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1 1 (June 2018)

handle is hein.amenin/aeiaabe0001 and id is 1 raw text is: In connection with an assessment of AEI's work on the Middle East over the past two decades, I drafted the following survey, The arc of our scholarship in this critical region is fascinating and illuminates the continuity and evolution of the challenges the United States faces in the Middle East. What is ultimately clear is that in the region both the challenge of destructive ideas and the fostering of better ones will shape outcomes. In 1999, anti-Americanism in Arab politics seemed at the forefront of US challenges in the Middle East. After all, even in Egypt and Jordan (major benefi- ciaries of US assistance), a palpable anti-American bias was evident in government, the press, and the public. That anti-Americanism was wrapped up in the never-ending ism romance of the Middle East. fascism, socialism, modernism, authoritarianism, militarism, and, yes, Islamism. But as they did with so much else, the events of 9/11 upended our cal- culus about the region, and they upended how the US government, policymakers, and thought leaders looked at the Arab world. Suddenly, Arab anti- Americanism was neither the prime narrative nor the best tool for understanding the threats emanat- ing from the region; at best, it was a symptom of the larger problem. Indeed, there is a narrative arc from AEI's interest in the question of anti-Americanism in 1999 to the current focus on issues relating to drivers of conflict and social unrest in the Middle East, on Shi'ite and Sunni sources of extremism, on the nature of Salafi-jihadi extremism, and on the mechanics of winning in places like Iraq and Syria. A Question of Principles After 9/11, much of Middle East scholarship focused on understanding the why and the who behind the terrorist attacks. Then-AET Research Fellow David Wurmser explained in October 2oo1 that at its core, al Qaeda is a product of Saudi dynastic politics and that bin Laden emerged from a dangerous strategic shift underway since 1995.1 But understanding the facts of the attacks did little to advance a set of policies that could obviate future attacks. In zoo2, I testified before the House Armed Services Com- mittee: The clash of ideology is key. Up until now, we have focused on narrow questions: Have you frozen bank accounts? (A few.) Have you arrested people and provided intelligence? (A bit.) Are you assisting us with our military requirements? (Egypt, Bahrain and Qatar are, Saudi Arabia is a bit, others aren't much.) But too much of this assistance is temporary, based on the aftermath of September 11 and eked out by insistent US diplomacy. AMERICAN ENTERPRISE INSTITUTE

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