MERIP Media Resource List, September 9, 2004

AVAILABLE FOR INTERVIEWS on the following topics:
- Challenges for Palestinian elections
- Assessing US efforts in Afghanistan
- US intentions towards Iran

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 . He has published widely on Palestinian issues and travels to Palestine frequently. Commenting on the plans for Palestinian elections in spring 2005, Rabbani said today: “Conducting Palestinian elections are absolutely vital to breaking the current logjam, particularly in domestic Palestinian terms. Ironically, the main challenge will be not Palestinian recalcitrance, but whether or not the international community is prepared to support Palestinian democracy.”
 
NATHAN J. BROWN
Nathan J. Brown is professor of political science and international affairs at George Washington University and an adjunct scholar at the Middle East Institute in Washington, DC. His research focuses on issues of constitutionalism, the rule of law and democracy in the Arab world. Professor Brown's recent books include Palestinian Politics Since the Oslo Accords: Resuming Arab Palestine ( University of California Press, 2003) and Constitutions in a Nonconstitutional World (SUNY Press, 2001). In addition to his academic work, he has served as a consultant to the drafting committee for a Palestinian constitution. Commenting on the plans for Palestinian elections in spring 2005, Brown said today: “Palestinian elections are no panacea, but at this point they seem to offer the only realistic path to Palestinian reform and the revival of diplomacy. Yet they cannot take place without a supportive international environment. Despite international calls for greater Palestinian democracy, that support shows little sign of emerging.”
 
NAZIF SHAHRANI
Nazif Shahrani is a professor of anthropology and Central Asian and Middle Eastern studies at Indiana University, Bloomington. Shahrani has written on Afghanistan extensively, and has spent time in Afghanistan during each of the past three summers. Recent publications include “War, Factionalism and the State in Afghanistan” American Anthropologist (September 2002). Commenting on US actions in Afghanistan, Shahrani said today: “The ‘war on terror' has been wrongly conceptualized as a security problem -- it is actually a political problem, which the Bush administration's actions have only worsened. Within Afghanistan, Bush's attempts at nation building have created more animosity and tension between ethnic groups. By ignoring core political problems, American efforts at reconstruction and fair elections are failing.”
 
ERVAND ABRAHAMIAN
Ervand Abrahamian is professor of Middle East history at Baruch College and the Graduate Center in the City University of New York. He has written a number of books on modern Iran, most recently Inventing the Axis of Evil: The Truth About North Korea, Iran and Syria (The New Press, 2004), coauthored with Bruce Cumings and Moshe Mo'az. Commenting on US policy towards Iran, Abrahamian said today: “The US public should not be surprised if the Bush administration, after reelection, launches a war on Iran. In a repeat of the approach to Iraq, I suspect neo-conservative elements in the administration want to eliminate the Iranian Republic whether nuclear weapons are an issue or not."

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