Harvard–Belfer on Syria

"...[T]he central challenge in the greater Middle East is the lack of effective and legitimate political institutions — especially in places like Libya, Syria, Yemen, and post-invasion Iraq. Military force is useful for certain purposes, but the ability to blow things up and kill people does not translate into a workable set of governing institutions. In fact, the more the United States relies on military force to 'manage' these problems, the more it encourages others to take up arms against us or against our clients, which in turn allows those with a taste and talent for violence to dominate the political landscape."

"The latest active war in the Middle East, the Saudi Arabian-led assault on Yemen to prevent the Houthi movement from taking full control of the entire country by force, has triggered a fascinating legal and ideological debate about the legitimacy and efficacy of this venture. The significance of this war in Yemen is not really about the legally authorized use of force to ensure a calm Arab future. Rather, it is mainly a testament to the marginalization of the rule of law — and not its affirmation — in many Arab countries in our recent past."

"IS's need continuously to expand is a central feature in its strategy since its blitzkrieg in Iraq and Syria last year gave it control over vast territory and facilitated the announcement that it is a caliphate....Expansion is also a mobilisation tool for IS. It adds to the myth of Islamic State's inevitability and invincibility that its leaders are trying to promote."

"There is only one country in the Middle East that is truly in alliance with the United States in its fight against the ISIS and that is Iran. The military presence of the Iranian Revolutionary Guard Corps' (IRGC) elite forces in defense of the territorial integrity and political stability of Iraq has already expanded from the Kurdish city of Erbil to the multiethnic capital city of Baghdad."

"When historians look back on the Middle East decades from now, they might find that trends in this region after 2015 were determined by the outcome of four seminal issues and battles that are in play this month."

In this installment of “Inside the Middle East: Q&A,” recorded on March 10, 2015, Dr. Madawi Al-Rasheed, Visiting Professor at the Middle East Centre, London School of Economics, discusses themes in her lecture in the Spring 2015 study group Rethinking the Arab State, led by Professor Michael C. Hudson, titled “Not So Good to be King: the Saudi Monarchy at Crossroads”.

An audio recording from Yossi Alpher, former director, Jaffee Center for Strategic Studies, Tel Aviv University.

On March 11, 2015 at MEI, Yossi Alpher presented his newest book Periphery: Israel's Search for Middle East Allies on the history of a little known Israeli foreign policy doctrine and gave his thoughts on Netanyahu's speech before Congress.

Syria has always been a larger idea than its own geography, whether in the past or in modern times. Half a century ago, Syria was called “the throbbing heart of Arabism,” and in previous centuries the word “Syria” always referred to a wider region that covered much of the Levant. Today, the fourth anniversary of the war in Syria provides a somber opportunity to grasp again the reasons for the crises, violence and occasional chaos and state collapse we witness in half a dozen Arab countries.

"...[O]ver time I’ve changed my mind about a fair number of academic, historical, and contemporary issues. I used to believe a number of things that turned out not to be correct, and there are others where at a minimum I know have considerable doubts. And guess what? Changing my mind isn't all that painful a process; in fact, it can be both liberating and enjoyable to realize that earlier beliefs were mistaken."

"The intense debate that is taking place across the world in recent months about the precise nature and motivating forces for the “Islamic State” movement (or ISIS) is impressive and useful, but still incomplete. It will allow all concerned to enjoy a more accurate understanding of what this group is all about and why it attracts adherents from across the world, which is critical to developing a policy to defeat it. There is hope and despair here."