Middle East Forum 552511 222986824 2008-07-02T01:31:43Z Rjshaw 5802679 Personnel change The '''Middle East Forum''' (MEF) is an American [[think tank]] founded in 1990 by historian and columnist [[Daniel Pipes]], who also serves as its director.<ref>[http://www.fpa.org/topics_info2414/topics_info_show.htm?doc_id=125024 "Middle East Forum"] listed in "Search Results" and "Resource Library" on the website of the [[Foreign Policy Association]]; cf. organization website for [http://www.meforum.org Middle East Forum], one of [http://www.danielpipes.org/sites.php "Daniel Pipes's websites"] (incl. its "Mission" statement), all accessed [[February 24]], [[2007]].</ref> MEF became a [[501(c)#501(c)(3)|501(c)3]] [[non-profit organization]] in 1994. It publishes a journal entitled ''[[Middle East Quarterly]]''. The MEF describes its aims as "[to] define and promote [[United States|American]] interests in the [[Middle East]]" through research, publications, and educational outreach. The MEF defines "U.S. interests" as "fighting [[radical Islam]], whether [[terrorism|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 [[Iran|Iranian]] threat."<ref name="About">[http://www.meforum.org/about.php "About the Middle East Forum"], accessed [[February 17]], [[2007]].</ref> Based on a belief that the [[United States]] has vital interests in the region of the [[Middle East]], according to the organization, they advocate strong ties with [[Israel]], [[Turkey]], and other democracies as they emerge; work for human rights throughout the region; seek a stable supply and a low price of oil; and promote the peaceful settlement of regional and international disputes.<ref name=Pipes>[[Daniel Pipes]], [http://www.danielpipes.org/mef.php "The MEF Mission"], ''danielpipes.org'' (personal organization website of Daniel Pipes, n.d., accessed [[February 17]], [[2007]].</ref> ==Mission statement== The mission of the Middle East Forum is defined in "About the Middle East Forum" on the organization's website as follows:<ref name=About>[http://www.meforum.org/about.php "About the Middle East Forum"], n.d., accessed [[February 17]], [[2007]].</ref><ref name=Pipes/> <blockquote>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.<br> 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.<br> 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.</blockquote> ==Publications and projects== ===''Middle East Quarterly''=== The ''[[Middle East Quarterly]]'' (''MEQ'') is a quarterly journal devoted to Middle Eastern affairs. It was founded in 1994 by [[Daniel Pipes]] and the current editor is [[Michael Rubin]], 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]].<ref>Current issue of ''[http://www.mequarterly.org/ Middle East Quarterly]'' 14.2 (Spring 2007), accessed [[February 17]], [[2007]].</ref> According to Middle East Quarterly's website, "policy-makers, opinion-makers, academics, and journalists" consult ''MEQ'' "for in-depth analysis of the rapidly-changing landscape of the world's most volatile region." The journal 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."<ref name=MEQ>''[http://www.mequarterly.org Middle East Quarterly]''. Publication website hosted by its sponsoring organization, Middle East Forum, accessed [[February 19]], [[2007]].</ref> ===Campus Watch=== In 2002, the Middle East Forum initiated the [[Campus Watch]] program and identified what they believe to be 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."<ref>Qtd. from "Mission Statement," in [http://www.campus-watch.org/about.php "About Campus Watch"], ''Campus Watch'' (''campus-watch.org''), n.d., accessed [[February 17]], [[2007]].</ref> [[Winfield Myers]] is the current director of Campus Watch (2007).<ref>[http://www.meforum.org/staff.php "Who's Who at Campus Watch"], ''Middle East Forum'' (''meforum.org''), n.d., accessed [[February 17]], [[2007]].</ref> 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.<ref name=Schevitz>Tanya Schevitz, [http://www.sfgate.com/cgi-bin/article.cgi?file=/chronicle/archive/2002/09/28/MN227890.DTL "Professors Want Own Names Put on Mideast Blacklist"], ''[[San Francisco Chronicle]]'' [[September 28]], [[2002]], accessed [[February 17]],[[2007]].</ref> Subsequently, Campus Watch removed the list from its website.<ref name=Schevitz2> Tanya Schevitz, [http://www.campus-watch.org/article/id/209 "'Dossiers' Dropped from Web Blacklist"], ''[[San Francisco Chronicle]]'' [[October 3]], [[2002]], accessed [[February 17]], [[2007]].</ref><ref name=Ayloush>Hussam Ayloush, [http://www.campus-watch.org/article/id/416 "Column a Slur on Muslim Community"], ''[[Orange County Register]]'' [[December 1]], [[2002]], accessed [[February 17]], [[2007]].</ref> ===Islamist Watch=== On [[April 21]] [[2006]], the Middle East Forum launched [[Islamist Watch]], a project that Islamist Watch states it "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.<ref name=mefIW>[http://www.meforum.org/islamist.php "Islamist Watch"] (information page), ''Middle East Forum'', n.d., accessed [[February 17]], [[2007]].</ref> According to the organization's website, Islamist Watch does not focus on [[counter terrorism]] 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."<ref name=mefIW/> In December 2006, [[Paul Belien]] became director of Islamist Watch.<ref>[http://www.meforum.org/press/1070 "Paul Belien Appointed Director of Islamist Watch"], press release, ''Middle East Forum'' [[December 11]], [[2006]], accessed [[February 17]], [[2007]].</ref> == References == {{Reflist}} ==Further reading== *[[Michelle Goldberg|Goldberg, Michelle]]. [http://dir.salon.com/story/news/feature/2002/09/30/campus/index.html "Mau-mauing the Middle East"]. ''[[Salon.com]]'' [[September 30]], [[2002]]. Accessed [[February 16]], [[2007]]. *[[Barry Rubin|Rubin, Barry]], and [[Judith Colp]]. ''[[Hating America: A History]]''. New York: Oxford UP, 2004. ISBN 0-19-516773-2. ==External links == *[http://www.danielpipes.org/sites.php "Daniel Pipes' Websites"] (incl. Middle East Forum). *[http://www.meforum.org/ Middle East Forum] Organization website; features "a 7-minute video about the Middle East Forum, highlighting the organization, its personnel, and work." **[http://www.meforum.org/about.php "About the Middle East Forum"] at organization website. **''[http://www.mequarterly.org Middle East Quarterly]''. Publication website hosted by its sponsoring organization Middle East Forum. Contains full text versions of all but current issue of the print edition of ''Middle East Quarterly''. Accessed [[February 19]], [[2007]]. *''[http://www.campus-watch.org/ Campus Watch]'' a monitoring program established by the Middle East Forum in 2002. *''[http://www.islamistwatch.org/ Islamist Watch]'' a monitoring program established by the Middle East Forum in 2006. *''[http://www.meib.org/ Middle East Intelligence Bulletin]''––Jointly published by the [[United States Committee for a Free Lebanon]] (founder and president, [[Ziad K. Abdelnour]]) and the Middle East Forum. *[http://mideastforum.org/ English German Mideast forum for youth] ==See also== *[[Bradley Foundation]] - A financial sponsor of the Middle East Forum [[Category:Middle East Forum| ]] [[Category:Foreign policy and strategy think tanks in the United States]] [[Category:Political and economic think tanks in the United States]] [[Category:Conservative organizations in the United States]] [[Category:Conservative think tanks based in the United States]] [[Category:Islamic politics and Islamic world studies]] [[Category:Foreign policy political advocacy groups in the United States]] [[de:Middle East Forum]] [[fr:Forum du Moyen-Orient]]