Professors Discuss Middle East Issues

A panel of Tech faculty with wide-ranging interests in the Middle East met last night to discuss the challenges facing the new administration under President Obama concerning the region.

The panel consisted of university experts including Rachel Scott, assistant professor for religious studies, Yannis Stivachtis, director of the international studies department, Ben Sax, assistant professor for the department of interdisciplinary studies, Djavad Salehi-Isfahani, professor of economics, and Daniel Breslau, professor of science and technologies studies.

The discussion began with Scott touching on a survey of Islamic media’s reaction to the election of President Obama.

“There was a feeling of considerable relief throughout the Arab world accompanied by skepticism over possible change,” Scott said.

Scott spoke of the skepticism of Muslims on the election of a Democrat, seeing as, according to an article in Arabic media quoted by Scott, the death toll of Iraqis during Clinton’s presidency was twice as high as the death toll under Bush.

There was also a significant feeling of disapproval related to Obama’s silence during the Israeli air strikes in Gaza while he spoke out only on the economic crisis in the U.S.

“Obama’s appointment of George Mitchell as U.S. special envoy to the Middle East was also received with cautious optimism,” Scott said. “Mitchell is a half-Arab, half-Irish diplomat ... His appointment was a sign of the new administration’s commitment to conflict resolution in the Meddle East.”

The next panelist to speak was Sax, who received his MA from the Hebrew University of Jerusalem. He spoke of the problems that Obama will face concerning Israeli settlement expansion into Palestinian lands.

“According to The Economist, in 2008 there was a 69 percent increase in settlement expansion in Israel,” Sax said. “So the question that I want to plant in the back of your mind is: Can Obama be the first president to stop settlement expansion? Not freeze it but, theoretically, actually stop it?”

Sax also touched on the hot bed of lobbyist control of international politics, and the question of whether Obama’s new administration is up to the task of breaking the lobbyist vice grip on policy making.

The third panelist, Salehi-Isfahani, holds degrees from the University of London, Queen Mary College, and a Ph.D. in economics from Harvard University.

He spoke mainly on the topic of Iranian foreign policy, and the challenges not only the U.S., but the entire international community will face when addressing their problems with Iran.

Salehi-Isfahani spoke on the issues of mutual respect between the U.S. State Department and the Iranian government through cooperation and mutual understanding. His overall feeling, however, was not optimistic.

“I do not share the optimism of my younger colleagues,” Salehi-Isfahani said, “I feel that I need to add to the skeptics about Obama’s ability, not intentions, to change the course of events with Iran.”

He also stressed the importance of Iran refusing to accept a role of “subservience” to the U.S. and the importance for an understanding of the nation being, “a country with a big chip on its shoulder.”

Breslau, the fourth panelist, brought the discussion to the topic of Israeli government, and its shift towards a much more conservative ruling coalition. Breslau said the three largest political parties in Israel will tilt strongly to the right.

The third largest party in Israel was a cause of great concern to Breslau.

“According to this group, the U.S. should take care of Gaza like they did Hiroshima and Nagasaki,” Breslau said, “They have never supported a Palestinian state and are even at odds with U.S. policy.”

He stressed that President Obama will have to be the first to confront Israel, but will also have to player a larger role in Israeli safety.

“The U.S. will have to give them a greater sense of security,” Breslau said.

The last panelist, Stivachtis, was more focused on the existence of terror organizations and their influence on Middle Eastern policy.

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