MERIP Media Resource List, January 25, 2006

AVAILABLE FOR INTERVIEWS on the following topics:
- Kuwait's succession
- Palestinian legislative elections, January 25

NOTE: When contacting our recommended experts please inform them that you received their contact information from MERIP. Thank you.

MARY ANN TÉTREAULT
Mary Ann Tétreault is professor of international affairs at Trinity University in San Antonio, Texas. Her recent books include Stories of Democracy: Politics and Society in Contemporary Kuwait (2000) and The Kuwait Petroleum Corporation and the Economics of the New World Order (1995). She has been writing about women in Kuwait since 1994. She commented today: "While Parliament voted unanimously to depose Shaikh Saad, almost simultaneously, he abdicated. The parliament rose to the occasion of the crisis by standing together and, for the most part, refraining from comments favoring one side or the other in the family dispute, while voting to ensure that Kuwait had a functioning ruler. That's more than remarkable: it's laudable."

GRAHAM USHER
Graham Usher, a contributing editor of Middle East Report , is a reporter for the Economist and author of Dispatches from Palestine: The Rise and Fall of the Oslo Peace Process (London: Pluto Press, 1999).

REMINDER – STILL AVAILABLE FOR INTERVIEWS :

MOUIN RABBANI
Mouin Rabbani is senior Middle East analyst with the International Crisis Group, specializing on Palestine and the Arab-Israeli conflict, and a contributing editor of Middle East Report . Rabbani is also available to discuss Hamas' participation in the elections, the subject of the ICG report " Enter Hamas: The Challenges of Political Integration ." He commented: "Palestinian legislative elections are a key milestone in efforts to reconstitute the national movement as an effective political force. There are huge challenges ahead for the Palestinians, the most important of which continues to be Israeli occupation."

DEBORAH J. GERNER
Deborah J. Gerner is professor of political science at the University of Kansas, co-director of the Center for International Political Analysis and a member of the editorial committee of Middle East Report . Gerner is editor of Understanding the Contemporary Middle East (2004) and author of One Land, Two Peoples: The Conflict over Palestine (1994). She commented: " The combination of upcoming Palestinian and Israeli elections and the end of Israeli Prime Minister Ariel Sharon's political career has created a sense of tremendous uncertainty in the region. Hamas is likely to obtain significant representation in the Palestinian Legislative Council, putting that body on a potential collision course with Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas and with the Israeli government. If Kadima, the new Israeli political party founded by Sharon, succeeds in dominating the March elections as expected, the unilateral, power-based approach that Sharon has been pursuing toward the Palestinians in recent years will be given increased credibility. "

GLENN E. ROBINSON
Glenn E. Robinson is associate professor in the Department of Defense Analysis at the Naval Postgraduate School in Monterey, CA. Robinson is the author of Building a Palestinian State: The Incomplete Revolution (Indiana University Press, 1997) and co-author of two RAND Corporation books, Building a Successful Palestinian State and The Arc: A Formal Structure for a Palestinian State (2005). He commented: " Parliamentary elections represent a milestone in Palestinian political history, the first such elections after the death of Yasser Arafat. How Palestinians sort out the post-Arafat political order will tell us a lot about where the Palestinians -- and the peace process, such as it is -- are headed in the years ahead."

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Members of the media should feel free to contact the individuals listed above directly.
 
For more information, contact Michelle Woodward, MERIP Media Coordinator, at (202) 223-3677 or at mwoodward@merip.org. Media Resource Lists are an initiative of the MERIP Media Outreach Program. Past releases are archived in the MERIP Press Room at http://www.merip.org/press_room/pr.html
 
Middle East Research and Information Project (MERIP), 1500 Massachusetts Ave, NW, Suite 119, Washington, DC 20005, Tel: (202) 223 3677, Fax: (202) 223 3604, http://www.merip.org

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For more information, contact Michelle Woodward, MERIP Media Coordinator, at (202) 223-3677, or merip.media@merip.org.  Media Resource Lists are an initiative of the MERIP Media Outreach Program.

The Middle East Research and Information Project (MERIP), 1500 Massachusetts Ave, NW, Suite 119, Washington, DC 20005, Tel: (202) 223 3677, Fax: (202) 223 3604, www.merip.org