The Middle East Studies Association (MESA) has come under fire in recent years for its members’ tendency to: replace politics with scholarship; engage in groupthink (producing very little in the way of new ideas); ignore the dangers of the region they study; and apologize for Islamist and/or violent groups. For more on this, see Martin Kramer’s “oldy but goody” in the Middle East Quarterly.
On Halloween, here’s something spooky for MESA: http://www.asmeascholars.org.
ASMEA was launched just a few days ago. It is dedicated to promoting the highest standards of research and teaching in Middle Eastern and African studies, and related fields. In essence, it’s the anti-MESA.
The JPC welcomes this new association with open arms.
