Audio recording from Lebanon and Syria: The Challenge of an Evolving Relationship
Audio recording from Getting Down to Business in Iraq
Mark N. Katz, examines 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. But regardless of the boost to their cause that the withdrawals from Iraq and Afghanistan may provide, they will likely meet three key obstacles in their pursuit of increased power and influence.
This Opinion piece first appeared in Frontline’s Tehran Bureau on January 19, 2012.
After months of frosty relations, Iran and Turkey are talking again. The ostensible reason for Turkish Foreign Minister Ahmet Davutoglu’s visit to Tehran two weeks ago was to try to jump start stalled nuclear talks with the so-called P5+1 group of nations. Davutoglu conveyed to Iranian chief nuclear negotiator Saeed Jalili the European Union’s invitation to resume the talks in Turkey that were suspended a year ago for lack of progress.
The Arab Spring: Implications for US Policy and Interests
MEI scholar Randa Slim led a discussion about Hezbollah and its reaction to shifting regional dynamics in the wake of the Arab Spring. Although Lebanon has not experienced the same levels of unrest as its neighbors, Hezbollah is not immune from the regional instability resulting from the revolutions roiling the Middle East. Hezbollah is currently the principal orchestrator of a new governing coalition that is rife with internal divisions.
Amidst ongoing violence against protestors in Syria, Hande Ayan of the Center for Turkish Studies discusses the uneasy diplomatic relationship between Turkey and Syria and Turkey’s role in the political situation there. The September 2011 Bulletin also introduces MEI scholars Philip Frayne, who speaks on his Foreign Service career and offers his insights on how the US can support democratic transitions in the Middle East, and Randa Slim, who is interviewed on her experience in post-conflict reconciliation.
In the wake of the August 31 drawdown of US forces and the formation of a fragile unity government after months of negotiations, the December 2010 Bulletin features an argument from Ambassador David Mack for sustained US assistance to the Iraqi government, interviews with MEI Scholar Charles Dunne the political situation in Iraq and with Katherine Blue Carroll on her forthcoming MEJ article, and a summary of MEI’s 64th Annual Conference.
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 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.