Posted in Geopolitics, Steven A. Cook on Sep 30th, 2008 Comments Off on Interests and costs in the Middle East
From Steven A. Cook Politicians, journalists, academics, and other observers of foreign relations are hardly rigorous when it comes to defining “national interests.” Definitions tend to range from the tautological to something akin to Justice Potter Stuart’s, “I know it when I see it.” Too often scholars invoke interests to explain state or individual behavior […]
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Posted in Geopolitics, Hillel Fradkin on Sep 29th, 2008 Comments Off on America’s challenges in the Middle East
From Hillel Fradkin One may say that American interests in the Middle East remain the same, only more so. For some time we have had a primary interest—and primary responsibility—for the security and stability of the region of the Persian Gulf. A more recent primary interest is protecting ourselves from terrorism rooted in this region. […]
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Posted in Counterinsurgency, Culture, Philip Carl Salzman on Sep 26th, 2008 Comments Off on Anthropology and strategic studies
From Philip Carl Salzman There is one central lesson that cultural anthropology has to offer. It is the lesson of Franz Boas, who founded American anthropology, of his students Margaret Mead and Ruth Benedict, and of their intellectual descendants, such as Clifford Geertz, arguably the most influential American cultural anthropologist of the second half of […]
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Posted in Maps, Media on Sep 25th, 2008 Comments Off on Internet map of the Middle East
From MESH Admin Information Week publishes a story on the Internet Mapping Project: 2008 is the tenth anniversary of a project to map the Internet. Undertaken by Lumeta, the effort was undertaken as a long-range research project to study the growth of the online world…. The project gathers routing data to all backbone routers hosted […]
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Posted in Alan Dowty, Israel on Sep 22nd, 2008 Comments Off on Will Israel’s center survive?
From Alan Dowty The Olmert era in Israeli politics is drawing to a close. Faced by no fewer than five ongoing investigations for various improprieties, the prime minister was forced to call new elections for leadership of his own Kadima party. By a surprisingly slim margin of less than one percent, Foreign Minister Tzipi Livni […]
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Posted in Geopolitics, Michael Young, Philip Carl Salzman on Sep 19th, 2008 Comments Off on The first 100 days (5)
The MESH roundtable on the theme of “The First 100 Days” concludes today. MESH members have been asked these questions: What priorities should the next administration set for immediate attention in the Middle East? What should it put (or leave) on the back burner? Is there anything a new president should do or say right […]
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Posted in Gal Luft, Geopolitics, Jacqueline Newmyer, Maps, Stephen Peter Rosen on Sep 18th, 2008 Comments Off on The first 100 days (4)
The MESH roundtable on the theme of “The First 100 Days” continues. MESH members have been asked these questions: What priorities should the next administration set for immediate attention in the Middle East? What should it put (or leave) on the back burner? Is there anything a new president should do or say right out […]
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