Middle East Quarterly
Encyclopedia
Think tank
A think tank is an organization that conducts research and engages in advocacy in areas such as social policy, political strategy, economics, military, and technology issues. Most think tanks are non-profit organizations, which some countries such as the United States and Canada provide with tax...
Middle East Forum
Middle East Forum
The Middle East Forum is an American conservative think tank founded in 1990 by Daniel Pipes, who also serves as its director. MEF became a 5013 non-profit organization in 1994...
(MEF) founded by Daniel Pipes
Daniel Pipes
Daniel Pipes is an American historian, writer, and political commentator. He is the founder and director of the Middle East Forum and its Campus Watch project, and editor of its Middle East Quarterly journal...
in 1994. It is devoted to subjects relating to the Middle East
Middle East
The Middle East is a region that encompasses Western Asia and Northern Africa. It is often used as a synonym for Near East, in opposition to Far East...
and Islam
Islam
Islam . The most common are and . : Arabic pronunciation varies regionally. The first vowel ranges from ~~. The second vowel ranges from ~~~...
and analyzes the region "explicitly from the viewpoint of American interests".
Overview
Middle East Quarterly's publisher, the Philadelphia-based Middle East ForumMiddle East Forum
The Middle East Forum is an American conservative think tank founded in 1990 by Daniel Pipes, who also serves as its director. MEF became a 5013 non-profit organization in 1994...
, is an American conservative think tank
Think tank
A think tank is an organization that conducts research and engages in advocacy in areas such as social policy, political strategy, economics, military, and technology issues. Most think tanks are non-profit organizations, which some countries such as the United States and Canada provide with tax...
founded in 1990 by historian and columnist Daniel Pipes
Daniel Pipes
Daniel Pipes is an American historian, writer, and political commentator. He is the founder and director of the Middle East Forum and its Campus Watch project, and editor of its Middle East Quarterly journal...
, who also serves as its director. According to Michelle Goldberg
Michelle Goldberg
Michelle Goldberg is a Brooklyn-based journalist and the author of the books Kingdom Coming: The Rise of Christian Nationalism, and The Means of Reproduction: Sex, Power, and the Future of the World. She is formerly a contributing writer at Salon.com...
from Salon magazine, Pipes "has a Ph.D. from Harvard and is the author of 11 books, including the recent Militant Islam Reaches America. The Forum founded the Middle East Quarterly in 1994.
According to the Middle East Forum
Middle East Forum
The Middle East Forum is an American conservative think tank founded in 1990 by Daniel Pipes, who also serves as its director. MEF became a 5013 non-profit organization in 1994...
, the Middle East Quarterly deals with "Middle East
Middle East
The Middle East is a region that encompasses Western Asia and Northern Africa. It is often used as a synonym for Near East, in opposition to Far East...
ern affairs". It states that:
"[P]olicy-makers, opinion-makers, academics, and journalists" consult it "for in-depth analysis of the rapidly-changing landscape of the world's most volatile region" and that it publishes "groundbreaking studies, exclusive interviews, insightful commentary, and hard-hitting reviews that tackle the entire range of contemporary concerns – from politics to economics to culture, across a region that stretches from Morocco to Afghanistan."
One of its goals was also to provide a voice to academics who felt that the mainstream academic press was not giving voice to their views on Islam. Until 2009, it did no peer review
Peer review
Peer review is a process of self-regulation by a profession or a process of evaluation involving qualified individuals within the relevant field. Peer review methods are employed to maintain standards, improve performance and provide credibility...
, leaving nearly all publishing decisions with its editors. The MEQ website explained then that "The Quarterly has become an outlet of choice for policy practitioners and senior scholars secure in their tenure and displeased with the ideological rigidity of the peer-reviewed journals." According to founder Daniel Pipes
Daniel Pipes
Daniel Pipes is an American historian, writer, and political commentator. He is the founder and director of the Middle East Forum and its Campus Watch project, and editor of its Middle East Quarterly journal...
, "In the halls of academe, the Quarterly delivers a welcome balance to the many materials that relentlessly attack the United States and Israel."
Edited by Efraim Karsh
Efraim Karsh
Efraim Karsh is professor and head of Middle East and Mediterranean Studies at King's College London, and director of the Philadelphia-based think tank, the Middle East Forum...
, it is published in print, and all but the current issue are also available as full texts from the website of the Middle East Forum
Middle East Forum
The Middle East Forum is an American conservative think tank founded in 1990 by Daniel Pipes, who also serves as its director. MEF became a 5013 non-profit organization in 1994...
, which does provide links to full texts of some selected current articles. In 2009, MEQ introduced peer review both to improve the quality of articles and "to give junior faculty an opportunity, while building their careers, to express their views freely."
Contributors
A full list of contributors can be found at http://www.meforum.org/docs/order/authorStaff
From the organization's website:- Dr. Daniel PipesDaniel PipesDaniel Pipes is an American historian, writer, and political commentator. He is the founder and director of the Middle East Forum and its Campus Watch project, and editor of its Middle East Quarterly journal...
, publisher - Dr. Efraim KarshEfraim KarshEfraim Karsh is professor and head of Middle East and Mediterranean Studies at King's College London, and director of the Philadelphia-based think tank, the Middle East Forum...
, editor - Dr. Patrick ClawsonPatrick ClawsonPatrick Lyell Clawson is an American economist and Middle East scholar. He is currently the Director for Research at the Washington Institute for Near East Policy and senior editor of Middle East Quarterly....
, senior editor - Dr. Michael RubinMichael Rubin (historian)Michael Rubin is a resident scholar at the American Enterprise Institute and a senior lecturer at the Naval Postgraduate School ....
, senior editor - Judy Goodrobb, managing editor
Board of editors
From the organization's website:- Fouad AjamiFouad AjamiFouad A. Ajami , is a MacArthur Fellowship winning, Lebanese-born American university professor and writer on Middle Eastern issues. He is currently a senior fellow at Stanford University's Hoover Institution....
, Johns Hopkins University - David Cook, Rice University
- Martin Kramer, The Shalem Center
- Timur Kuran, Duke University
- Habib C. Malik, Foundation for Human and Humanitarian Rights in Lebanon
- James Phillips, The Heritage Foundation
- Steven Plaut, University of Haifa
- Dennis Ross, Washington, D.C.
- Barry Rubin, Global Research in International Affairs Center
- James R. Russell, Harvard University
- Franck Salameh, Boston College
- Philip Carl Salzman, McGill University
- Saliba Sarsar, Monmouth University
- Robert B. Satloff, The Washington Institute for Near East Policy
- Sabri Sayarı, Sabancı University
- Kemal Silay, Indiana University
- Lee Smith, Washington, D.C.
- Steven L. Spiegel, University of California, Los Angeles
- Kenneth W. Stein, Emory University
External links
- Middle East Quarterly. Publication website hosted by its sponsoring organization Middle East ForumMiddle East ForumThe Middle East Forum is an American conservative think tank founded in 1990 by Daniel Pipes, who also serves as its director. MEF became a 5013 non-profit organization in 1994...
. Contains full-text versions of all but current issue of the print edition of Middle East Quarterly, with links to selected current articles provided as "MEF's latest releases". Accessed February 19, 2007.