The Middle East Forum (MEF) is an American conservativethink tank founded in 1990 by Daniel Pipes, who also serves as its director. MEF became a 501(c)3 non-profit organization in 1994. It publishes a journal entitled Middle East Quarterly.
The MEF describes its aims as "[to] promote American interests in the Middle East and protect the Constitutional order from Middle Eastern threats."
The MEF sees the Middle East — with its "profusion of dictatorships, radical ideologies, existential conflicts, exportation of extremism, border disagreements, political violence, and weapons of mass destruction" — as a source of problems for the United States.
According to the MEF itself, "U.S. interests in the Middle East include fighting radical Islam; working for Palestinian acceptance of Israel; robustly asserting U.S. interests vis-à-vis Saudi Arabia; and developing strategies to deal with Iraq and contain Iran".
The Forum's actions include combatting lawful Islamism, protecting the freedom of public speech of anti-Islamist authors, activists, and publishers,and working to improve Middle East studies in North America.
The Middle East or Mideast is a region that encompasses Western Asia and all of or part of Northern Africa, depending on the context. The term is considered to be Eurocentric and used as a synonym for Near East, in opposition to Far East. The corresponding adjective is Middle-Eastern and the derived noun is Middle-Easterner.
The history of the Middle East dates back to ancient times, and throughout its history, the Middle East has been a major centre of world affairs. When discussing ancient history, however, the term Near East is more commonly used. The Middle East is also the historical origin of major religions such as Judaism, Christianity, and Islam. The Middle East generally has an arid and hot climate, with several major rivers providing for irrigation to support agriculture in limited areas. Many countries located around the Persian Gulf have large quantities of crude oil. In modern times the Middle East remains a strategically, economically, politically, culturally and religiously sensitive region.[clarification needed] The Middle East's expected economic growth rate is at about 4.1% for 2010 and 5.1% in 2011.
Daniel Pipes (born September 9, 1949) is an American historian, writer, and political commentator. He is the founder and director of the Middle East Forum and its Campus Watch project, and editor of its Middle East Quarterly journal. His writing focuses on the American foreign policy, the Middle East, Islam and Islamism. He is also an Expert at Wikistrat.
After graduating with a PhD from Harvard and studying abroad, Pipes taught at a number of universities. He then served as director of the Foreign Policy Research Institute, before founding the Middle East Forum. His 2003 nomination by U.S. President George W. Bush to the board of directors of the U.S. Institute of Peace was protested by Democratic leaders, Arab-American groups, and civil rights activists, who cited his allegedly rightist views and oft-stated belief that force was the most effective remedy to conflict. The Bush administration sidestepped the opposition with a recess appointment.
Pipes has written or co-written more than a dozen books, and has written columns or opinion pieces for many newspapers. He frequently participates in discussion panels on television, and has lectured prolifically in the U.S. and abroad. He served as an adviser to Rudolph Giuliani's 2008 presidential campaign. According to The New York Times: "Among his supporters, Mr. Pipes enjoys a heroic status; among his detractors, he is reviled." He is currently the Taube Distinguished Visiting Fellow at Stanford University's Hoover Institution.
Walid Phares (Arabic: وليد فارس IPA: [waˈliːd ˈfaːres]) is an American scholar of Lebanese origins. He is a professor and commentator on global terrorism and Middle Eastern affairs.
Phares has testified before committees of the U.S. State, Justice, Defense and Homeland Security Departments, the United States Congress, the European Parliament, the United Nations Security Council. He has been a Terrorism expert at NBC from 2003 to 2006 and is a contributor at Fox News since 2007. He is currently an Expert at Wikistrat.
Walid Phares was born on December 24, 1957 and raised in Beirut, where he studied at the Lebanese and Saint Joseph Universities. After earning degrees in law, political science and sociology, he practiced law in Beirut. He then earned a Masters degree in International Law from the Université de Lyon in France and a Ph.D. in international relations and strategic studies from the University of Miami. He emigrated to the United States in 1990, after Syrian troops invaded the last enclaves of what was known then as the "Free Lebanon".
Jay Montgomery Garner (born April 15, 1938) is a retired United States Army lieutenant general who was appointed in 2003 as Director of the Office for Reconstruction and Humanitarian Assistance for Iraq following the 2003 invasion of Iraq but was soon replaced by Ambassador Paul Bremer and the ambassador's successor organization to ORHA, the Coalition Provisional Authority (CPA).
Born in Arcadia, Florida, Garner served an enlistment in the United States Army before attending Florida State University, where he received a B.S. degree in history in 1962. He also holds a Master's in public administration from Shippensburg University of Pennsylvania.
Commissioned as a second lieutenant in 1962, Garner served two tours in Vietnam, and later led two air defense units in Germany. He also served as deputy commanding general at Fort Bliss, Texas. Garner helped to develop the Patriot missile system and commanded missile batteries during the Gulf War. After the war he was put in charge of securing Kurdish areas in Iraq. He was later named commander of the U.S. Army Space and Strategic Defense Command (working primarily on President Reagan's Strategic Defense Initiative missile shield program), and concluded his Army career as Assistant Vice Chief of Staff, retiring in 1997 at the rank of lieutenant general.
The Middle East one day, it blew in, swept away
In comes the sunshine, story turned to strange
In walking comes a smile, I didn't know the day
She sits down beside me, perfectly arranged
Laura's gone away, I don't know just how long she'll be there
Sadly eyes of pain are bouncing in and out of nowhere
She wanders all around, will she make it on fries and coffee
Bigger words then tears, I'm afraid of what it might be
Laura's gone away, I don't know just how long she'll be there
Sadly eyes of pain are bouncing in and out of nowhere
And she's bouncing in and out of nowhere
Ain't nobody help me on the outside
Gotta make it through to the inside
And I'm talking strange
Ain't nobody help me on the outside
Gotta make it through to the inside
And I'm talking strange
Talking strange
Laura's gone away, I don't know just how long she'll be there
Sadly eyes of pain are bouncing in and out of nowhere
It's alright, she leaves it all behind
We all run for the Middle East sometimes
Little mind yeah can take us anywhere
Escape us anywhere, escape us everywhere
Until we find
A way to move yah
Our love for each other
Will have to improove
This ya roots rock reggae
Got the groove, yah
You better take warning
No time to loose, wo yeah
Watch the middle east
It start from there
This ya third world slaughter
Headin' for the west frontier, yah
Until we find a way
To leave the west, o yes
Our love for each other
Must be the strongest
So much doctrine
So much opinion, o yes
But it's One Jah, One Glory
Troops sent to the Middle East
Troops sent to die
Troops sent to the Middle East
Troops sent to die
So the rich can have their oil
And pollute the sea and sky
So George Bush can sit in his plush office
And ..?? dignity
While we watch the war on TV
While we watch the war on TV
Human need not corporate greed
Human need not profit
Human need not corporate greed
Human need not profit
Money goes to more and more weapons
Not for people ...?? need
Democrats, Republicans
Are fighting more
It's not what our taxes
Should pay for
The rich are screwing us over
The rich are screwing us over
The U.S. doesn't need to be
The world's referee
The U.S. doesn't need to be
The world's referee
Fighting in the Middle East everyday
Because of the U.S. and the U.K.
Large corporations are demanding more
Power is what they all live for
Dying for the rich man's war
Dying for a rich man's war
Dying for a rich man's war
Dying for a rich man's war
200,000 troops in the Middle East
400,000
600,000
Too fucking many
When're you gonna to wake up and realize ...??
When your best friend gets killed?
Stop the bloodshed before we all die
Why?
Why?
The Middle East one day, it blew in, swept away
In comes the sunshine, story turned to strange
In walking comes a smile, I didn't know the day
She sits down beside me, perfectly arranged
Laura's gone away, I don't know just how long she'll be there
Sadly eyes of pain are bouncing in and out of nowhere
She wanders all around, will she make it on fries and coffee
Bigger words then tears, I'm afraid of what it might be
Laura's gone away, I don't know just how long she'll be there
Sadly eyes of pain are bouncing in and out of nowhere
And she's bouncing in and out of nowhere
Ain't nobody help me on the outside
Gotta make it through to the inside
And I'm talking strange
Ain't nobody help me on the outside
Gotta make it through to the inside
And I'm talking strange
Talking strange
Laura's gone away, I don't know just how long she'll be there
Sadly eyes of pain are bouncing in and out of nowhere
It's alright, she leaves it all behind
We all run for the Middle East sometimes
Little mind yeah can take us anywhere
In my Promised Land
In the Middle East
What will we do about terrorism?
In my Promised Land
In the Middle East
What can we do about fanaticism?
You and I on parallel lines
You and I, we are the key
Dreams are not enough
To lead and guide us
To peace
In the Middle East
Oh, oh, oh...
In the Middle East
Oh, oh, oh...
Desire for peace
Such yearning for peace
Does your country do
What you believe in?
In my Land there is war
And we're losing our soul
And ideology
Is losing meaning
You and I on parallel lines
You and I, when can we meet?
Dreams are not enough
To lead and guide us
To peace
In the Middle East
Oh, oh, oh...
In the Middle East
Oh, oh, oh...
SHOLEM SHOLEM
WEEN SHOLEM
SHOLEM SHOLEM
WEN ESSALAM
SHOLEM SHOLEM
WEEN SHOLEM
SALAM
You and I on parallel lines
You and I, we are the key
Dreams are not enough
To lead and guide us
To peace
In the Middle East
Oh, oh, oh...
WEN ESSALAM?
Oh, oh, oh...
In the Middle East
Flare lights, flowers, mothers, fathers,
Homeland, green fields and tears
Borders, rivers, desert, Dead Sea
We are the key
Flare lights, flowers, mothers, fathers,
Homeland, green fields and tears
Borders, rivers, desert, Dead Sea
When can we meet?
YERUSHALAYM
YERUSHALEM
Oh, oh, oh...
In the Middle East
Oh, oh, oh...