Middle East Forum   Middle East Quarterly

Middle East Quarterly

Winter 2005

Volume 12: Number 1

Juan Cole and the Decline of Middle Eastern Studies

By: Alexander H. Joffe
This article can be found by clicking the following:
http://www.meforum.org/article/789
University of Michigan
Alexander H. Joffe
See more from this Author
Articles
How Hamas Took UNRWA Hostage
June 7, 2021
 · 
Alexander H. Joffe
Articles
Joe Biden’s Mideast Policy: Obama Redux
February 4, 2021
 · 
Alexander H. Joffe
Articles
The US Election: Preliminary Lessons for US Allies
November 16, 2020
 · 
Alexander H. Joffe
Load More
See more on this Topic
The Palestinian right of return is primarily a political and ideological claim rather than a binding legal one supported by international law. In 1974, Yasser Arafat championed it at the U.N., declaring that Zionism is "colonialist", "imperialist," and "racist." The right of return continues to shape Palestinian politics and Western diplomacy, and remains a central factor in the persistence of the Israeli-Palestinian conflict.
Middle East Quarterly
Palestinian Intransigence and the “Right of Return”
February 27, 2026
Middle East Quarterly
Trump’s Twenty-Point Plan and Hamas’s Rebirth
February 27, 2026
The June 2025 Israeli military campaign, backed by the U.S., significantly weakened Iran’s strategic capabilities and reshaped regional dynamics. Rather than accelerating formal Saudi-Israeli normalization, it produced a post-liberal Middle East in which Saudi Arabia treats Israel as a covert partner and constrained outsider while competing for regional primacy. (Shutterstock/Asset ID: 2096850640)
Middle East Quarterly
Inter-Arab Rivalry and Regional Hierarchy in the Post–Liberal Middle East
February 27, 2026
Load More