"Tensions between the Arab state and its citizens will expand in the years ahead, as the fundamental contradictions of Arab state-building, national identity, regional relations, the Arabism-Zionism confrontation, and international alliances all clash visibly. Jordan and Egypt provide the clearest examples because of their peace treaties with Israel, but they are not unique. Most other Arab states suffer similar contradictions and stresses, especially Levantine and Gulf states that must satisfy American-Israeli demands that contradict the sentiments of many of those Arab states’ own citizens."

The uprisings that erupted across the region as of December 2010 have been the single most important sign of a region-wide malaise that was gnawing at the core of Arab countries for decades, signaled in its earlier stages in the 1980s-90s by the rise of mass Islamist movements that reflected widespread citizen discontent and challenged autocratic governments. The evolving regional order is now entering its most dynamic stage of change, with every component element transforming into something new.

On Monday, May 6, the Middle East Initiative hosted a panel discussion addressing the most pressing concerns in the deepening, unabated Syrian crisis that has plagued the country since March of 2011. Moderated by Hilary Rantisi, Director of the Middle East Initiative, the panelists addressed the political, economic and humanitarian consequences of the violence in Syria, as well as the responses and responsibilities of the global community.

The Israeli settlement news is nothing new, but the actions of the three big powers are new and noteworthy. The American, Russian and Chinese initiatives to resolve the Arab-Israeli and Syrian conflicts are as laudatory as they are difficult to achieve, though efforts like this open up new possibilities for collaborative diplomacy through the UN Security Council, which is usually critical for success.

"One of my rules of thumb of observing which way the wind blows in the Middle East is now in active operative mode: When Hezbollah and Israel both are actively fighting in the same third country, and Iran and the United States are both actively warning about their determination to act to protect their allies and their interests in that same third country, it is time to make another pot of coffee and make sure you have plenty of fresh batteries at home for your transistor radio."

The Middle East Initiative hosted Professor Ellis Goldberg for a lecture on May 1, 2013 to discuss sectarian violence in Egypt. Professor Goldberg is currently the Kuwait Foundation Visiting Scholar at the Middle East Initiative at Harvard Kennedy School, and is a professor of political science at the University of Washington. 

"There is good news and bad news on the Arab-Israeli peace-making front this week. The good news is that the United States and the Arab League’s ministerial committee seem energized to restart Palestinian-Israeli negotiations. This culminated a few days ago in the Arab clarification that the 2002 Arab Peace Plan that offers Israel a comprehensive and permanent peace can include minor and mutually agreed land swaps around the 1967 borders."

"In the context of today’s Arab world, the political transitions being experienced in some countries provide the first ever opportunity for citizens to discuss and agree on the core elements of their statehood and nationhood."

The Middle East Initiative and Belfer Center for Science and International Affairs hosted distinguished scholars and energy experts from the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia for a panel discussion on Thursday, April 25.  The panelists included Dr. Mohammed Al Sabban, Professor, King Abdulaziz University, former advisor to Minister of Petroleum and Mineral Resources; Mr. Ali Al Shihabi, Founder, Rasmala Investment Bank; and Mr. Abdulaziz al Fahad, Principal of Abdulaziz al Fahad Law Firm.

Is reconciliation a feasible option for the Arab world that now seems to be moving in the direction of greater domestic intolerance and warfare? We do not know, and only time will tell. The track record of intra-Arab reconciliation has not been very impressive in recent decades, in countries like Lebanon, Jordan, Yemen, Bahrain, Sudan and others.

Though they go back many years, in their simplest and latest manifestations Kuwait’s political developments revolve around the issue of whether or not the emir has the authority to unilaterally revise the parliamentary electoral districts system to ensure a pro-regime and docile legislature, and whether or not citizens who oppose such manipulation have the right to peacefully protest against such moves and demand more democratic behavior by the ruling elite.

An audio recording of a conversation with Reza Aslan, internationally acclaimed writer and scholar of religions and founder of AslanMedia.com, on April 4, 2013. This event will be moderated by Tarek Masoud, Associate Professor of Public Policy, Harvard Kennedy School.

An audio recording of a talk by Rashid Khalidi, Edward Said Professor of Modern Arab Studies at Columbia University, on his new book, Brokers of Deceit: How the U.S. Has Undermined Peace in the Middle East, at MEI on April 10, 2013.

An audio recording of a talk by the Ambassador of the Arab Republic of Egypt to the United States, Amb. Mohamed Tawfik, at MEI on April 3, 2013.

I join with many others who applaud and are surprised by the speed and persistence of U.S. Secretary of State John Kerry’s engagement in diplomatic efforts to relaunch Israeli-Palestinian peace talks. I applaud his initiative because it can only result in something positive, whether it succeeds or fails.

An audio recording of Professor Djavad Salehi-Isfahani's March 25th talk at MEI on sanctions and Iran's economy.

An audio recording of a panel discussion at the Middle East Initiative on citizenship and identity in the Middle East on Monday, March 11.

One of the most annoying aspects of spending time in the United States, as I have just done with a month’s working visit there, is to follow the news coverage of Iran in the mainstream American media. Well, calling it “news” coverage is a bit of a stretch, because the mainstream American media is not really reporting news about Iran, but rather repackaged ideological attacks and threats that emanate primarily from the American and Israeli governments.

It is quite bizarre that in almost every country in the Middle East where a serious political conflict or war is underway, there is also a parallel political “dialogue” either underway or proposed. If the contemporary Arab world is an example of how political dialoguing works, then dialogue will have a very short shelf life as a serious instrument of statecraft. Just look at the evidence in the Arab region.

The fast pace of developments in and around Syria in the past week pushes the country more quickly towards the end of Bashar Assad’s regime that many of us thought was imminent last autumn. He did not fall then, for reasons that are very evident today.

American and other foreign support for Arab autocrats and dictators for over half a century helped to create the conditions of disparity, corruption, and populist despair that ultimately sparked the uprisings and citizen demands for rights that we now witness. The Anglo-American invasion of Iraq has been the single most important stimulus for new terrorists who gravitated to occupied Iraq from many lands, eager to repel the foreign invaders, and who have since seeped out of Iraq to do their dirty deeds in other Arab countries.

Much of the discussion in the United States about President Barack Obama’s trip to the Middle East next week centers around whether he will initiate any new diplomatic moves on Arab-Israeli peace-making, and what he might say about Iran and the continuing Arab uprisings. It is also worth viewing the visit from the perspective of the Middle East itself, where perceptions of the United States and its actions in the region are very mixed, and largely negative.

Rami Khouri asks and answers the following questions: "Are Islamist groups gaining or losing popularity in different Arab countries? Are Islamists of all varieties better at governing with a legitimate electoral mandate, or better at being opposition groups that only serve their narrow constituencies with a variety of social services and organized piety? Do Islamists necessarily do well when engaged in armed resistance to a foreign occupier or a domestic autocrat, and less well when they stop fighting and take on the responsibilities of governing?"