Viewpoints

Higher Education and the Middle East: Serving the Knowledge-based Economy

This is the first of three volumes examining the internationalization of higher education and the Middle East. The 12 essays included in this volume explore some of the changes that are taking place and the challenges that lie ahead as Middle Eastern countries seek to build sustainable higher education systems and strengthen their economies.

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  Policy Insights

Gaza, the Land of the Recurring Crisis

Greg Myre

The last five years of the Israeli-Palestinian conflict could be summed up in one word: Gaza.  Israel’s lethal raid on the flotilla attempting to deliver aid to Gaza is part of a recurring theme that goes like this: Gaza wallows in dysfunction. Tensions steadily build. A confrontation erupts.  Every major crisis between the Israelis and the Palestinians in recent years has revolved around Gaza—the overcrowded, impoverished strip of sand squeezed between Israel and the Mediterranean.

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  Policy Briefs

Party Politics and Elections in Morocco

Mohamed Daadaoui

This Policy Brief examines party politics and limited elections in Morocco. Political parties in Morocco do not contest the regime’s traditional sources of power and embrace the monarchy’s religious status as an integral part of the political identity of Morocco.

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  MEI Commentaries

US Interest Wanes in the Mission that Remains in Iraq

Charles W. Dunne

"After the March 2003 invasion of Iraq by United States and coalition forces, a short but sharp war, and the declaration of “Mission Accomplished” aboard an American aircraft carrier, Iran felt isolated and encircled on all sides by US might. Not so today...Iran views 2010 as a year of opportunity: to make sure a friendly Shiite government continues to hold the reins of power in Baghdad, and to progressively shunt aside the US as the country’s chief power broker. If anyone should feel strategically encircled at this point, it is the US. The problem is, Washington doesn’t seem to realise it yet."

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  Encounters

Trajectories of Change in Omani Poetry

Mara Revkin

Driving down a thoroughfare studded with beauty parlors and cell phone stores, it’s hard to believe that less than 40 years ago... 

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