Viewpoints

Higher Education and the Middle East: Building Institutional Partnerships

This final volume in MEI's Viewpoints series on "Higher Education and the Middle East" examines yet another feature of the changing landscape of higher education in the region, namely the proliferation of institutional partnerships.

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  Policy Insights

The Salafist Challenge to al-Qaeda's Jihad

By Michael W.S. Ryan

When commentators analyze Salafism, it is crucial to distinguish between mainstream Salafism and the kind of revolutionary Salafism, promoted by al-Qaeda.  To do otherwise is to lump together peaceful communities and violent revolutionary jihadists.  This distinction has become increasingly important over the last few years as mainstream Salafism has emerged as an important counter to the ideology of violent jihadist groups often pledged to follow al-Qaeda.  

  Policy Briefs

Israel's Flawed Electoral System: Obstacle to Peace and Democracy

Alex Bain

This Policy Brief examines the history of Israel’s electoral system  and its impact on the peace process. Israel’s deeply flawed electoral system is an obstacle to reversing its ill-fated settlement and  occupation policies and to making peace with the Palestinians.

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  MEI Commentaries

The Right Side of History

Charles W. Dunne

The end is now at hand for the government of Hosni Mubarak, ruler of Egypt for the last thirty years. Two outstanding questions face us now: What will the army do? And how should the United States react?

Called into the streets by President Mubarak in an eleventh-hour attempt to secure his rule, the army has shown remarkable restraint. It has deployed to protect key buildings and infrastructure and, so far, has refused to enforce bans on demonstrations. In some places the army—regarded as the most august of national institutions and the most powerful arbiter of Egyptian politics—has given demonstrators rides on armored personnel carriers.

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  Encounters

The Source of the Mother Well: A Novice Researcher's Search for Answers in the Aflaj of Oman

Jonathan D. Abetti

Architecture in the Sultanate of Oman ranges from the very elaborate and modern Sultan Qaboos Grand Mosque to the very simple and traditional falaj...

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