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Encyclopedia > Middle East Forum

The Middle East Forum (MEF) is an American pro-Israel neoconservative think tank founded in 1990 by historian and columnist Daniel Pipes, who also serves as its director.[1] The MEF describes its aims as "[to] define and promote American interests in the Middle East" through research, publications, and educational outreach. MEF became an independent 501(c)3 organization in 1994. It publishes a journal entitled Middle East Quarterly. The Israel lobby in the United States is defined as a loose coalition of individuals and organizations who attempt to influence American foreign policy in support of Israel. ... Neoconservatism describes several distinct political ideologies which are considered new forms of conservatism. ... This article is about the institution. ... Daniel Pipes in Copenhagen Daniel Pipes (born September 9, 1949) is an American historian and analyst who specializes in the Middle East. ... A map showing countries commonly considered to be part of the Middle East The Middle East is a region comprising the lands around the southern and eastern parts of the Mediterranean Sea, a territory that extends from the eastern Mediterranean Sea to the Persian Gulf. ... The Middle East Quarterly is a quarterly journal devoted to Middle Eastern affairs. ...


The MEF defines "U.S. interests" as "fighting radical Islam, whether terroristic or lawful; working for Palestinian acceptance of Israel; improving the management of U.S. democracy efforts; reducing energy dependence on the Middle East; more robustly asserting U.S. interests vis-à-vis Saudi Arabia; and countering the Iranian threat."[2] Based on a belief that the United States has vital interests in the region of the Middle East, the organization advocates strong ties with Israel, Turkey, and other democracies as they emerge; works for human rights throughout the region; seeks a stable supply and a low price of oil; and promotes the peaceful settlement of regional and international disputes.[3] The phrase Islamic fundamentalism is primarily used in the West to describe Islamist groups. ... Terrorist redirects here. ... The term Palestinian has other usages, for which see definitions of Palestinian. ... A map showing countries commonly considered to be part of the Middle East The Middle East is a region comprising the lands around the southern and eastern parts of the Mediterranean Sea, a territory that extends from the eastern Mediterranean Sea to the Persian Gulf. ...

Contents

Mission statement

The mission of the Middle East Forum is defined in "About the Middle East Forum" on the organization's website as follows:

The Middle East Forum, a think tank, seeks to define and promote American interests in the Middle East. It defines U.S. interests to include fighting radical Islam, whether terroristic or lawful; working for Palestinian acceptance of Israel; improving the management of U.S. democracy efforts; reducing energy dependence on the Middle East; more robustly asserting U.S. interests vis-à-vis Saudi Arabia; and countering the Iranian threat. The Forum also works to improve Middle East studies in North America.

MEF sees the region, with its profusion of dictatorships, radical ideologies, existential conflicts, border disagreements, political violence, and weapons of mass destruction as a major source of problems for the United States. Accordingly, it urges active measures to protect Americans and their allies.

Toward this end, the Forum seeks to help shape the intellectual climate in which U.S. foreign policy is made by addressing key issues in a timely and accessible way for a sophisticated public.[2][3]

Publications and Projects

Middle East Quarterly

The Middle East Quarterly (MEQ) is a quarterly journal devoted to Middle Eastern affairs founded in 1994 by Daniel Pipes whose current editor is Michael Rubin, a Yale-educated historian who is a resident scholar at the American Enterprise Institute, a former political advisor to the Coalition Provisional Authority in Baghdad, and a former staff advisor on Iran and Iraq in the Office of the Secretary of Defense.[4] The Middle East Quarterly is a quarterly journal devoted to Middle Eastern affairs. ... Daniel Pipes in Copenhagen Daniel Pipes (born September 9, 1949) is an American historian and analyst who specializes in the Middle East. ... This article needs to be cleaned up to conform to a higher standard of quality. ... The American Enterprise Institutes Logo The American Enterprise Institute for Public Policy Research (AEI) is a conservative to right-wing[1] think tank, founded in 1943. ... The Seal of the CPA in Iraq The Coalition Provisional Authority (CPA) was established as a transitional government following the invasion of Iraq by the United States, United Kingdom and the other members of the multinational coalition which was formed to oust the government of Saddam Hussein in 2003. ... Baghdad (Arabic: ) is the capital of Iraq and of Baghdad Governorate. ... ...


According to the description of this journal provided on its website hosted by Middle East Forum, "[p]olicy-makers, opinion-makers, academics, and journalists" consult MEQ "for in-depth analysis of the rapidly-changing landscape of the world's most volatile region." It also claims to publish "groundbreaking studies, exclusive interviews, insightful commentary, and hard-hitting reviews that tackle the entire range of contemporary concerns – from politics to economics to culture, across a region that stretches from Morocco to Afghanistan."[5]


Campus Watch

In 2002, the Middle East Forum initiated the Campus Watch program and its website identifying five problems in the teaching of Middle Eastern studies at American universities: "analytical failures, the mixing of politics with scholarship, intolerance of alternative views, apologetics, and the abuse of power over students."[6] Winfield Myers is the current director of Campus Watch (2007).[7] Campus Watch is a project of the Middle East Forum, an American pro-Israel think tank. ... Apologists are authors, writers, editors of scientific logs or academic journals, and leaders known for taking on the points in arguments, conflicts or positions that are either placed under popular scrutinies or viewed under persecutory examinations. ... Winfield Myers (born 1960) is an American journalist and public intellectual in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. ... Campus Watch is a project of the Middle East Forum, an American pro-Israel think tank. ...


Initially, Campus Watch encouraged students to submit reports regarding teachers, books, and curricula, which led some professors to accuse Campus Watch of "McCarthyesque" intimidation; in protest, more than 100 other academics asked to be listed too.[8] Subsequently, Campus Watch removed the list from its website.[9][10] Campus Watch is a project of the Middle East Forum, an American pro-Israel think tank. ...


Islamist Watch

On April 21, 2006, the Middle East Forum launched Islamist Watch, a project whose goals are to "combat[s] the ideas and institutions of nonviolent, radical Islam in the United States and other Western countries. It exposes the far-reaching goals of Islamists, works to reduce their power, and seeks to strengthen moderate Muslims." Islamist Watch claims to educate the government, media, religious institutions, the academy, and the business world about lawful Islamism. It focuses on the political, educational, cultural, and legal activities of Islamists in the United States and, to a lesser degree, in other historically non-Muslim countries, especially Western Europe, Canada, and Australia.[11]


According to the organization's webpage hosted on the Middle East Forum website, Islamist Watch does not focus on counterterrorism and only indirectly concerns Islamism in traditional Muslim countries such as Egypt, Saudi Arabia, and Pakistan, and its three main "activities" include "research, advocacy, and activism."[11]


In December 2006 Paul Belien became director of Islamist Watch.[12] Paul Belien (courtesy of Luc van Braekel) Dr. Paul Belien (b. ...


Notes

  1. ^ "Middle East Forum" listed in "Search Results" and "Resource Library" on the website of the Foreign Policy Association; cf. organization website for Middle East Forum, one of "Daniel Pipes's websites" (incl. its "Mission" statement), all accessed February 24, 2007.
  2. ^ a b "About the Middle East Forum", accessed February 17, 2007.
  3. ^ a b Daniel Pipes, "The MEF Mission", danielpipes.org (personal organization website of Daniel Pipes, n.d., accessed February 17, 2007.
  4. ^ Current issue of Middle East Quarterly 14.2 (Spring 2007), accessed February 17, 2007.
  5. ^ Middle East Quarterly. Publication website hosted by its sponsoring organization, Middle East Forum, accessed February 19, 2007.
  6. ^ Qtd. from "Mission Statement," in "About Campus Watch", Campus Watch (campus-watch.org), n.d., accessed February 17, 2007.
  7. ^ "Who's Who at Campus Watch", Middle East Forum (meforum.org), n.d., accessed February 17, 2007.
  8. ^ Tanya Schevitz, "Professors Want Own Names Put on Mideast Blacklist", San Francisco Chronicle September 28, 2002, accessed February 17, 2007.
  9. ^ Tanya Schevitz, "'Dossiers' Dropped from Web Blacklist", San Francisco Chronicle October 3, 2002, accessed February 17, 2007.
  10. ^ Hussam Ayloush, "Column a Slur on Muslim Community", Orange County Register December 1, 2002, accessed February 17, 2007.
  11. ^ a b "Islamist Watch" (information page), Middle East Forum, n.d., accessed February 17, 2007.
  12. ^ "Paul Belien Appointed Director of Islamist Watch", press release, Middle East Forum December 11, 2006, accessed February 17, 2007.

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Further reading

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External links

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See also


  Results from FactBites:
 
Middle East Forum - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia (529 words)
The Middle East Forum is an American think tank working to "define and promote American interests in the Middle East through research, publications, and educational outreach," according to its website.
As of August 12, 2006, the Middle East Forum's mission statement was as follows [3]:
Middle East Quarterly - a publication of the Middle East Forum
The Middle East Forum - DanielPipes.org (1508 words)
MEF sees the region, with its profusion of dictatorships, radical ideologies, existential conflicts, border disagreements, political violence, and weapons of mass destruction as a major source of problems for the United States.
Forum staff and associates appear on radio and television dozens of times annually, regularly provide on-the-record and background interviews to the media, and write articles and books.
By offering a forum for points of view previously excluded from the periodical literature on the Middle East, the appearance of this journal ends a de facto censorship.
  More results at FactBites »


 

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