Middle East & North Africa

"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."

An audio recording of Samar Yazbek's book talk on September 21 at Harvard Kennedy School.

The risks posed by the proliferation of cyber weapons are gaining wide recognition among security planners. Yet the general reaction of scholars of international relations has been to neglect the cyber peril owing to its technical novelties and intricacies. This attitude amounts to either one or both of two claims: the problem is not of sufficient scale to warrant close inspection, or it is not comprehensible to a non-technical observer. This seminar challenged both assertions.

"Instead of calling for military action to replace slow diplomatic efforts, Obama is using the case to justify harsher diplomatic efforts. Until more facts are disclosed, the true nature of Iran's intentions are merely subject for speculation. Was it an assassination attempt? Was it a ruse? Was it a crazy overreach by low-level officials? Until we know more, tougher economic sanctions are justified, while rumors about the stability of the regime and its control over subordinates can flourish. In any case, US interest is being served."

"POLICY ANALYSTS in Cambridge and policy wonks in Washington are all astir , trying to ascertain whether the anti-US rhetoric by President Vladimir Putin of Russia at a conference in Munich was mainly for his home audience or signaled a resurgent rivalry with the United States...."

Like every other country, the United States has, in the name of security, made mistakes that we admit only later. What separates us from those regimes we abhor isn't that we never act cruelly. It's that we reject, rather than defend, our departures from our ideals and we actively seek to prevent such abuses from happening again.

Dr. Ashton B. Carter testifies before the 9/11 Public Discourse Project's hearings on "The 9/11 Commission Report: The Unfinished Agenda."

Until our intelligence agencies place important focus on "who" is in fact doing the gathering and communicating, we will continue to be at a critical disadvantage against our enemies

Simply because we can dismiss the PLO's position doesn't mean that the United States should. Bringing Abbas to the United States to be tried would have significant consequences that should be weighed against the opportunity for a new US-led effort to renew the Middle East peace process.

Written Testimony of Juliette Kayyem