Ainslie T. Embree of Columbia University discusses the history and complexity of U.S.-India relations and of India's efforts to define itself as a nation and a world power.
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Ike Skelton of Chair of the House Armed Services Committee discusses the civilian-military relationship in the U.S., and expresses concern over the current relationship between military officers and Congress, in which pressure is placed on officers to express opinions that may be acted on politically.
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Bernard Carreau of the National Defense University, Nadia Schadlow of the Smith Richardson Foundation, Heather A. Coyne of the United States Institute for Peace, and Frank Offman of the Foreign Policy Research Institute discuss several questions related to international interagency policy: "Who has the lead on the ground overseas?," "Is the military the supporting or supported actor?," "What are the implications?," "How can the interagency process contribute to complex operations?," "Should the military prepare to take on more state-building functions?," and "What are the possible problems?"
Aaron David Miller of the Woodrow Wilson Center discusses his book The Much Too Promised Land, focusing on his own experiences and intentions in writing the book and on the history and current state of the United States' foreign policy towards the Arab-Israeli Conflict.
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Harvey Sicherman of the Foreign Policy Research Institute discusses the history of U.S. policy and interventions in the Arab-Israeli Conflict, following forward particularly from Clinton's term in office through George W. Bush's actions and policies.
Don Oberdorfer of Jon Hopkins University outlines the history of U.S. foreign relations with Korea, from World War II and its division into North and South Korea, through the Korean War, up to the present day and the President George W. Bush's inclusion of North Korea in his "Axis of Evil." Oberdorfer looks particularly at North Korean nuclear production and U.S. and global reactions (and possible future reactions) to this development.
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Fawaz Gerges of Sarah Lawrence College and Barry Rubin of the Global Research in International Affairs Center explore the political turmoil currently taking place in the Middle East, including the rise to prominence of Islamists in politics. Gerges argues that the Islamist powers rise to fill a vacuum of legitimate political authority. Rubin emphasizes the importance of Arab nationalism in the region's internal and global politics and the staying power of some of the region's regimes.
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David Forte of Cleveland State University discusses the development of Islam away from its original written texts, arguing that the legal community, the needs of empire, and tribalism have distorted the religion's spiritual message, resulting in the current harsh treatment of apostates and religious minorities. He includes some comparison of Islam's development to that of Christianity and Judaism.
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Jytte Klausen of Brandeis University and Michael Radu of the FPRI Center on Terrorism, Counter-Terrorism, and Homeland Security discuss the history and identity of Islam and Muslims in Europe, examining the differences in identity, political activity, and acceptance of Muslims in Europe and in the U.S.
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S. Abdallah Schleifer of the Washington News Bureau, Al Arabiya, compares and contrasts the interpretations of Islam that lead to Islamism and that lead to coexistence with or under other political systems. He focuses particularly on defining what, precisely, Islamism is and what adherents to the ideology believe.
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