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Fouad A. Ajami (Arabic:فؤاد عجمی; b. Arabic (ar الْعَرَبيّة (informally ar عَرَبيْ) in terms of the number of speakers is the largest living member of the Semitic language September 9, 1945), is a Lebanese-born American university professor and writer on Middle Eastern issues. Events 1000 - Battle of Svolder, Viking Age. 1379 - Treaty of Neuberg, splitting the Austrian Year 1945 ( MCMXLV) was a Common year starting on Monday (link will display the full calendar Lebanon (ˈlɛbənɒn Arabic: ar لبنان Lubnān) officially the Republic of Lebanon or Lebanese Republic (ar الجمهورية اللبنانية The United States of America —commonly referred to as the The meaning of the word professor ( Latin: professor, person who professes to be an expert in some art or science teacher of highest rank) varies The Middle East is a Subcontinent with no clear boundaries often used as a synonym to Near East, in opposition to Far East. In recent years, Ajami has been an outspoken supporter of the Iraq War, the nobility of which he believes there "can be no doubt". The Iraq War, also known as the Second Gulf War, the Occupation of Iraq, or the War in Iraq, is an ongoing Military campaign [1] This view has drawn some criticism from others in academia.

Contents

Personal

Ajami was born on September 19, 1945, in Arnoun, a rocky hamlet in the south of Lebanon. A hamlet is (usually&mdashsee below a Rural community — that is a small settlement — which is too small to be considered a Village. His Shiite family had come to Arnoun from Tabriz, Iran in the 1850s. Tabriz ( تبریز, تبریز) is the largest city in northwestern Iran. For a topic outline on this subject see List of basic Iran topics. In Arabic, the word "Ajam" means "non-Arab" or, more specifically, "Persian". Arabic (ar الْعَرَبيّة (informally ar عَرَبيْ) in terms of the number of speakers is the largest living member of the Semitic language The Persian Empire was a series of Iranian empires that ruled over the Iranian plateau, the original Persian homeland and beyond in Western Asia

Ajami arrived in the United States in the fall of 1963, just before he turned 18. He did some of his undergraduate work at Eastern Oregon College (now Eastern Oregon University) in La Grande, Oregon. Eastern Oregon University (or "EOU" is one of seven state-funded, four-year universities of Higher education in the State of Oregon "La Grande" redirects here For the Intel technology see LaGrande. He did his graduate work at the University of Washington, where he wrote his thesis on international relations and world government. See Washington (disambiguation for other uses The University of Washington, founded in 1861, is a public research University A dissertation (also called thesis or disquisition) is a document that presents the author's Research and findings and is submitted in support of candidature World government is the concept of a political body that would make interpret and enforce International law.

Career

Academia

In 1973 Ajami joined the political science department of Princeton University where he was never able to get tenure. Political science is a branch of Social sciences that deals with the theory and practice of Politics and the description and analysis of Political systems Princeton University is a private Coeducational research university located in Princeton, New Jersey. He made a name for himself there as a vocal supporter of Palestinian self-determination. Palestinian people or Palestinians ( الشعب الفلسطيني, ash-sha`b al-filasTīni; الفلسطينيون, al-filasTīnīyyūn

He is today the Majid Khadduri professor in Middle East Studies and Director of the Middle East Studies Program at the Paul H. Nitze School of Advanced International Studies (SAIS) of Johns Hopkins University. Majid Khadduri ( September 27 1909 &ndash January 25, 2007) was an Iraqi born founder of the Paul H The Middle East is a Subcontinent with no clear boundaries often used as a synonym to Near East, in opposition to Far East.

Government

Ajami has been an advisor to United States Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice as well as a friend and colleague of Deputy United States Secretary of Defense Paul Wolfowitz. The United States Secretary of State (commonly abbreviated as SecState) is the head of the United States Department of State, concerned with Foreign affairs Condoleezza Rice (born November 14 1954 is the 66th United States The United States Secretary of Defense ( SECDEF) is the head of the U Paul Dundes Wolfowitz (born December 22, 1943) is a former United States Ambassador to Indonesia, U

Journalism

Ajami is a frequent contributor on Middle Eastern issues and contemporary international history to The New York Times Book Review, Foreign Affairs, The New Republic, The Wall Street Journal, and other journals and periodicals, as well. Foreign Affairs is an influential American Journal on International relations published by the Council on Foreign Relations (CFR The New Republic ( TNR) is an American Magazine of politics and the arts

Television

Ajami frequently appears on PBS and CBS News.

Books

In "The Fate of Nonalignment," an essay in the Winter 1980/81 issue of the journal Foreign Affairs, Ajami outlines how the Third world has fared in a context of nonalignment in post Cold war politics. Foreign Affairs is an influential American Journal on International relations published by the Council on Foreign Relations (CFR Third World is a name given to nations that are generally considered to be underdeveloped economically In 1980, he accepted an offer from Johns Hopkins University to become director of Middle East Studies at their international relations graduate program in Washington, D.C.: the Paul H. Nitze School of Advanced International Studies (SAIS). Washington DC ( formally the District of Columbia and commonly referred to as Washington, the District, or simply D He holds an endowed chair as the Majid Khadduri professor. A financial endowment is a Transfer of Money or Property donated to an Institution, usually with the stipulation that it be invested Majid Khadduri ( September 27 1909 &ndash January 25, 2007) was an Iraqi born founder of the Paul H

A year after arriving at SAIS, Ajami published his first book, The Arab Predicament, which analyzed what Ajami described as an intellectual and political crisis that swept the Arab world following its defeat by Israel in the 1967 Six Day War. Year 1967 ( MCMLXVII) was a Common year starting on Sunday (link will display full calendar of the 1967 Gregorian calendar. Background Suez Crisis aftermath The Suez Crisis of 1956 represented a military defeat but a political victory for Egypt

Subsequently, Ajami has written several other books: The Dream Palace of the Arabs: A Generation’s Odyssey (1998), Beirut: City of Regrets (1988), and The Vanished Imam: Musa Al-Sadr and the Shia of Lebanon (1986). The Dream Palace of the Arabs is a book written by Middle Eastern scholar Fouad Ajami.

In The Dream Palace of the Arabs: A Generation’s Odyssey, Ajami surveyed the intellectual landscape in the Arab world and Iran, in what was in some ways an autobiography as well as a sequel to "The Arab Predicament. " On Middle Eastern politics, he wrote of "a world where triumph rarely comes with mercy or moderation. " On Pan-Arabism, he described the ideology as "Sunni dominion dressed in secular garb. Pan-Arabism is a movement for Unification among the peoples and countries of the Arab World, from the Atlantic Ocean to the Sunni Islam is the largest denomination of Islam. Sunni Islam is also referred to as Ahl as-Sunnah wa’l-Jamā‘h (Arabic "

Ajami's most recent book: The Foreigner's Gift: The Americans, The Arabs and The Iraqis in Iraq (2006), offers a portrait of the struggle for Iraq.

Philosophy

View of Huntington's "Clash of Civilizations"

One notable contribution Ajami made in the September October 1993 issue of Foreign Affairs was a rebuttal to Samuel Huntington’s "The Clash of Civilizations?", regarding the state and future of international relations after the Cold War. Samuel Phillips Huntington (born April 18, 1927) is an American political scientist who gained prominence through his " Clash of Civilizations The Clash of Civilizations is a Theory, proposed by Political scientist Samuel P Cold War is the state of conflict tension and competition that existed between the United States and the Soviet Union (USSR and their respective allies from the

Huntington presents a world divided at the highest level into eight civilizations, and includes a number of countries that are “torn” between two civilizations, arguing that these civilizational divides are far more fundamental than economic interests, ideology, and regimes, and that the world is becoming a smaller place with increasingly close interactions. He further claims that the pre-eminence of a so-called "kin-country" syndrome will provide a civilizational rallying point that will replace political ideology and traditional "balance of power" considerations for relations between states and nations, resulting in a division between the West and "the rest" creating a backlash against Western values (which supposedly "differ fundamentally" from those prevalent in other civilizations). The term Western world, the West or the Occident ( Latin: occidens -sunset -west as distinct from the Orient) can have multiple meanings

In his article “The Summoning”, Ajami criticises Huntington for ignoring the empirical complexities and state interests which drive conflicts in and between civilizations. Ajami believes that states will remain the dominant factor influencing the global framework and interaction. He also argues that civilizational ties are only utilized by states and groups when it is in their best interest to do so and that modernity and secularism are here to stay, especially in places with considerable struggles to obtain them, and he cites the example of the Indian Middle class. India, officially the Republic of India (भारत गणराज्य inc-Latn Bhārat Gaṇarājya; see also other Indian languages) is a country The middle class, in colloquial usage consists of those who have some economic independence but not a great deal of social Influence or power. Ajami also believes that civilizations do not control states; rather, states control civilizations.

Ajami later relented on his initial criticism of Huntington's theories in the January 6th, 2008 issue of the New York Times Review of Books in an article titled "The Clash".

Political influence

Ajami is arguably one of the most politically influential Arab-American intellectuals of his generation. Condoleezza Rice has been known to summon him to the White House for advice, and Deputy Secretary of Defense Paul Wolfowitz, a friend and former colleague at SAIS, has paid tribute to him in speeches on Iraq. Condoleezza Rice (born November 14 1954 is the 66th United States Paul Dundes Wolfowitz (born December 22, 1943) is a former United States Ambassador to Indonesia, U For a topic outline on this subject see List of basic Iraq topics.

Awards

Ajami was a 1982 winner of a five-year MacArthur Prize Fellowship in the arts and sciences. The MacArthur Fellows Program or MacArthur Fellowship (sometimes Nicknamed the "genius grant") is an award given by the John D

Memberships

Ajami is a member of the Board of Directors of the Council on Foreign Relations, and the Board of Advisors of the journal Foreign Affairs. The Council on Foreign Relations ( CFR) is an American Nonpartisan foreign policy membership organization founded in 1921 and based at 58 East 68th Street (at Foreign Affairs is an influential American Journal on International relations published by the Council on Foreign Relations (CFR Ajami is a founding member of ASMEA (The Association for the Study of the Middle East and Africa) and is Vice Chairman of its academic council. The Association for the Study of the Middle East and Africa (ASMEA was founded on October 24 2007 by Professor Bernard Lewis of Princeton University and Professor Fouad [1] Ajami also sits on the editorial board of Middle East Quarterly, a publication of the Middle East Forum think tank. Middle East Quarterly ( MEQ) is a quarterly journal devoted to subjects relating to the Middle East. The Middle East Forum (MEF is an American Think tank founded in 1990 by historian and columnist Daniel Pipes, who also serves as its director

Controversies

Support for Iraq War

Ajami has been an outspoken supporter of the Iraq War, which he believes "issued out of a deep American frustration. . . with the culture of terrorism that had put down roots in Arab lands. "

In an August 2002 speech before the Veterans of Foreign Wars, US Vice President Dick Cheney sought to assuage concerns about the anticipated US invasion of Iraq, stating: "As for the reaction of the Arab 'street,' the Middle East expert Professor Fouad Ajami predicts that after liberation, the streets in Basra and Baghdad are 'sure to erupt in joy in the same way the throngs in Kabul greeted the Americans. The Vice President of the United States is the first person in the presidential line of succession, becoming the new President of the United States upon the death Richard Bruce "Dick" Cheney (born January 30 1941 is the forty-sixth and current Vice President of the United States. '" [2]

Ajami cautioned the United States about the likely negative consequences of the Iraq War. In a 2003 essay in Foreign Affairs, "Iraq and the Arabs' Future," Ajami wrote,

"There should be no illusions about the sort of Arab landscape that America is destined to find if, or when, it embarks on a war against the Iraqi regime. Foreign Affairs is an influential American Journal on International relations published by the Council on Foreign Relations (CFR There would be no "hearts and minds" to be won in the Arab world, no public diplomacy that would convince the overwhelming majority of Arabs that this war would be a just war. Just War theory is a Doctrine of military ethics of Roman philosophical and Catholic origin studied by moral Theologians Ethicists and international An American expedition in the wake of thwarted UN inspections would be seen by the vast majority of Arabs as an imperial reach into their world, a favor to Israel, or a way for the United States to secure control over Iraq's oil. No hearing would be given to the great foreign power. "[3]

But he also goes on to say:

America ought to be able to live with this distrust and discount a good deal of this anti-Americanism as the "road rage" of a thwarted Arab world -- the congenital condition of a culture yet to take full responsibility for its self-inflicted wounds. There is no need to pay excessive deference to the political pieties and givens of the region. Indeed, this is one of those settings where a reforming foreign power's simpler guidelines offer a better way than the region's age-old prohibitions and defects.

Ajami retains a positive view of the war three years later. In a 2006 book on the invasion and its aftermath, he described it as a noble effort, and argues that despite many unhappy consequences, it is too soon to write it off as a failure. [4]

Vice President Cheney cited Ajami again in an October 21, 2007 speech to the Washington Institute for Near East Policy, stating, "We have no illusions about the road ahead. As Fouad Ajami said recently, Iraq is not yet 'a country at peace, and all its furies have not burned out, but a measure of order has begun to stick on the ground. '"[5]

References

  1. ^ Ajami, Fouad (2006). The Foreigner's Gift: The Americans, the Arabs, and the Iraqis in Iraq. Free Press.  , p. xii
  2. ^ The White House, Office of the Press Secretary, August 26, 2002. See also Executive Office of the President of the United States The White House, formerly known as the Executive Mansion, is the Official residence The White House Press Secretary is a senior White House official with a rank one step below Presidential Cabinet level "Vice President Speaks at VFW 103rd National Convention. Remarks by the Vice President to the Veterans of Foreign Wars 103rd National Convention.". Retrieved on 2006-04-21. Year 2006 ( MMVI) was a Common year starting on Sunday of the Gregorian calendar. Events 753 BC - Romulus and Remus found Rome ( traditional date)
  3. ^ Ajami, Fouad. "Iraq and the Arabs' Future. Retrieved on 2006-04-21. Year 2006 ( MMVI) was a Common year starting on Sunday of the Gregorian calendar. Events 753 BC - Romulus and Remus found Rome ( traditional date) Foreign Affairs January/February 2003.
  4. ^ Ajami, Fouad (2006). The Foreigner's Gift: The Americans, the Arabs, and the Iraqis in Iraq. Free Press.  , p. xi
  5. ^ The White House, Office of the Press Secretary, October 27, 2007. See also Executive Office of the President of the United States The White House, formerly known as the Executive Mansion, is the Official residence The White House Press Secretary is a senior White House official with a rank one step below Presidential Cabinet level "Vice President's Remarks to the Washington Institute for Near East Policy - Oct. 21, 2007". Retrieved on 2007-11-09. Year 2007 ( MMVII) was a Common year starting on Monday of the Gregorian calendar in the 21st century. Events 694 - Egica, a king of the Visigoths of Hispania, accuses Jews of aiding Muslims sentencing all

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