Middle East Strategy at Harvard (MESH)

From Mark N. Katz There has been much press coverage about how the Saleh regime in Yemen is facing important security challenges. There is the Houthi rebellion in the north of the country which has been going on since 2004 (see a brief, excellent analysis by Gregory Johnsen)...

From Daniel Byman Saudi Arabia is once again sailing in dangerous waters as it increases its military involvement in Yemen. The recent New York Times article on the subject is welcome, because the growing violence in Yemen is perhaps the most neglected news story in the Middle East...

From Stephen Peter Rosen and Martin Kramer As MESH approaches its second anniversary, we seek foundation support to allow us to continue our work and expand in new directions. Interested? Please contact us. And if you have ties to a foundation, please recommend MESH.

In focusing on the changed nature of war in our time, Alan Dowty puts his finger on one of the central dilemmas facing not only Israel but also all states that attempt to defend their citizens...

From Matthew Levitt Even as the West seeks to engage Iran in negotiations over Tehran’s nuclear program, Iran continues to arm rogue regimes and terrorist groups in blatant violation of UN Security Council Resolution 1747. ...

From Gal Luft The tragic killing of the 13 U.S. soldiers in Fort Hood by Army Maj. Nidal Malik Hasan is one is a string of events involving Muslim soldiers and veterans who have gone astray, raising delicate questions about the role and trustworthiness of the 3,000 Muslim soldiers in the U.S...

The Obama administration could not have made a better selection for this position than Tamara Cofman Wittes. Not only is she a true regional expert, but she has spent the last several years studying and critiquing U.S. democracy promotion and development programs in the Middle East...

We should all be cheered that Tammy Wittes is joining the State Department to take over the democracy, human rights and public diplomacy portfolio within the Near East Bureau...

We’re grateful for the very kind words of Tamara Cofman Wittes, and we’ll feel her absence acutely. Tammy has been one of the most active MESH members, with an impressive string of posts and comments in some of this blog’s most interesting (and contentious) threads. She’...

From Tamara Cofman Wittes This will be my last post on MESH for the foreseeable future. On Monday I will take up new responsibilities that will take me away from the wonderful discussion that unfolds on this page...

Philip Carl Salzman’s post about President Obama’s statement on the 30th anniversary of the seizure of the U.S. embassy in Tehran suggests that the president is dangerously naïve about the Iranian regime’s aims. Salzm...

From Philip Carl Salzman “It is time for the Iranian government to decide whether it wants to focus on the past, or whether it will make the choices that will open the door to greater opportunity, prosperity, and justice for its people.” —President Barack Obama, statement on the 30th anniv...

From Adam Garfinkle As President Obama decides how to proceed in the Afghan war, he needs to add one more variable that is rarely mentioned: Iranian determination to acquire nuclear weapons...

Walter Laqueur’s paper on Russia’s Muslim strategy provides us with another example of the insightful analysis which we have long grown to expect from him. In...