Category: U.S./Middle East Policy

Imagine a government license was required to start a debate club, or to coach a student for free or for pay. Actually, that’s not so hard to imagine. Any city council that could ban...

For students researching Middle East policy, this fascinating July 4th NYT article is highly recommended: Refugee Camp for Syrians in Jordan Evolves as a Do-It-Yourself City. The Zaatari Refugee Camp, now home for over 85,000...

Religions are blamed for much turmoil in the Middle East. If only people could all just get along and not turn to violence to convert those of other faiths, argue the critics. In reality,...

In this 2012 interview Hernando de Soto explains how his ILD team was drawn into economic research in the Middle East. DeSoto’s discussion of legal institutions and elites and how they obstruct economic reform and...

Summer in Seattle shines wonderfully warm and leaves most mornings and evenings still cool. Spring and fall usher in clouds and drizzle, but it’s summer now. I was born here and elated to move...

The previous post started with a discussion of potential benefits from a “soft partition” policy for Iraq. Iraq is half-way there (or one-third?) with the soft partition of Kurdish territories. An semiautonomous Sunni territory...

Improved Kurdish relations with Turkey are good news for the Middle East and for oil consumers. Consider this June 23rd article on Kurdish oil being sold to Israel: Area historically inhabited by Kurds. (Photo...

If it matters, measure it. The Fraser Institute has long worked with a network of think tanks around the world to measure economic freedom, country by country. Market economists claim that improving economic freedom...

War is a horrible reality in the Middle East, and military conflicts allow minority ethnic and religious groups to be targeted. Christian communities in the Middle East have suffered during and after military conflicts...

First page of the Economics of U.S. Middle East Policy study guide. The page one article is a report on economic freedom in Bahrain which cites:  According to the annual Economic Freedom of the Arab...