NIMEP INSIGHTS: Volume I, Spring 2005

Welcome to the inaugural issue of NIMEP Insights. The New Initiative for Middle East Peace (NIMEP) is a student-run organization of the Tufts Institute for Global Leadership, in collaboration with the University College. NIMEP is committed to its vision of fostering constructive dialogue and research on the Middle East. Through seminal fact-finding missions to the region, we have forged lasting bonds and relationships. NIMEP also participates in a webcam based dialogue initiative with Soliya’s Connect Program, aimed at fostering understanding between university students in the United States and the Middle East. This journal incorporates research from our relegations to Israel and the West Bank, Iran, and most recently, Egypt. The research and perspectives contained in this volume are the work of NIMEP’s diverse members who represent many different nationalities and religions. We also welcome the contributions of others, including MIT professor Michael M.J. Fischer, a close friend and advisor to NIMEP. Beyond the fact-finding missions, contributors to NIMEP Insights have recently traveled to Turkey, Lebanon, Syria, Cyprus, the United Arab Emirates, the United Kingdom, and Kenya. We hope that you find the work in this volume stimulating and provocative. We encourage your feedback on the content of this journal and look forward to vigorous exchange and continued engagement among our readers, within our communities, and throughout the Middle East. NIMEP INSIGHTS: Volume I, Spring 2005 Click on the links below to download pdfs

Forward Sherman Teichman, Director, Institute for Global Leadership at Tufts University

No Simple Answers: Tufts students explore the complexities of the Arab-Israeli Conflict Fact-finding Missions: Israel, the West Bank Matan Chorev and Negar Razavi

Iran Unveiled Fact-Finding Mission: Iran Negar Razavi Contributions by Rachel Brandenburg

Persian Miniatures Michael M. J. Fischer, Professor of Anthropology and Science and Technology Studies Massachusetts Institute of Technology Through the juxtaposition of contrasting dialogues held in the Islamic Republic of Iran, long-time NIMEP mentor Professor Fischer offers commentary on exchanges at Mofid University and the School of International Relations, Tehran

Disarming Palestinian Militants: A civil society approach Aaron Markowitz-Shulman, International Relations '05 A survey of weapons smuggling in the Palestinian Territories and an outline for a civil society approach to arms buyback and control

Framing the Future: Representation of Arabs in Israeli children's television Lauren Fein, Psychology '05 A study of Arab stereotyping in Israeli media, its influence on national attitudes, and a suggestion for a new programming approach

No Longer Newlyweds: The evolution of a decade of Turkish-Israeli relations Rachel Brandenburg, International Relations and Middle Eastern Studies '05 A compilation of diverse personal interviews that off er a global appraisal of contemporary Turkish-Israeli relations

Iran and the West Bank: Photographs (Photo Gallery) Matthew Edmundson, Economics '05

Combating Terror Financing: Foreign policy implications for the United States Matan Chorev, Political Science '05 Kristian Horvei, International Relations '04 Focusing on the abuse of the non-profit sector, this paper explores how terrorist networks operate through undetected financial support structures and how economic and business interests combine with a unilateral foreign policy to inhibit the "war on terror"

Allowing Iran to Fail: A "hands-off " approach to dealing with the threat of a nuclear Iran Joseph Jaffe, International Relations '04 A provocative editorial suggesting that U.S. military intervention in Iran will only delay the collapse of the Islamic regime

Commitment to Coexistence: Steps toward reconciliation within and between Israeli and Palestinian societies Rachel Brandenburg, International Relations '05 Profiles of three individuals committed to building grounds for coexistence between Israelis and Palestinians

Impending Scarcity Conditions: The need for water resource management reform in Egypt Sajid Pothiawala, Quantitative Economics '05 A cost-benefit analysis of Egyptian desert reclamation projects and suggestions for water resource management reform

The Women's Path: Feminism, militarism, and nonviolence in Palestinian society Negar Razavi, History and Peace and Justice Studies '06 A history of feminist civil society and peace initiatives, and the challenges posed to them by misogyny and occupation

The Case for Syrian Involvement in the October War Bonnie Rose Schulman, International Relations '04 An examination of Hafez al-Assad's personal, political, and strategic motivations to attack Israel in 1973

Those Who Forget History... Informing U.S. policy through expert analysis of Iraqi history John Davis, The Fletcher School, MALD '06 Review of an expert panel on the lessons learned in Iraq from a recent conference at The e Fletcher School entitled "Engaging in Dialogue on U.S. Foreign Policy"