Research & Commentary Results

Originally posted June 2011

Originally posted June 2011

If there is a Horizontal Line that runs from the MAP off your body straight through the Land shooting up right through my heart Will this Horizontal Line when asked know how to find Where you end where I begin

— Tori Amos^[1]

In the wake of the recent Nuclear Security Summit in Washington DC, Turkish-Iranian relations once again came under scrutiny. As the US and the EU have intensified their efforts to impose sanctions on Iran through the UN Security Council, Turkey’s role in this issue has come into question. Notwithstanding Turkish temporary membership in the Security Council, the Turkish position will be critical for any effective implementation of sanctions.

*This article originally appeared in the Project Syndicate online on May 23, 2011.

As the Arab Spring enters its fourth month, it faces challenges but also presents opportunities. Despite setbacks in Libya, Yemen, and Syria, the democratic wave has already begun to change the Middle East’s political landscape.

The Middle East Institute's Center for Turkish Studies is proud to host Mr.Taha Ozhan, Director General of the Foundation for Political, Economic and Social Research (SETA Ankara), for a discussion on Turkey's upcoming elections on June 12.

The popular uprisings against authoritarian regimes in Tunisia, Yemen, Jordan and Egypt herald the beginning of a new political era in the Middle East. At the center of this new political order is a generation of young Arabs, educated, highly marginalized, and numerous. The members of the so-called Arab “youth bulge” are demanding neither the unification of the Arab world as espoused by the pan-Arabists of the 1960s, nor an Islamic state of the 1980s, but rather a dignified life, social justice, and freedom.

This Commentary first appeared as an op-ed in Foreign Policy's Middle East Channel on December 21, 2010

There is a growing need in Jordan for universities to establish joint programs with overseas universities in countries such as the United Kingdom and to uphold partnerships with universities in the United States, Europe, and the Gulf states. Public universities are already highly regarded. Private universities are also seeking partnerships or joint programs with foreign institutions.

Jordan today, in spite of the scarcity of its natural resources, is at the forefront of the region’s states in several areas, primary among them are education, economic growth rates, and the qualifications of the Jordanian youth who have always proved their excellence nationally and abroad.

— King Abdullah II[1]

Originally posted December, 2010

Turkey’s policy toward the Kurdistan Regional Government (KRG) in northern Iraq has undergone an important shift since 2009. Only a few years ago, Turkey did not recognize Iraq’s Kurdish Regional Government and refused to meet with its representatives in any official capacity due to its fear that recognition would embolden Turkey's own Kurdish minority to demand similar home-rule status.

This piece first appeared as a op-ed in Foreign Policy's Middle East Channel on September 9, 2010

Turkey’s professional military has been a force for modernization and progress throughout the nation’s history. As the constitutionally-appointed guardian of the Turkish Republic, however, the military has often intervened in political affairs, resulting in a constant, underlying tension between the government and the military establishment in Turkey.