Condoleezza Rice Case Study

Wherever you go, you leave a footprint, whether or not it is physical or emotional. In James L Gelvin’s book, The Modern Middle East, he not only refers to this absolutism but also furthers it by using it in a historical construct. Gelvin replaces individuals with the collective and the collective here is nations. As human beings, we cannot neglect this absolute truth. Hence we cannot deny that the occurrence of one country occupying another, that country leaves its’ “footprint” on the other. Thusly, Gelvin’s crux is to challenge the reader’s notions of the Middle East by focusing on the dialectic between the history of the Middle East recounted by the Middle East and the history of the Middle East narrated by Western Powers (i.e. Britain, France, and the U.S.). Through a globalized lens of Middle Eastern history, the region opens up to assessment in identical means as any other country, allowing the reader to comprehend that the Middle East is not an isolated sector but as an organ interconnected and interdependent on global occurrences, for instance, the economy, equivalent to its counterparts.

After September 11, 2001 I’ve had trouble finding what makes me more angry; the way the authorities handled the hurricane of Katrina or the way the Arabs were treated. I have herd countless stories related to the 9/11 attack and until today I see the way that has affected the lives of many. Through Eggers story, I was able to comprehend more about the tragedy in New Orleans and even though I thought I already knew about the aftermath that Katrina brought, Eggers grabbed my attention by introducing me to the story of a Syrian-American middle aged man named Abdulrahman Zeitoun. He was a father of four, married to an American wife Kathy and owned a

This document will discuss the way Condoleezza Rice overcame racial and sexist discrimination in the civil war struggle and Jim Crowe laws in Birmingham. It will also discuss my reasons for choosing Condoleezza Rice, obstacles leading to his success, importance of education to the individual, motivation to achieve, how she inspired me to pursue educational and professional success. This paper will also conclude with a summary of this discussion.

While the U.S. maintained a relatively confusing agenda regarding foreign policies during the Cold War era, its attitudes are clearer in the present as globalization has strengthened connections between all international actors and made it more difficult for some to focus on maintaining hostile outlooks. The U.S. has had a long history with Syria and Israel, as the superpower has struggled to keep the two countries from abusing each-other and has, at times, provided the latter with significant financial and military support. However, U.S. involvement in Israel-Syrian relations has declined significantly in the recent decades, only to emerge in the last few years as a consequence of the fact that the Middle East currently experiences a serious political crisis.

In June of 2005, Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice went up to 600 people at the American University in Cairo and delivered a very powerful speech on the advancement of democracy in the Middle East. “For 60 years, my country, the United States, pursued stability at the expense of democracy in this region here in the Middle East, and we achieved neither," she declared, “Now we are taking a different course. We are supporting the democratic aspirations of all people.” Her speech was seen as an attack on the Egyptian government. She addressed how they intimidated and incarcerated the opposition and also claimed for President Hosni Mubarak to carry our free and fair elections. Since Egypt is of strategic importance to the U.S., it sets the ground of American foreign policy in the Middle East. This essay will address U.S.-Egyptian relations as well as alternatives to U.S. policies in order to achieve democracy and stability in the region.

From as early as 1953 with the assistance in the coup to overthrow then Iranian leadership to the killing of Bin Laden, we see that America has had a hand in the Middle East and as fig.1 demonstrates and if to be believed, the problems that now find need for policies, competencies and leadership had the helping hand of the United Staten in creating the dis function in the region; as Malcolm X would so eloquently state “the chickens are finally coming home to roost.”

The Arab world seemed to have been poised for an era of political and cultural renewal. The 2011 uprisings that toppled long-reigning dictators inspired hope to those within the region and the rest of the world that change may finally come to the Middle East. Like many eager journalists and intellectuals during the Arab Spring, Juan Cole, a history professor at the University of Michigan and a popular political blogger, had high hopes. “A new generation has been awakened,” Cole writes in his latest book, “The New Arabs,” which chronicles the positive new historical dynamic is taking hold in Egypt, Libya, and Tunisia. In 2011, Westerners expected the Arab world to “spring” into democracy. But like most at the time, Juan Cole was wrong.

Since the United States became the world’s sole superpower, the Middle East has been seen as the most troublesome region in the world by US politicians. This view emanates from all the conflicts going in the Middle East that have the potential to threaten numerous strategic interests for the united Stated such as oil, terrorist, and Israel. Yet Middle East has never seen as problematic as it is now due to the excessive flux of problems the Middle East is struggling with. This increasingly conflicting nature of the region demands the US policymakers to reevaluate American policy in the Middle East to secure US interests. Unfortunately, American policy in the past three decades toward the

The United States has a complicated history with the Middle East, and this has often been reflected in foreign policy decisions. The significance of the region has always remained strong, even as the main goals and methods of accomplishing those goals have twisted and evolved over time. In recent decades, dealing with increasing opposition to US interests by those in the Middle East has become a more prominent concern. This was drawn into the forefront of citizens' minds in 2001. While the 9/11 attacks did not serve as a major turning point in the US’s foreign policy towards the Middle East, they did act to accelerate a decision path that the United States was already on.

The crux of the institution of government from the untenable state of nature that subsisted in the days gone by was for the protection of life, liberty and property. The doctrine of individual unilateral discretion which provided a fertile ground for the domination of the strong over the weak in society diminished in significance. So sacrosanct was the need to protect the rights and freedoms of all people that all and sundry gave up their rights, powers, and privileges of the civil society for its care. The developed world took lead in this province and in the modern world, the United States of America is considered the land of the free people in the world as a result. In pursuance of this goal, US’s policy, both domestically and internationally has been to protect not only its citizens, but also to perfect recalcitrant nations bent on civil rights infractions. On the domestic front, the rule is that should any of its citizen’s life or limb be threatened or violated by a foreigner; then the Ker-Frisbie Rule is invoked to bring the perpetrators to book. On the international plane, it has pursued a no-holds-barred approach to police the world as the Big Brother hence the tagline, ‘Uncle Sam is watching.’

The Middle East has been the world’s hotspot in terms of political and armed conflict since the end of the Cold War. In the last decade, the region has witnessed the collapse of regimes that have ruled for decades one after the other, some through the intervention by foreign military force and others through revolutions. The US-led invasion of Iraq in 2003 has become one of the most controversial events in international relations as neither the invasion nor the occupation was legal under international law and the fact that the invasion has left Iraq in a state of chaos with no bright future in sight. More importantly, the reasoning behind the intervention remains problematic as Iraq is an oil rich country, but is still struggling

The region that the Western World views as the Middle East is laden with complexities. In the region there is a long history of what is currently understood as modernization. To parallel that, connected to the Middle East is also a history of being understood as “backward” or “behind” in comparison to the West. It seems as if no matter what the empires (now nation-states), and the people, of the Middle East do they are constantly going to be relinquished to the “other.”

The Middle East has always been known as the Holy Land, the land of the Bible. For centuries, prophets have walked there, nations have collided and conquerors have come and gone. While Jews claim a three thousand-year-old attachment to this ancient land, Arabs also stake their devotion. In 1993, these two peoples, involved in a tragic conflict that has lasted more than half a century, saw the possibility of a new beginning. It was called the Oslo Accord, and it transformed the political realities of the Middle East (Peres, p.2) However, there have been many turbulent events that have followed the signing of the Accord, events that have undermined the agreement and are threatening to drive Israelis and Arabs

1. Bar, Shmuel. "America 's fading Middle East influence." Policy Review 166 (2011): 41+. Academic OneFile. Web. 22 Mar. 2012.

Middle East considers one of the most studied areas in the world due to its rich history of politics, social, economic, and its culture and civilization. Its borders are still arguable geographically, generally in the west it starts from morocco until Iran in the east, however, many scholars don’t agree on including Turkey either as a Middle Eastern or as a European country (Milton-Edwards, 2006. P: 4). The origin of the name was invented by the colonies as a necessity to describe the place geographically, which was the era of bringing “Middle East” the language of academic writings and political scientists. Changes, innovations, and new ideologies create gaps between the transformations of any perspectives to a different