RESEARCH AREAS

Middle East

AEI's Middle East studies program focuses on U.S. strategy and democratic reform in the region, Islamic radicalism and terrorism, the political and social lessons learned during the Iraq war and reconstruction, the Arab-Israeli conflict, Turkey's internal conflicts over secularism, and developments in Iran. This section of the website gathers together AEI research, books, and events focused on the Middle East.

America's Shifting Middle East Policy

AEI scholars have been following the recent uprisings in the Middle East against totalitarian regimes. The impact of these movements has yet to be seen, but already the United States is feeling the shockwaves.

In Yemen, protests could mean trouble for terrorist plots against the United States linked to al Qaeda. AEI's Critical Threats project has mapped out the gravest threats to national security and has monitored the progress of these uprisings. View their interactive maps to follow security threats and developing situations in Yemen, Somalia, Iran, Libya, and more.

Watch video from AEI's event on Obama's decision to invade Libya and what the future of US involvement in the Middle East could be. Also read Ali Alfoneh's Middle East Outlook series that details the growing threat of the Iranian government and the IRGC.

Scholars on Iran and the Middle East

Danielle Pletka
Middle East; Iran; Egypt
Frederick W. Kagan
Defense and military strategy in Iran and Iraq; AEI's Critical Threats Project
Michael Rubin
Arab democracy; Iran and the Middle East; Turkey; Egypt; the Kurds; Iraq; Syria

Recent Publications

Don't Abandon Afghanistan!

By Danielle Pletka
The Daily Beast
Thursday, June 9, 2011

The choices for America in Afghanistan are simpler than they appear in the fog of political debate: We can win or we can lose.

It's Time for University Reform in Iraqi Kurdistan

By Michael Rubin
Kurdistan Tribune
Wednesday, June 8, 2011

The Balkanization of Kurdistan impacted university development. As a result many universities in Kurdistan have suffered and are not providing a quality education to their students.

War-Powers Crisis

By John R. Bolton
Washington Times
Monday, June 6, 2011

While passage of the Kucinich amendment would have had no operational effect because it surely would have died in the Senate, the political signal internationally would have been debilitating. Washington's credibility and staying power would have been called immediately into question, and not just in Libya, but in Afghanistan, Iraq and elsewhere.

We Have the Momentum in Afghanistan

By Frederick W. Kagan, Kimberly Kagan
Wall Street Journal
Monday, June 6, 2011

The United States should not substantially pull troops out of Afghanistan next month. The fight is nearing its climax and with progress fragile, the US needs every troop possible to maintain momentum.

» List all Recent Publications

Books

Lessons for a Long War How America Can Win on New Battlefields

Edited By Thomas Donnelly, Frederick W. Kagan
AEI Press
(April 2010)

As the guarantor of international security, the United States must commit to a long-term military presence in Iraq and Afghanistan. But what are the tools necessary to succeed on the new battlefields of the Long War?

Dissent and Reform in the Arab World: Empowering Democrats A Report of the American Enterprise Institute Dissent and Reform in the Arab World Project

Edited By Danielle Pletka, Michael Rubin, Jeffrey Azarva
AEI Press
(February 2008)

Authentic voices from Bahrain, Egypt, Iraq, Jordan, Lebanon, Libya, Syria, Yemen, and Tunisia dispel the fiction that the Arab world is infertile ground for democracy.

The Iranian Time Bomb The Mullah Zealots' Quest for Destruction

By Michael A. Ledeen
St. Martin's Press
(September 2007)

This book exposes the radical agenda and terrorist activities of the mullahs who run Iran, and offers an action plan for responding.

» List all Books

Events

PAST EVENTS

The US Agency for International Development and Conflict: Hard Lessons from the Field

Tuesday, May 17, 2011
12:00 PM - 01:15 PM

In a bipartisan discussion, deputy administrator of USAID and former ambassador Donald Steinberg will address the challenges the United States faces in its global peace-building operations.

Crisis in Yemen, the Rise of al Qaeda in the Arabian Peninsula, and US National Security

Tuesday, May 17, 2011
09:00 AM - 10:30 AM

Yemeni President Ali Abdullah Saleh refused to sign a deal aimed at ending nearly four months of political upheaval threatening to destabilize the country. How will this impact Yemen? And what should US policy be?

POSTPONED: Assad Strikes Back: Can Democracy Prevail in Syria?

Monday, May 2, 2011
03:30 PM - 05:00 PM

Please note that this event has been postponed.

» List all Past Events