THE PROGRESSIVE CONSERVATIVE, USA
An Online Journal of Political Commentary & Analysis
Volume X, Issue # 226, September 10, 2008
Dr. Almon Leroy Way, Jr., Editor
Government Committed to & Acting in Accord with Conservative Principles
Ensures a Nation's Strength, Progress, & Prosperity
THE RETURN OF JOEL BEININ
By Cinnamon Stillwell
AN ANTI-AMERICAN, ANTI-SEMITIC, PRO-ARAB HISTORY PROFESSOR & MIDDLE EAST STUDIES ACADEMIC GLEEFULLY
PREDICTS THE IMMINENT DEMISE OF THE UNITED STATES OF AMERICA AS A MAJOR WORLD POWER -- JOEL BEININ
SHOWCASES THE FLAWS OF MANY COLLEGE & UNIVERSITY MIDDLE EAST STUDIES PROGRAMS IN THE U.S.A.
FULL STORY:
"The American empire is going down."
So declared Middle Eastern History Professor and former President of the Middle East Studies Association, Joel Beinin,
on the Peninsula Peace and Justice Center (PPJC) cable television program, Other Voices last week in Palo Alto,
California.
Following an "extended leave" from Stanford University in 2006, based on what Beinin then described as the University's
"minimal institutional interest in the study and teaching of the modern Middle East," a two-year stint as Director of
Middle East Studies at the American University in Cairo (AUC), Egypt, and rumors earlier this year that he was to land a
position as Director of the Middle East Studies Center at Portland State University, Portland, Oregon, Beinin is back at
Stanford this Fall.
If the PPJC interview was any indication, Beinin's anti-American, anti-Israel venom remain intact. At the same time, he
made a number of surprisingly candid statements not often heard from Middle East Studies academics.
Beinin followed up his pronouncement about the supposed demise of the "American empire" by conceding that the
superpowers most likely to take America's place, China and Russia, were hardly benign or democratic in nature, and that
"people will suffer in the process." But he seemed pleased that the "U.S. will no longer dominate the next century," for it
will "force Israel to make changes in the Middle East."
Accordingly, Beinin described Israel as "solely dependent on the U.S." and not, as some would have it, "the tail that
wags the American dog." Beinin further skewered the Walt-Mearsheimer "Israel Lobby" hypothesis by noting that there
are a number of lobbies in the U.S.A. and that the process is a legal and legitimate one.
Beinin was similarly forthright about the problems afflicting Egypt and the tyrannical nature of the Egyptian regime, led by
Hosni Mubarak. He spoke about the struggles faced by trade unions, the "dysfunctional" educational system, the
persecution of the Baha'i and the corruption of law enforcement, which, as he described it, responds to citizen complaints
of any sort with arbitrary imprisonment and torture. One might wonder how Beinin justified his prestigious stint at AUC,
or as described in a 2006 interview with Egypt Today, his "comfortable life in Egypt's capital," considering the
oppressive nature of his patrons.
The answer lies in Beinin's blame-America first approach. While acknowledging the existence of Islamists and the
prevalence of the "imperialism/Zionism/capitalism" trope in Egypt, Beinin placed responsibility for the current state of
affairs upon U.S. aid to Egypt. Egypt, as he noted, is the second largest recipient of U.S. aid next to Israel, a fact often lost
upon the Israel-obsessed crowd. The U.S. "needs an unpopular government in Egypt" to maintain the "peace treaty with
Israel," he concluded.
When asked by a member of the live audience who benefits from the ongoing Arab-Israeli conflict, Beinin pointed the
finger at U.S. arms dealers and manufacturers, evangelical Christians trying to "hasten the Second Coming," and the
Jewish people who, after suffering the "psychic trauma of the Holocaust," went on via the State of Israel to inflict the
same abuse upon others. The identification of Nazism with aspects of Islamist ideology – despite its basis in reality – is
an example of this "psychological cycle," according to Beinin.
As for the "self-destructive behavior" of the Palestinians, Beinin again blamed psychological trauma, but this time based
on "dispossession." Beinin recognized and condemned the "terrorist outrages" of Hamas, while also noting that the
group was democratically elected and thus enjoys popular support. He also pointed out the corruption of Fatah. Yet, he
urged Israel to negotiate with a "unified Palestinian government" involving Fatah and Hamas, despite the acknowledged
futility of such a course of action. As Beinin put it, "each side needs to recognize the other's pain." Israel retreating to the
1967 borders, abandoning all settlements, and "ending the occupation" wouldn't hurt either, according to Beinin.
In one of the more revealing comments of the evening, Beinin noted that "Egyptian intellectuals" were by far the most
rigid and ideologically slanted in their political views. It was the intellectuals, he pointed out, who failed to make a
distinction either between the U.S. government and the American people or Jews and Zionists, while the "common people"
seemed to "get it."
Ironically, the same could be said for any number of intellectuals inhabiting the ivory towers of Middle East Studies
academia in the U.S.A., including Beinin himself. While Beinin's forthrightness on certain issues is laudable, his
conclusions remain highly politicized. And questions surrounding Beinin's scholarship and occasionally unsavory tactics
persist.
The fact that an audience member, during the question and answer period, described Beinin admiringly as the "counterpart"
of the conspiratorial and tendentious University of Michigan History Professor Juan Cole speaks volumes. So, too, does
Beinin's status as a guest contributor to Cole's Informed Comment blog.
As Alyssa Lappen, writing about Beinin for Campus Watch in 2004, put it, "if one individual can showcase all the flaws of
Middle East Studies in academia, Joel Beinin is that man."
Stanford students beware.
LINKS TO RELATED TOPICS:
Education, Training, & America's Schools:
Institutions of Elementary, Secondary, & Higher Education
American Foreign Policy -- The Middle East
Israel & the Arabs -- The Israeli-Arab Conflict
Middle East -- Arabs, Arab States,
& Their Middle Eastern Neighbors
North Africa -- The Arab States of Islamic North Africa
The Middle East & the Problem of Iraq
Page Two
Page One
The Problem of Rogue States:
Iraq as a Case History
National Strategy for Victory in Iraq
The Middle East & the Problem of Iran
Egypt, Arabs, & the Middle East
Tunisia, Islamic North Africa, & the Arab World
The Middle East & the Problem of Syria
The Middle East -- Lebanon as a Geopolitical Problem
Turkey, the Middle East, & the U.S.A.
Islamism & Jihadism -- The Threat of Radical Islam
Page Three
Page Two
Page One
International Politics & World Disorder:
War, Peace, & Geopolitics in the Real World:
Foreign Affairs & U.S. National Security
Page Two
Page One
Islamist Terrorist Attacks on the U.S.A.
Osama bin Laden & the Islamist Declaration of War
Against the U.S.A. & Western Civilization
Islamist International Terrorism &
U.S. Intelligence Agencies
U.S. National Security Strategy
American Foreign Policy -- Constitutional Democracy:
U.S. Promotion of Constitutional Democracy in Foreign Countries
Cinnamon Stillwell is the Northern California Representative for Campus Watch, a project of the Middle East Forum. She can
be reached at stillwell@meforum.org.
The foregoing article by Cinnamon Stillwell was originally published in Front Page Magazine, September 10, 2008, and
can be found on the Internet website maintained by the Middle East Forum, a foreign policy think tank which seeks to
define and promote American interests in the Middle East, defining U.S. interests to include fighting radical Islam,
working for Palestinian Arab acceptance of the State of Israel, improving the management of U.S. efforts to promote
constitutional democracy in the Middle East, reducing America's energy dependence on the Middle East, more robustly
asserting U.S. interests vis-à-vis Saudi Arabia, and countering the Iranian threat.
(Article URL: http://www.meforum.org/article/1980)
Republished with Permission of the Middle East Forum
Reprinted from the Middle East Forum News
mefnews@meforum.org (MEF NEWS)
September 10, 2008
Return to Top of Page
Go to the WEBSITE INDEX
Return to Beginning of
THE PROGRESSIVE CONSERVATIVE, USA,
Public Issues & Political Controversies
Return to Beginning of
THE PROGRESSIVE CONSERVATIVE, USA
Most Recent Articles
Return to Beginning of
THE PROGRESSIVE CONSERVATIVE, USA,
Volume X, 2008
Return to Beginning of
THE PROGRESSIVE CONSERVATIVE, USA,
Subject Matter Highlights
Return to POLITICAL EDUCATION Homepage
CONTACT & ACCESS INFORMATION
This is not a commercial website. The sole purpose of the website is to share with interested persons information regarding civics,
civic and social education, political science, government, politics, law, constitutional law and history, public policy, and political
philosophy and history, as well as current and recent political developments, public issues, and political controversies.
POLITICAL EDUCATION, CONSERVATIVE ANALYSIS
POLITICS, SOCIETY, & THE SOVEREIGN STATE
Website of Dr. Almon Leroy Way, Jr.
Government, Politics, Public Policy, Legal Issues, Constitutional Law, Government & the Economy, Cultural Values, Foreign Affairs,
International Relations, Military Defense & National Security, Geopolitics, Terrorism & Homeland Security, American National Interests,
Political Systems & Processes, Political Institutions, Political Ideologies, & Political Philosophy
INDEX FOR THE ENTIRE WEBSITE
A
B
C
D
E
F
G
H
I
J
K
L
M
N
O
P
Q
R
S
T
U
V
W
X
Y
Z
THE PROGRESSIVE CONSERVATIVE, USA
An Online Journal of Political Commentary & Analysis
Dr. Almon Leroy Way, Jr., Editor
Conservative & Free-Market Analysis of Government, Politics & Public Policy, Covering Political, Legal, Constitutional, Economic,
Cultural, Military, International, Strategic, & Geopolitical Issues
Conservative Government Ensures a Nation's Strength, Progress, & Prosperity