Research & Commentary Results

This article first appeared as an Op-Ed on Politico.com on September 19, 2011

Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas early this week will likely fulfill his longstanding vow to introduce in the U.N. Security Council a resolution to recognize Palestine as the 194th member state. No one should be the least bit surprised.

Originally posted September, 2011

For nearly eight years — since May 2004 — the Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration (SAMHSA) of the US Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) has partnered with the Iraqi Ministry of Health to help Iraq re-establish its behavioral health service system. HHS and SAMHSA have learned much from this effort about improving behavioral health services in the US, particularly for Muslim populations and for persons experiencing extended trauma.

Through the collaboration between Iraq and the Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration (SAMHSA) of the US Department of Health and Human Services (HHS), US providers have learned a great deal about improving behavioral health services, including trauma services, from their Iraqi colleagues since 2004.[1] Two of the many implications for US behavioral health services resulting from this partnership are directly relevant to shaping services for both returning veterans, and refugees and immigrants from the Middle East:

F. Stephen Larrabee, Distinguished Chair in European Security at the RAND Corporation, and Gonul Tol, Executive Director of the Middle East Institute’s Center for Turkish Studies, highlight the importance of drafting a new civilian constitution to solve Turkey’s Kurdish issue.

The Middle East Institute is proud to host Ilan Peleg and Dov Waxman, authors of the book Israel's Palestinians:The Conflict Within (Cambridge, 2011), for a discussion about their findings. One in five citizens of Israel are Palestinian. Often overlooked by outside observers, the challenges facing the Palestinian minority in Israel are an inseparable part of the Israeli-Palestinian conflict. Resolving this conflict – a central concern of U.S. foreign policy and current international diplomacy – requires more than the establishment of a Palestinian state.

The Middle East Institute is proud to host Ben Lando, Iraq Bureau Chief of the Iraq Oil Report, which provides business, political and security analysis on Iraq. Lando will discuss Iraq's potential within the global oil sector, as well as the political and security concerns that could affect oil supply, growth, security and policy in Iraq now and in the future. Lando will also touch upon relations between Iraq and its neighbours, as well as key domestic issues such as the Arab-Kurdish conflict.

The Middle East Institute is proud to host Ben Lando, Iraq Bureau Chief of the Iraq Oil Report, which provides business, political and security analysis on Iraq. Lando will discuss Iraq's potential within the global oil sector, as well as the political and security concerns that could affect oil supply, growth, security and policy in Iraq now and in the future. Lando will also touch upon relations between Iraq and its neighbors, as well key domestic issues such as the Arab-Kurdish conflict.

The Middle East Institute is proud to host Greg Myre and Jennifer Griffin for a discussion about the ongoing challenges in the Israeli-Palestinian conflict based on their knowledge and experiences recounted in their new book, This Burning Land: Lessons from the Front Lines of the Transformed Israeli-Palestinian Conflict. Myre and Griffin, journalists who are husband and wife, traveled to Jerusalem in 1999 in hopes of finally seeing Middle East peace. Instead, the pair watched as violence in the area escalated and the peace process disintegrated.

The Middle East Institute is proud to host Greg Myre and Jennifer Griffin for a discussion about the ongoing challenges in the Israeli-Palestinian conflict based on their knowledge and experiences recounted in their new book, This Burning Land: Lessons from the Front Lines of the Transformed Israeli-Palestinian Conflict. Myre and Griffin, journalists who are husband and wife, traveled to Jerusalem in 1999 in hopes of finally seeing Middle East peace. Instead, the pair watched as violence in the area escalated and the peace process disintegrated.

The Obama administration's efforts to win a settlement freeze as a confidence-building measure have failed, and the U.S.has not presented a new vision for resuming the moribund peace process. Nevertheless, many analysts now recommend shifting the diplomatic focus to negotiations to define the border between Israel and the future state of Palestine. Resolving the border would address the issues of settlements and Jerusalem as well as potential land swaps between the two states.

The Middle East Institute, in partnership with the Fondation Pour le Recherche Strategique, is proud to host Dr. Susanne Schmeidl and Dr. Geraldine Chatelard for a discussion of situations of protracted mass displacement in Afghanistan and Iraq. Funded by the European Commission, the project aims to generate policy recommendations that will strengthen transatlantic cooperation to respond to the refugee crises in the above-mentioned countries. The event will feature the findings of the two project team leaders, based on more than two dozen field-research papers.

The Middle East Institute is proud to host the Honorable Robert Wexler and Dr. Yoram Peri for a discussion about the challenges facing Israel and the Middle East peace process in the wake of the resignation of Egyptian president Hosni Mubarak. Some in Israel, including former Israeli Prime Minister Ehud Olmert, argue that current events in the region make it imperative that Israel move quickly to secure a peace treaty with the Palestinians. Others insist Israel proceed with caution, given the increased instability in the region.

Israeli politics is notable for its wide array of parties and unstable coalition governments. The main institutional cause of this chronic instability is the system of nationwide proportional representation, which gives disproportionate influence to minor parties. This instability limits the ability of Israeli governments to pursue coherent long-term strategies and leads to policies that address the concerns of minority groups at the expense of the national interest.

This Commentary first appeared in the American Interest's Middle East Blog on January 13, 2011.

The Middle East Institute hosts a lecture and discussion with Mark N. Katz, examining the impact of the current and future US withdrawals from Iraq and Afghanistan on Islamic radicals. Katz argues that the US withdrawals from both countries will lead radicals to conclude they have defeated the US in the "War on Terror" and that US regional strength is on the decline. This, he argues, will spur Islamic radicals to seek further gains elsewhere.