Columbia International Affairs Online: Journals

CIAO DATE: 08/2012

From the Publisher

The Journal of International Security Affairs

A publication of:
Jewish Institute for National Security Affairs

Volume: 0, Issue: 22 (Spring/Summer 2012)


Larry Greenfield

Abstract

Full Text

Dear Friends,

I am pleased to present, as your new publisher, the very content-rich product in your hands, organized so well by Editor Ilan Berman and Deputy Editor James Colbert.

For a long time, the Arab Middle East-and the Muslim world more broadly-was considered immune to popular revolt and dramatic political change.

The collapse of communism, the reunificiation of Germany, the fall of South African Afrikaner rule, the end of autocracies in South America, and the economic liberalization of China were just some of the 20th century global transformations that seemed to pass Araby by.

But now, in the wake of Tunisia and Tahrir Square, post-Mubarak and Gaddafi, political realities in the Middle East and North Africa are shifting as quickly as the sands. Regimes and political systems have been challenged, raising many questions in the process. Who fell and who remained stable, and why? And just what are the consequences for American interests?

To address these questions, and others, this issue of The Journal of International Security Affairs presents a stunning range of scholarly insights.

But that is not all; in this edition, we also look to Asia. The Pacific has become a dominant factor in American economic, political, diplomatic, and military policy planning. North Korea, Pakistan, and China are just some of the hot spots in our dangerous, dynamic international environment.

In addition, we have foreign "dispatches" and reviews of important new books, as well as a rare one-on-one interview with the Honorable Robert C. "Bud" McFarlane, who served as National Security Advisor to President Ronald Reagan.

It is, without a doubt, a thorough presentation by an amazing array of scholars. Please take some time this spring and summer to work your way through our Journal. We promise that you won't be disappointed. We will have another issue for Fall/Winter, when the world will have turned yet again.


Larry Greenfield
Publisher