This Blog is intended for use by students in the Islamic Middle East course at Northfield Mount Hermon School and guest students and teachers from other participating schools.
Below is a summary chronicling some of the major steps the U.S. has taken since 1980 in the growth of its commitment to the Gulf region, including Iraq:
1. “Carter Doctrine” – On January 23, 1980, President Jimmy Carter in his State of the Union speech said, “Let our position be absolutely clear: An attempt by any outside [...]
Chase Potter 10/23/08
Title: Right of Reply: Compare records, not rhetoric
Source: The Jerusalem Post
Article Summary:
Time: Presidential Campaigns
Place: Israel, USA
Key People: Barack Obama, John McCain, Joe Biden, Sarah Palin
Main Idea: This is an OP-ED piece written by someone who is openly in favor of John McCain, but he makes some good points about each candidate’s position towards [...]
Reasons cited include: American elections, the poor state of the global economy, Israeli government in transition.
Story at BBC
It’s a collection of the President’s quotes from the White House.
http://www.whitehouse.gov/infocus/ramadan/islam.html
The Middle East in the News
•Hannah Turk 10/20/08
•Article: U.S. Wants Japan to Send SDF Copters to Afghanistan
• The Yomiuri Shimbun (The Daily Yomiyuri)
•Article Summary
This weekend, Washington asked Tokyo if it would aid reconstruction efforts in Afghanistan through dispatching Self-Defense Forces transport helicopters to the area. Specifically, the United States requested CH-47 transport helicopters for domestic [...]
The Middle East in the News
•Ahmadinejad: ‘American empire’ nearing its end
• http://www.cnn.com/2008/WORLD/meast/09/24/ahmadinejad.us.iran/index.html
•Article Summary
Place: Iran, New York City
Key People: Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad, President Bush, Jews, Larry King
Vocabulary: United Nations General Assembly, Zionist, Anti-Defamation League, International Atomic Energy Agency
Main Ideas: At a recent UN General Assembly meeting in New York City, President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad of Iran attacked the US [...]
Two experts on Afghanistan and Pakistan weigh in on what the U.S. should begin to do there. In short, more money, troops, and military incursions into Pakistan’s tribal regions will not help. Diplomacy and compromise with the involved parties is what the authors recommend. Thoughts?
Barnett R. Rubin and Ahmed Rashid, “From Great Game to Grand [...]
The Middle East in the News - WMR 2
Your Name and Date: Victoria Wilmarth 10/12/08
Title of Article: Russian-Georgian Conflict Impacts the Middle East
Source of Article: World Press http://www.worldpress.org/Mideast/3247.cfm
Article Summary
Time: Summer – Fall of 2008
Place: Georgia and Middle East
Key People: Russia, Georgia, Iran, Turkey, NATO
Vocabulary: Baku-Tbilisi-Ceyhan (B.T.C.) is the second longest oil pipeline in the [...]
A classified report published in the New York Times today claims that the Afghan central government is proving less and less able to resist challenges from the Taliban.
Mark Mazzetti and Eric Schmitt, “U.S. Study is Said to Warn of Crisis in Afghanistan,” New York Times, Oct. 9, 2008
UPDATE Oct. 10 — The Chairman of the [...]
The commander of British forces in Afghanistan says the war there cannot be won once and for all and that negotiations with the Taliban are inevitable.
Story at the BBC
Two Op-Ed pieces from today’s New York Times also merit our attention:
Robert Kaplan, “A Manhunt or a Vital War?,” New York Times, October 5, 2008
Nader Nadery and Haseeb [...]
BBC Middle East