Quote Originally Posted by Juan Rico View Post
maybe his views of iran are somehow connected to the mid east inst, since that's where that little speaking engagement was held:

http://www.cq.com/public/20060203_homeland.html

They are sprinkled all over Washington, particularly in such well-known Saudi-supported think tanks as the Middle East Institute (MEI).
Two former top American diplomats in Saudi Arabia lead the MEI — Wyche Fowler Jr. (chairman), ambassador to Riyadh from 1996 to 2001, and Edward “Ned” Walker (president), a former deputy chief of the U.S. embassy there and at one time the State Department's deputy assistant secretary for the Near East. MEI’s vice president, David Mack, was an ambassador to the United Arab Emirates and, like Walker, a top Near East official at the State Department. Also at MEI is Richard Parker, former ambassador to Algeria, Lebanon, and Morocco, and Michael Sterner, former ambassador to UAE and deputy assistant secretary of Near Eastern Affairs.
Funny how that quote fails to mention that Ned Walker was also US ambassador to Israel. I guess that particular fact doesn't fit so well with the "Saudi conspiracy" argument that's being made.

As a quick look through the Middle East Journal (MEI's flagship journal, and, along with the International Journal of Middle East Studies, one of the two main academic publications on the Middle East) makes clear, MEI hardly hews a pro-Saudi, or pro-anything, line. (Indeed, the most recent issue of MEJ has articles on accidental Saudi destabilization of the Shah, and the segregation of Saudi women--hardly favorite topics for Riyadh!)

One could start an entire thread on how the hyperpartisanship around ME issues (and the demonization of outstanding regional experts like Rashid Khalidi and Rob Malley in the current presidential campaign) inhibits the ability of the USG to effectively pursue its national interests in the region...