U.S. POLICY IN THE MIDDLE EAST

U.S. policy continues to face significant challenges in the Middle East as governments and alliances shift in the wake of protests and civil unrest.

The Baker Institute has been providing timely analysis of these developing situations.

• Israeli-Palestinian Conflict
• President Obama's June 22, 2011, speech on the way forward in Afghanistan
• President Obama's May 19, 2011, Middle East policy speech
• Osama bin Laden
• Middle East protests
• Syria
• Libya
• Egypt

Israeli-Palestinian Conflict

• Watch an interview (video) with Baker Institute founding director Edward P. Djerejian during the IFRI World Policy Conference 2011 about how the Arab Awakening and events in the Middle East will affect Israeli-Palestinian relations (Dec. 10, 2011).
  

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President Obama's June 22, 2011, speech on the way forward in Afghanistan

• Read the Houston Chronicle editorial “Pulling back,” which discusses President Obama’s plans to pull troops out of Afghanistan and Baker Institute founding director Edward P. Djerejian’s perspective (June 23, 2011). 
• Read KTRH AM 740 NewsRadio story "Military Experts Sound Off on President Obama's Troop Withdrawal Strategy," which quotes fellow in homeland security and terrorism Joan Neuhaus Schaan (June 23, 2011).

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President Obama's May 19, 2011, Middle East policy speech

• Read International Business Times article "Peace deal only if 1967 borders are considered: Rice varsity report," which discusses the Baker Institute special report "Getting to the Territorial Endgame of an Israeli-Palestinian Peace Settlement" (May 20, 2011).
  
• Read Reuters article "Obama measures democracy pitch for wary Gulf allies" to learn what Baker Institute founding director Edward P. Djerejian has to say about President Barack Obama's recent speech on the Middle East (May 20, 2011).
  
• Read Christian Science Monitor article "Obama Middle East Speech: U.S. is with street protesters, not palace dictators," in which Baker Institute founding director Edward P. Djerejian is quoted on maintaining the Unites States' Middle East policy balance between "values, principles and security concerns" (May 19, 2011).
  
• Read National Journal article "Obama's Middle East Speech: Historic Opportunities, Uncomfortable Truths," which quotes Baker Institute founding director Edward P. Djerejian (May 19, 2011).
  
• Watch an interview with Baker Institute founding director Edward P. Djerejian on Bloomberg TV’s "InBusiness" ahead of President Obama’s speech (May 19, 2011).

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Osama bin Laden

• Read Politico article “News of Osama bin Laden’s death unlikely to impact gas price debate,” which quotes Baker Institute founding director Edward P. Djerejian (May 3, 2011).
• Read Baker Institute Blog post “The next move for Al Qaeda” by Rice scholar Richard Stoll (May 3, 2011).
• Watch an interview with Baker Institute founding director Edward P. Djerejian on Bloomberg TV’s “Bloomberg Bottom Line with Mark Crumpton” discussing the international reaction to Osama bin Laden’s death (May 2, 2011).
• Listen to Bloomberg Radio interview (AIFF) on the death of Osama bin Laden with Baker Institute founding director Edward P. Djerejian (May 2, 2011).
• Read Houston Chronicle article “Reaction to terrorist’s death from around Houston, Texas,” which quotes Baker Institute founding director Edward P. Djerejian (May 2, 2011).
• Read Baker Institute Blog post “Bin Laden is dead: Now what?” by fellow Joe Barnes (May 2, 2011).
• Read Fuel Fix Blog post “Al Qaeda, oil and summer air conditioning” by energy fellow Amy Myers Jaffe (May 2, 2011).
• Read Houston Chronicle article “President picked up where Bush left off,” in which political science fellow Mark Jones is quoted on the death of Osama bin Laden (May 2, 2011).
• Read National Journal article “If History Is Guide, bin Laden Killing May Not Boost Obama,” in which Rice scholar Richard Stoll is quoted (May 2, 2011).

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Middle East protests:

• Read the Voice of American News article "Former U.S. ambassador optimistic about Arab democracy," in which Baker Institute founding director Edward P. Djerejian discusses the way forward for the democratization of the Middle East and how the West should respond (Sept. 6, 2011).
  
• Read a Washington Post op-ed "Grounds for U.S. military intervention," in which former secretaries of state James A. Baker, III, and Henry Kissinger discuss how the United States can successfully approach Middle East policy with a balance of realism and idealism (April 11, 2011).
• Read "Handling the Middle East's 'Tectonic' Shifts," a Council on Foreign Relations interview with Baker Institute founding director Edward P. Djerejian (April 1, 2011).
• Read an article in The New Republic that discusses what America has learned through various diplomats, including Baker Institute founding director Edward P. Djerejian, speaking to the Muslim Brotherhood (March 3, 2011). A subscription is required to read the full article.
• Read the McClatchy Newspapers article "Like new Middle East, Obama doctrine is a work in progress," which quotes Baker Institute founding director Edward P. Djerejian (March 4, 2011).
• Read a Boston Globe article, "Critics question billions in aid routed back to U.S. contractors," which quotes founding director Edward P. Djerejian (Feb. 3, 2011).

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Syria

• Read CNN article "Analysts: Syria has 'nothing to lose, something to gain' from Annan plan," in which Baker Institute founding director Edward P. Djerejian comments on the Syrian government's acceptance of a U.N. special envoy's peace proposal (March 28, 2012).
  
• Read CNN's "Syria: Who would take over after al-Assad?," which quotes Baker Institute founding director Edward P. Djerejian (March 27, 2012).
  
• Watch an Al Jazeera interview (video) with Baker Institute founding director Edward P. Djerejian on civil unrest in Syria. The ambassador's remarks have been translated to Arabic  (Feb. 27, 2012).
• Listen to an "On Point with Tom Ashbrook" interview (audio) on the mounting crisis in Syria with Baker Institute founding director Edward P. Djerejian (Feb. 7, 2012).
  
• Read "Al-Assad missed chance to reform Syria," a commentary on CNN by Baker Institute founding director Edward P. Djerejian (Feb. 6, 2012).
  
• Read an  interview in the Israeli newspaper Yedioth Ahronoth with Baker Institute founding director Edward P. Djerejian about the unrest in Syria (Feb. 1, 2012). Please note that this article is in Hebrew.
  
• Watch Baker Institute founding director Edward P. Djerejian's interview on CNN (video) about the uprising in Syria and President Bashar al-Assad's regime (Jan. 13, 2012).
  
• Read Baker Institute founding director Edward P. Djerejian's interview with Al-Hayat on the ongoing crisis in Syria (Sept. 15, 2011).
  
• Watch an Al Jazeera interview (video) with Baker Institute founding director Edward P. Djerejian on U.S. policy toward the Syrian crisis (June 28, 2011).
  
• Watch a CNN interview (video) with Baker Institute founding director Edward P. Djerejian, in which he comments on the latest speech by Syria's President Bashar al-Assad (June 22, 2011).
  
• Watch an Al Jazeera English interview (video) with Baker Institute founding director Edward P. Djerejian, who discusses the demonstrations in Syria (June 21, 2011). A news article is also available.
  
• Listen to NPR Morning Edition segment "'Coordinated Response' Needed to Syria's Crackdown," an interview with Baker Institute founding director Edward P. Djerejian (May 12, 2011).
• Listen to a BBC Radio interview (mp3) with Baker Institute founding director Edward P. Djerejian about the protests in Syria (April 28, 2011).
• Read a Voice of America News story "Syria Popular Uprising Fails to Force Authentic Reform," which quotes Baker Institute founding director Edward P. Djerejian (March 31, 2011).

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Libya

• Baker Institute founding director Edward P. Djerejian is quoted in BusinessWeek article "Libya: Can It Become an Oil Superpower?" (Aug. 24, 2011).
  
• Read the CNN op-ed "Keys to a brighter future for Libya" by Baker Institute founding director Edward P. Djerejiand (Aug. 23, 2011).
  
• Baker Institute founding director Edward P. Djerejian is interviewed (video) on CNN about the outlook for Libya and the rest of the world, including Syria, as Col. Moammar Gadhafi's government nears collapse (Aug. 22, 2011).
• Baker Institute founding director Edward P. Djerejian is interviewed (audio) about U.S. intervention in Libya's political crisis on National Public Radio's "Talk of the Nation" (March 28, 2011).
• Read a Bloomberg News story "Obama Under Pressure to Clear 'Ambiguity' From Libya Strategy," in which Baker Institute founding director Edward P. Djerejian comments on U.S. involvement in Libya (March 25, 2011).
• Read the Voice of America article, "U.S.-Libya relations rocky during Gadhafi's leadership," which examines the relationship between the two countries from a historical perspective. Baker Institute founding director Edward P. Djerejian is quoted (Feb. 25, 2011).
  
• Watch an Al Jazeera English interview (video) with Baker Institute founding director Edward P. Djerejian, who discusses the demonstrations in Libya (Feb. 23, 2011).
• Read the Washington Post article "U.S. struggles with little leverage to restrain Libyan government," which discusses diplomatic challenges the Obama administration faces in Libya. Baker Institute founding director Edward P. Djerejian is quoted (Feb. 22, 2011).

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Egypt

• View a Bloomberg interview (video) with Baker Institute founding director Edward P. Djerejian that discusses the effects of Hosni Mubarak's resignation on Egypt and the Middle East (Feb. 11, 2011).
• Read a Bloomberg article, "Obama Says Egypt Forever Changed by 'Moral Force,'" which quotes Baker Institute founding director Edward P. Djerejian (Feb. 11, 2011).
• Read a Bloomberg article, "Biden Says Egypt Is Sign of 'Transformative Times,'" in which Baker Institute founding director Edward P. Djerejian is quoted (Feb. 10, 2011). This article appeared in the San Francisco Chronicle and Businessweek.
• View a FOX News interview (video) with former Secretary of State James A. Baker, III, discussing U.S. relations with Egyptian President Hosni Mubarak (Feb. 2, 2011).
• Read a Council on Foreign Relations interview, "Egypt Is a 'Textbook' Foreign Policy Dilemma," with former Secretary of State James A. Baker, III (Feb. 2, 2011).
• Read a New York Times article about "Frank Wisner, the Diplomat Sent to Prod Mubarak," which quotes founding director Edward P. Djerejian (Feb. 2, 2011).
• View a Today Show interview (video) with former Secretary of State James A. Baker, III, about who will rise to power in Egypt, and what this will mean for the Middle East (Feb. 2, 2011).
• Read the Bloomberg article, "Obama Tell Mubarak Egypt's Transition to New Government 'Must Begin Now,'" in which Baker Institute founding director Edward P. Djerejian is quoted (Feb. 1, 2011).
• Read The Atlantic article, "'Our S.O.B.s' and America's Revolutionary Dilemma Abroad," which quotes Baker Institute founding director Edward P. Djerejian (Feb. 1, 2011).
  
• Read a FOX News article, "Who is Mohamed Elbaradei?" which quotes Baker Institute founding director Edward P. Djerejian (Feb. 1, 2011).
• Read "Danger and Opportunity in Egypt," by Baker Institute founding director Edward P. Djerejian, on the Baker Institute Blog (Feb. 1, 2011).
  
• View a FOX News interview (video) with Baker Institute founding director Edward P. Djerejian (Jan. 30, 2011).
• Read the Bloomberg article, "Obama's Words Put to Test in U.S. Response to Egypt Anti-Mubarak Uprising," which quotes Baker Institute founding director Edward P. Djerejian (Jan. 31, 2011).
• Read The New York Times article, "With Egypt, Diplomatic Words Often Fail," with Baker Institute founding director Edward P. Djerejian (Jan. 29, 2011).
• View a CNN interview (article, video) with Baker Institute founding director Edward P. Djerejian (Jan. 28, 2011).
• View a CNN international interview (video) with Baker Institute founding director Edward P. Djerejian (Jan. 28, 2011).
• View a Bloomberg News (article, video) with Baker Institute founding director Edward P. Djerejian (Jan. 28, 2011).
• Read the post "Is $100 WTI Inevitable for 2011?" by Amy Myers Jaffe, the institute's Wallace S. Wilson Fellow in Energy Studies, on the Fuel Fix Blog.
• Listen to an American Public Radio's Marketplace interview with Amy Myers Jaffe, the institute's Wallace S. Wilson Fellow in Energy Studies, on what the crisis in Egypt means for the oil market (Feb. 1, 2011).
• Read information technology policy fellow Chris Bronk's blog on Egypt's decision to censor the Internet, "Short circuiting a revolution in Egypt" (Jan. 28, 2011).
• View a KHOU story, "Friends wait on word from Rice student," which states that former Baker Institute intern Sean Graham is currently working in Egypt (Jan. 30, 2011).

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