From the Middle East to West Asia: Redefining America’s Global Strategy
MEI Senior Fellow Mohammed Soliman joins hosts Alistair Taylor and Matthew Czekaj to discuss his new book, West Asia: A New American Grand Strategy in the Middle East. The book argues that it is time for the United States to move decisively away from nation-building and focus instead on order-building, outlining a framework for a new regional order that links Europe to the Indo-Pacific. Soliman also shares how he conceived of the core ideas behind his book and explains why his thesis is especially relevant in today’s geopolitical, economic, and technological landscape.
Israel’s Doha strike could further destabilize region, undermine US security partnerships
The reverberations of Israel’s strike on the Hamas negotiating team in Doha yesterday are still rippling across the globe and will continue to for the foreseeable future. Its ramifications are profound and will alter the geopolitical landscape not just in the Middle East but likely on a global scale.
The monarchical Arab Gulf states emerged on the other side of last June’s Israeli and US attacks on Iran largely unscathed, with the important exception of a limited, retaliatory Iranian missile strike on the American airbase in Qatar. However, in a larger sense, this short war, part of the broader regional conflict that began with the Hamas attack on Israel in October 2023, reinforced the precariousness of the Gulf monarchies’ security situation.
Since the 1970s oil boom, the Gulf region has been one of the principal destinations for workers from South Asia, with the result that today Indians constitute a large percentage of the non-nationals living in the region. Indeed, at five million out of an estimated 15 million people, the Indian community forms the largest expatriate group in each of the Gulf countries. Most Indian immigrants are from the south Indian state of Kerala, while many of the rest originate from Tamil Nadu, Punjab, Uttar Pradesh, and Bihar.
When the young Shaykh Tamim bin Hamad al-Thani became ruler of Qatar last month after his father stepped aside in a seamless transition, one of his first official acts was to seal the generational shift by appointing a new prime minister.
Higher Education Reform in the Arab World: The Model of Qatar
Higher education—and its successful reform—is essential to the long term stability and prosperity of the Arab world. The youth uprisings which triggered the Arab Spring in Tunisia and Egypt have highlighted the urgency of defusing the region’s ticking demographic time bomb: young, growing populations facing uncertain futures. To combat high unemployment and sluggish private sector growth, the Arab world must focus on building a knowledge society quickly in order to create three million more jobs annually than it currently generates, according to World Bank estimates.
Introduction to Higher Education and the Middle East: Empowering Under-served and Vulnerable Populations
Originally posted October 2010
This second edition of the MEI Viewpoints series on Higher Education and the Middle East focuses on Empowering Under-served and Vulnerable Populations.
The Dearth of Qatari Men in Higher Education: Reasons and Implications
Originally posted October 2010
That education is a major force for socialization is indisputable. Education has the power to shape views of the world, to challenge long-held beliefs, and, therefore, to impact the social order. Its influences on the course of a society’s development are far-reaching, from the public realm of employment patterns and economic development to the private sphere of marriage and childbearing.
The oldest peer-reviewed publication dedicated to the study of the modern Middle East, MEI’s flagship journal covers politics, society, and culture in the region.
