by CHARLES KURZMAN for *KURZMAN.EDU (PERSONAL WEB SITE) on APRIL 26, 2013: Federal funding for international education has never been so poor. This year’s 5% percent sequestration, on top of a 47% cut in 2011, has brought the Department of Education’s National Resource Centers to their lowest level of support since the program was established [...]
by JOSHUA LANDIS for MONDOWEISS (FACEBOOK RESPONSE) on MAY 8, 2013: Joshua Landis is a leading opponent of U.S. intervention in Syria. Last week we did a post faulting NPR’s Melissa Block for bringing up Landis’s marriage to an Alawite woman during an interview with him and Andrew Tabler of the Washington Institute for Near East Policy. [...]
by AZEEM IBRAHIM for INSTITUTE FOR SOCIAL POLICY AND UNDERSTANDING on MAY 8, 2013: (Summary Excerpt) Leaders in Tunisia and Egypt have acknowledged Turkey as a potential model for their emerging democracies due to its ability to balance Islam and democracy. Rashid Ghannouchi, leader of Tunisia’s Ennahda Party, views Turkey’s ruling Justice and Development Party [...]
by DAVID SCHANZER for THE HUFFINGTON POST on MAY 8, 2013: The Department of Defense has requested $170 million to upgrade the detention facility at Guantanamo Bay in next year’s budget, but no amount of money will repair the government’s irrational terrorism detention policy that is collapsing even more quickly than the dilapidated facility in which [...]
by SEEMA JILANI for THE HUFFINGTON POST on MAY 7, 2013: The faux red carpet had been laid out for the famous and the wannabe-famous. Politicians and journalists arrived at the White House Correspondents’ Dinner, bedazzled in the hopes of basking in a few fleeting moments of fame, even if only by osmosis from proximity [...]
Haiyun Ma: Go West at What Cost? China’s Pivot on Middle East Studies
by HAIYUN MA for ISLAMiCommentary on MAY 10, 2013: This week China’s new president, Xi Jinping, separately hosted Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and Palestine President Mahmoud Abbas — meetings that some analysts say is indicative of China’s desire for a more pro-active role in Middle East diplomacy. The timing of the visits of Abbas [...]
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