab Relations. The first talk on the agenda was entitled “Arab-US Relations: Misadventures Past and Present,” and was given ...

U.S. Policy on Iran — Who Is Fantasizing?

On June 11th, commemorating the one-year anniversary of the brutal crackdown on protesters  by the Iranian government, Senator John McCain wrote a piece in The New Republic saying, "I believe that it will only be a change in the Iranian regime itself—a peaceful change, chosen by and led by the people of Iran—that can finally produce the changes we seek in Iran’s policies." Sen. McCain went on to ...

Is the NSS Light on Human Rights?

After reading through the administration's freshly minted National Security Strategy, Jackson Diehl observes that President Obama makes no effort to associate international engagement with combating tyranny or promoting democracy. "Obama has already demonstrated that he does not accept Bush's conclusion that the promotion of democracy and human rights is inseparable from the tasks of defeating al-Qaeda and establishing a workable international order," he writes. "But nowhere in ...

Iraq: Concerns and Cheers Surface in Post-Election Iraq

Despite international kudos for last week's parliamentary elections in Iraq, many Iraqis are reportedly growing increasingly frustrated with the slow pace at which the votes are being tallied. Though some officials cite technical difficulties for the purported delay while others point to the electoral commission's many checks, Western officials have nonetheless privately expressed concern that the absence of clear results in a timely matter can have negative repercussions on the credibility of the elections.In the meanwhile, ...

SOTU: Reaction to the Foreign Policy Sections

Despite the relative dearth of foreign policy pronouncements in last night's State of the Union, some are voicing displeasure with what they see as the speech's simplistic view of the situation in Iraq and Afghanistan. IraqPundit is astonished that President Obama implied a forthcoming end to the Iraq war simply by virtue of withdrawing the remaining U.S. troops. "Surely he must know that just because he pulls some U.S. troops ...

Nobel: Obama’s Speech and Reaction

President Obama accepted his Nobel Peace Prize yesterday in Oslo, Norway. In his acceptance speech (full text), Obama affirmed that the award "speaks to our highest aspirations - that for all the cruelty and hardship of our world, we are not mere prisoners of fate. Our actions matter, and can bend history in the direction of justice." Throughout the speech, Obama balanced the tension between the aspiration for peace and ...

Iraq: Elections Delayed Again

In the wake of a series of large bombs that killed 127 people, wounded 500 more, and damaging government buildings, Iraq's presidency council announced that parliamentary elections will now be held on March 7th. Officials said the decision was made independent of political considerations. Juan Cole reports the bombs targeted both the ministries of interior and finance and parliament will investigate "this serious lapse in security." Ranj Alaaldin argues the violence ...

Egypt: U.S. Democracy Promotion

In the latest issue of Democracy: A Journal of Ideas, Shadi Hamid argues the U.S. must reconsider its long-held understanding with Egypt  that "in return for supporting American interests in the region, Washington would turn a blind eye to Egypt's authoritarian practices."In recent years, the U.S. has failed to rhetorically support democracy and the Obama administration has made "drastic cuts in democracy assistance to Egypt." To pave the way for ...

Syrian Democracy Sleeps with the Fishes?

In the November issue of National Geographic, Don Belt delves into the history of the Assad family's rule over Syria. Belt likens Bashar Assad to Michael Corleone of the Godfather, who assumed power only after the violent death of an older brother. Bashar inherited from his father Hafez Assad a Syria wracked by the fear of the secret police, paralyzed by bureaucratic red tape and plagued by pervasive corruption and nepotism. After ...

Middle East International Refounded

The Middle East International has restarted its printing press after a six-year hiatus, releasing a free PDF issue online in commemoration. According to the Arabist, MEI offers "long articles and analysis from writers based in-country who exposed the political divisions among the ruling elite" and suggests that only Akbar Hashemi Rafsanjani can stem "Iran's drift towards all-out dictatorship." Eileen Byrne discusses the sham elections in Tunisia.Issandr El Amrani details the rise of Gamal ...

Show Trials and Schisms in Iran

With a draft deal hammered out that stipulates for external enrichment of Iran's uranium stockpile, Western leaders are waiting for the Iranian government to give final approval. IAEA chief Mohammed ElBaradei admitted his "fingers are crossed" in hopes Iran will agree to the deal by the Friday deadline.  Meanwhile, Secretary Clinton demanded action from both Iran and North Korea on non-proliferation while also suggesting the U.S. will undertake substantive changes in its own nuclear ...

Struggle for Human Rights in Iran

Laura Rozen reports the October 19th meeting of IAEA, the October 25th IAEA inspection of Qum, and a follow up meeting with the P5+1 and Iran all loom large in the coming weeks. Moving forward, Patrick Clawson identifies three key issues for negotiations: "Iran's nuclear clock, creating transparency through verification, and resolving the fundamental issues between Iran and the international community." He warns that negotiations should not last indefinitely and the Iranian regime may ...

Optimism after Geneva Talks?

All eyes and ears focused on Geneva as the international community met with Iran to discuss the country's nuclear program. Robert Costa at the National Review reports the talks ended with an agreement for a second round later this month and lead U.S. negotiator William Burns met with his Iranian counterpart Saeed Jalili for a one-on-one breakout session.  While Greg Bruno of the Council on Foreign Relations cautions that "it's not entirely clear what ...

Critiquing the Middle East Hawks

Nicholas Noe recently wrote a scathing rejection of neoconservative Middle East policy in The Guardian newspaper. He argues the "hawks" base their analysis on two faulty rules. One: Ideology matters more than evidence. Two: It is always preferable to hurt your enemies than to risk appeasement. In the end, Noe is grateful their influence is now limited to writing op-eds outside the halls of government.

Neoconservatism and the Future of Democracy Promotion

In the Daily News Egypt, Ian Buruma describes the ascendance of neoconservatism during the Bush years, and how the movement came to provide the intellectual underpinnings for the War on Terror and the Iraq war. Buruma worries that the very idea of spreading democracy, and even the word 'democracy' itself, may have become a "casualty of neo-conservative hubris" and "tainted by neo-imperialist connotations." Though Buruma notes that despite their conspicuous mugging ...

‘Traditional Realists’ Unite

In the September/October issue of the National Interest, Les Gelb calls for traditional realists--in the mold of Henry Kissinger, James Baker, and Brent Scowcroft--to give up seeking common cause with both the "latent isolationists" of the right as well as those neoconservaties who only " for the world to bend to Washington's wishes." He advocates a political alignment with "Truman-Acheson Democrats", in whom he finds realism's true natural allies.

2008: Obama Should Visit A Mosque, Hit McCain As “Neocon”

In yesterday's New York Times, columnist Roger Cohen penned a piece decrying fear-mongering against Islam and its unfortunate status as a "global industry".  Cohen thinks Barack Obama has a unique ability to break this "monolithic" view, and calls on Obama to visit a mosque as a way of seizing this opportunity (especially following the incident involving the women in head scarves at a campaign event, and the continuing absence of ...

2008: Not So Different After All

In a piece published in the most recent issue of the journal World Affairs, Robert Kagan reminds us of the long history of interventionism in the American foreign policy tradition, and discusses the curiousness of the term "neoconservative".  Kagan argues that in today's American foreign policy, almost every major political figure is part of the same "family" of foreign policy philosophy.  Kagan looks extensively at the foreign policy actions and ...

2008: John McCain: Neoconservative? Realist? Neither? Both?

Writing in the LA Times, Paul Richter tries to sort out John McCain's diverse foreign policy positions, finding it difficult to lump McCain in with other neoconservatives, but similarly finding it near-impossible to label him a realist.  His analysis shows McCain swinging back and forth, concluding that McCain's "conflicting visions" will likely follow him into the White House. Matt Yglesias thinks that although Richter's take was interesting, it failed to ...

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