I’ve been in Doha for the week, and so haven’t been able to blog or produce a video blog. But since I’ve got wireless access for the moment, I wanted to draw attention to a few things of note which have dropped while I’ve been on the road.
– I was absolutely floored and thrilled that the Middle East Channel was named as a finalist in the "Website Department" for the 2012 National Magazine Awards for Digital Media — the Ellies. It’s a testimony not just to the Middle East Channel’s editorial team but to the community of academics, journalists and policy analysts who have contributed so much over the past year. Thanks to everyone!
– The National Interest has published my response to Ray Takeyh and Nikolas Gvosdev’s article on Libya and the "new Wilsonianism" in American foreign policy. I argue that the Obama administration’s approach to the Middle East "may be neo-Wilsonian, but it is a careful and pragmatic example of the breed." Read it here.
– I contributed this comment to the Economist’s debate over intervention in Syria. You won’t be surprised that I continue to regard military intervention as unwise and unlikely to either protect Syrian civilians or to hasten a political transition. Read the full argument here.
– POMEPS has released a new briefing on the Syria crisis collecting recent Middle East Channel articles and analysis. You can read my introduction and download the brief here. You can also watch a video of a recent POMEPS panel discussion on Syria here or on C-Span — I particularly recommend the detailed and thoughtful discussion of the nature of the uprising in Damascus by Salwa Ismail of SOAS, but there’s plenty of interesting material there.
– The Kindle edition of my book The Arab Uprising: The Unfinished Revolutions of the New Middle East is now available for pre-order. It will be released March 22, five days before the paper version is published. We will be officially launching the book in Washington DC on March 27 in a CNAS event and reception featuring me and Hisham Milhem — RSVP here!
Back soon!
