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POLICYWATCH
Number 577
October 24, 2001
SPECIAL POLICY FORUM REPORT
THE STATUS OF MIDDLE EASTERN STUDIES IN AMERICA
MARTIN KRAMER
On October 16, 2001, Martin Kramer addressed the Washington
Institute's Special Policy Forum. Dr. Kramer recently became editor
of the Middle East Quarterly, having finished a one-year term as
director of Tel Aviv University's Moshe Dayan Center for Middle
Eastern and African Studies. At this Policy Forum, Dr. Kramer
presented Ivory Towers on Sand: The Failure of Middle Eastern Studies
in America, a new Washington Institute monograph, which he began
writing while he served as a visiting fellow at the Institute. The
following is a rapporteur's summary of his remarks.
The Failed Revolution
Two decades ago, a generation of Middle East scholars in America revolted against
their teachers -- the founders of Middle Eastern studies in America. They did so in a
bid to revitalize funding and job opportunities in th
e field. The banner they waived was that of Edward Said's 1978 Orientalism, in which
he argued that Europeans and Americans were afflicted by bias when analyzing trends in
the region. In effect, that left Middle Easterner
s as the only scholars who could claim to study the region objectively. Said's
followers then proceeded to take over the field of Middle Eastern studies in America.
But now, the revolutionaries have become the establishme
nt, and it is time for the younger generation of Middle East scholars to effect a
revolution against their own teachers.
Middle Eastern studies have not been relevant to U.S. policymaking in the Middle East
for the last twenty years. One might suggest that prediction, analysis, and
policymaking do not fall within the sphere of academe, yet
political scientists have long laid claim to these very faculties as part of their
discipline. That said, the record of Middle Eastern studies in America regarding such
analysis is not good; they have become further and f
urther removed from Washington, even developing a disdain for the policymaking
community.
If one were to confine oneself to the scholarly publications that have emerged in the
last twenty years from Middle East scholars in America, one would expect two drastic
changes to have occurred in the region. First, tha
t the Middle East would now be populated by benign, nonviolent movements resulting
from an Islamic reformation, all promoting political pluralism. Second, that civil
society would by now have flourished in the Middle East
, accompanied by a corresponding withering of the authoritarian state. It is clear,
however, that these two phenomena have not emerged, and this fact represents the
abysmal failure of Middle Eastern studies to accurately
analyze and predict the course of events in the region.
This failure is largely due to the particular atmosphere that permeates the field.
Middle Eastern studies in America are subject to strong internal dynamics that obscure
the external dynamics of the region that should gui
de their analysis. The field is tiny -- under 3,000 strong in the United States -- and
afflicted by ethnic rivalries, political disagreements, and the influence of an
academic celebrity (Said) extolling powerful extra-dis
ciplinary theories. Given the widespread feeling that further expansion of Middle
Eastern studies in the United States is next to impossible, a new dynamic has come to
guide the field. Accountability is limited to peer re
view, and Middle East scholars have become insecure, defensive, self- obsessed, and
concerned primarily with barricading their niche from possible funding and job cuts.
As a result, their work reflects the norms and expec
tations of their academic surroundings in America, but very little of the reality of
the Middle East.
Reclaiming the Field
All area-studies disciplines go through periods of questioning, realization, and
change. It is time for the younger generation of Middle East scholars to band together
and revolutionize the field once more. Alternatively,
if the current generation of leading scholars can be convinced that they have failed
in their mission, they may begin to effect change themselves. The events of September
11 may serve as the catalyst for just such a revo
lution.
One of the crucial decisions that must be undertaken regards funding for Middle
Eastern studies. In the wake of September 11, there will be a great deal of money
available to those working on the Middle East. The interest
of college students has grown tremendously as the region has become globally
relevant. Increased government and private funding is likely to capitalize on this
newfound passion. Yet, if the money continues to flow to the
same recipients, it will enable them to remain in their present state, disconnected
from reality, thus stifling the chances of those who would pursue new research that
might bring academe back into the realm of policy an
d return the professors to their former state of relevance.
Second, greater analysis of the internal politics of certain countries in the region
is needed, particularly Saudi Arabia. Saudis, however, finance many centers for
contemporary Arab study, and it is therefore highly unli
kely that such centers will undertake the rigorous analysis of internal Saudi politics
deemed necessary in the wake of September 11. Several intellectual decisions must be
made to help prompt change in this area.
Third, it would be inappropriate to extend the geographic span covered by Middle
Eastern studies. Whether Afghanistan is part of the Middle East or South Asia is open
to interpretation. However, the current trend of appro
aching the Middle East as a collection of ethnic studies (e.g., Jewish studies and
contemporary Arab studies) makes it inadvisable for the field to expand to encompass a
larger geographic area, since it can barely address
-- comprehensively -- the area already known as the Middle East.
Finally, the evolution and proliferation of think tanks and their prominent role in
policymaking represents a circumvention of the prevailing culture of Middle Eastern
studies in America. The think tanks provide a venue f
or policy-focused research and writing. They also provide job opportunities and
funding for those Middle East scholars who do want to address timely political issues
-- a desire that earns them scorn from many of their co
lleagues in academe and keeps them from obtaining funding from academic sources.
Traditionally, the role of academe is to tell truth to power. Now the question is, who
will tell truth to academic power?
This Special Policy Forum Report was prepared by Ehud Waldoks.
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