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Center for Policy Studies
Public Affairs Discussion Group

Does Trump Make a Difference? U.S. Policy in the Middle East

Pete W. Moore, Ph.D. - Marcus A. Hanna Associate Professor and Director of Graduate Studies, Department of Political Science at Case Western Reserve University
Friday September 15, 2017
12:30-1:30 p.m.
Dampeer Room
Kelvin Smith Library
*
Case Western Reserve University

Dear Colleagues:

The idea of President Trump taking action in the Middle East may remind some observers of a bull in a china shop. But a better analogy might be a bull wandering into a crossfire.

Candidate Trump seemed to propose major changes in U.S. policy, such as moving the U.S. Embassy in Israel to Jerusalem and breaking the nuclear nonproliferation agreement with Iran. He seemed particularly uninterested in either countering Russian influence or promoting democracy. Since January there have been some strange statements (like praising the Lebanese government for fighting Hezbollah, which is part of the governing coalition), and mixed signals, such as on the conflict between Qatar and its neighbors.

But a skeptic (or is that an optimist?) might say the situation is such a mess, and U.S. policy has long been so ineffectual or misguided, that the new administration won't make much difference. Obama criticized Israeli settlements, but to what effect? Trump may have no answers about Syria, but who does? Can any U.S. President influence Benjamin Netanyahu or King Salman?

We are pleased to welcome Professor Moore to share his deep insights into the situation.

All best regards,
Joe White
Luxenberg Family Professor of Public Policy and Director, Center for Policy Studies

About Our Guest

Pete W. Moore's research focuses on economic development and state-society relations in the Middle East and Africa; specifically, Gulf Arab States and Levant; business-state relations, privatization, and decentralization; sub-state conflict and regional security. Professor Moore currently serves on the Editorial Board of Middle East Report and is a member of the Northeast Ohio Consortium for Middle East Studies. Through NOCMES, Professor Moore has brought a wide range of speakers to our campus and other universities and venues in the region. He is author of Doing Business in the Middle East: Politics and Economic Crisis in Jordan and Kuwait (Cambridge University Press, 2004) and co-author of Beyond the Arab Spring: Authoritarianism and Democratization in the Arab World (Lynne Rienner, 2012).

Where We Meet

The Friday Public Affairs Lunch convenes each Friday when classes are in session, from 12:30 p.m. to 1:30 p.m. Our programs are open to all and no registration is required. We usually meet in the Dampeer Room of Kelvin Smith Library.

* Kelvin Smith Library requires all entrants to show identification when entering the building, unless they have a university i.d. that they can magnetically scan. We are sorry if that seems like a hassle, but it has been Library policy for a while in response to security concerns. Please do not complain to the library staff at the entrance, who are just doing their jobs.

The Dampeer Room is on the second floor of the library. If you get off the elevators, turn right, pass the first bank of tables, and turn right again. Occasionally we need to use a different room; that will always be announced in the weekly e-mails.

Parking Possibilities

The most convenient parking is the lot underneath Severance Hall. We regret that it is not free. From that lot there is an elevator up to street level (labeled as for the Thwing Center); it is less than 50 yards from that exit to the library entrance. You can get from the Severance garage to the library without going outside. Near the entry gates - just to the right if you were driving out - there is a door into a corridor. Walk down the corridor and there will be another door. Beyond that door you'll find the entrance to an elevator which goes up to an entrance right inside the doors to Kelvin Smith Library.

Schedule of Friday Lunch Upcoming Topics and Speakers:

September 22: University Circle, Cleveland, and the "Opportunity Corridor." With Robert N. Brown, FAICP, former Director of City Planning for the City of Cleveland.

September 29: Nutritious in More Ways Than One? School Lunch and Student Performance. With Justin Gallagher Ph.D., Assistant Professor of Economics.

October 6: The Budget Mess: Debt Ceilings, Shutdowns, and Health Care, Oh My! With Joseph White Ph.D., Luxenberg Family Professor of Public Policy and Director, Center for Policy Studies. ***Alternate Location: Mather House, Room 100, 11201 Euclid Ave***

October 13: Public Health Lessons From the Ebola Outbreak. With Ronald Blanton M.D./M.Sc., Professor of International Health.

October 20: Students, Stress, and Sickness: Are There More Problems and, If So, Why? With Judith Olson-Hammer MS, Director of Educational Services for Students, and Richard B. Pazol Psy.D., Director of Counseling and Coordinator of Assessment Services, University Health and Counseling Services.

October 27: Patenting Pot. With Craig A. Nard J.D., L.L. M., J.S.D., Galen A. Roush Professor of Law and Director, Spangenberg Center for Law, Technology and the Arts.

November 3: Cleveland's Muslim Community: History and Challenges. With Ramez Islambouli, Lecturer of Arabic and Islam; Adjunct Professor of Islamic Law; and President, Uqbah Mosque Foundation.

November 10: Lead Poisoning in Cleveland: Why, After All These Years? With Dorr Dearborn MD, Ph.D., Mary Ann Swetland Professor Emeritus and Department Chair Emeritus, Department of Environmental Health Sciences.

November 17: Digging Into Football and Voting With Data. With Andrew Healy Ph.D., Professor of Economics, Loyola Marymount University and Senior Strategist for Player Personnel, Cleveland Browns.

November 24: Thanksgiving Break

December 1: TBA

December 8: Environmental Policy in the Pruitt EPA. With Catherine J. LaCroix J.D., Adjunct Professor of Law.

September 11, 2017

If you would like to reply, submit items for inclusion, or not receive this weekly e-mail please send a notice to: padg@case.edu

Upcoming Events

Freedom of Expression on College Campuses

2017 CWRU Constitution Day Program. Join a CWRU student panel for a discussion with Susan Kruth, J.D. Senior Program Officer, Foundation for Individual Rights in Education (FIRE) and Reginald Oh, J.D., Professor of Law, Cleveland-Marshall College of Law, Cleveland State University, Monday, September 18, 2017, 4:00 p.m. - 5:30 p.m., CWRU School of Law, Moot Courtroom (A59), 11075 East Blvd., Cleveland, OH 44106-1769. Sponsored by the Office of the President, Office of Government and Community Relations, Center for Policy Studies, and School of Law. A reception will follow at the law school.

Universities that foster reasoned and thoughtful debate are vital to a thriving society. Since the passage of the Bill of Rights, government limitations on expression have been subject to legal challenge. Many forms of offensive speech are protected by the First Amendment, while obscenity and certain types of violent expression are not. Yet only some universities are parts of government, and all are communities in which the rights and obligations of students and faculty raise issues that may not be easily matched to constitutional jurisprudence.

These include whether some expressions should be limited because of their effects on vulnerable populations, when political speech on campus might look like the university taking sides, and the bounds and legitimacy of protests, from Middlebury College to UC Berkeley, against particular speakers. How can universities strike a balance between their fundamental values of debate and expression of ideas, and the desire for equal dignity within their communities? What, if any, restrictions should be placed on student expression at a private institution - or on those institutions' policies about expression?

The CWRU Constitution Day Student Committee is pleased to welcome Susan Kruth, J.D. and Reginald Oh, J.D. to discuss these critical questions related to the First Amendment.


China and America in an Age of Turmoil

A Discussion with David M. Lampton, Ph.D., Hyman Professor and Director of SAIS-China and China Studies at the Johns Hopkins School of Advanced International Studies, Wednesday, October 4, 2017, 4:45 p.m. - 6:15 p.m., Clark Hall-Room 309, 11130 Bellflower Road, Cleveland, Ohio 44106. This program is made possible by the generosity of Ms. Eloise Briskin and sponsored by the CWRU Center for Policy Studies.

Relationships between the governments of the United States and China, always subject to tensions, appear to have become less stable in recent years.

The Obama administration proclaimed a "pivot to Asia" in U.S. foreign policy. But perhaps its signature initiative, the Trans-Pacific Partnership, is now dead. The Trump administration has inherited one "problem from hell," in North Korea, while raising the profile of other problems, such as the U.S. trade deficit with China. Economic tensions are based on real issues, such as Chinese businesses' behavior in regard to intellectual property. Military tensions also derive from basic disagreements on issues such as Taiwan and the South China Sea. The current Chinese leadership has pursued a more assertive foreign policy than its predecessors, while President Trump at a minimum uses a lot of assertive rhetoric.

What, then, are the prospects for relationships between the two nations going forward? How will turmoil in the world influence U.S. - China relations - or, will U.S. China relations add to the world's troubles? Join us for lecture and discussion with one of the world's leading scholars of both Chinese politics and China's international relations.

We are very pleased to welcome eminent China scholar David M. "Mike" Lampton to discuss current and future relationships between the two nations. As former President of the National Committee on U.S. - China Relations; current Chairman of the Board of the Asia Foundation; Professor and program Director at SAIS: and author or editor of many books and articles on China's leadership and foreign policy, he is one of the leading experts on the field. In fact, in 2015 the Institute of International Relations at the China Foreign Affairs University in Beijing declared Professor Lampton was the "Most Influential China Watcher" in the United States.


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Phone: 216.368.6730 | Part of the: College of Arts and Sciences
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