“The war against ISIS will pose many new challenges for the next commander-in-chief. The last two presidents [George W. Bush and Barack Obama] pursued a Middle East policy that supported toppling dictators to try to promote democracy.” TryingTwoWarLastsNextPresidentChallengesDemocracyMiddlePolicyEastChiefsBarackMiddle EastDictatorPursuedIsisCommandersCommander In ChiefNew ChallengesPresident George W Bush Author:Wolf Blitzer
“I don't understand this thing about [Bashar] Assad. He has to go. Assad is aligned with Iran and Russia. The one thing we want to prevent is we want to prevent Iran being able to extend a Shia crescent all across the Middle East. Assad has got to go.” WantAbleOne ThingMiddleEastRussiaIranMiddle EastAssadShiaCrescent Author:John Kasich
“Middle East has been in turmoil for thousands of years. For us to think that we're going to in there and fix that with a couple of little bombs and a few little decorations is relatively foolish.” ThinkingYearsLittlesHas BeensMiddleCoupleEastFoolishBombsMiddle EastTurmoilDecoration Author:Benjamin Carson
“When we empower Iran, then get ready for more unrest and more murder and more violence in the Middle East.” ViolenceMiddleReadyMurderEastEmpoweringIranMiddle EastUnrest Author:Chris Christie
“We have to have a more realistic foreign policy and not a utopian one where we say, oh, we're going to spread freedom and democracy, and everybody in the Middle East is going to love us. They are not going to love us.” DemocracyMiddlePolicySpreadEastRealisticForeign PolicyMiddle EastUtopian Author:Rand Paul
“We shouldn't have a program where we just say that we're going to take care of the world's refugees. Nobody in the Middle East is doing anything. Saudi Arabia, Qatar, Kuwait - all the Gulf nations are doing nothing.” WorldCareNationsMiddleProgramTake CareEastMiddle EastRefugeeDoing NothingArabiaSaudi ArabiaSaudisKuwaitQatar Author:Rand Paul
“This administration, Barack Obama and Hillary Clinton through their foreign policy, have betrayed the American people, because the weakness they've displayed has led to Putin's incursions in the Middle East and in eastern Europe, and has led - has led to significant problems in the Middle East as well, and the death and murder of lots of folks.” PeopleWellsProblemMiddlePolicyWeaknessEuropeMurderClintonFolksEastSignificantAdministrationBarackForeign PolicyMiddle EastEasternBetrayedPutinEastern Europe Author:Chris Christie
“At the end of the day, bin Laden's interest is not Washington and New York, it's the Middle East. He wants Saudi Arabia. He wants to get rid of the House of Saud.” WantEndsHouseInterestMiddleNew YorkEastThe End Of The DayMiddle EastBin LadenArabiaSaudi ArabiaSaudis Author:Robert Fisk
“We live in a society in the West, where, when men do violent things, they do them under orders. They are soldiers carrying out orders or mafia men carrying out killings for bosses. But the way things happen in the Middle East is not the same as in the West.” MenWayHappensOrderMiddleWestKillingSoldierEastThings HappenViolentBossMiddle EastMafia Author:Robert Fisk
“There are ways to minimize the risk if you are a woman working in the Middle East: You can dress modestly, wear the hijab, cover your head, always travel with a man.” IfsMenWayRiskMiddleDressesEastOver YouMiddle EastHijab Author:Lynsey Addario
“We live in an idiotic capitalist self-indulgent society where the sex life of a pop star is more important than impending starvation, land mines and child soldiers in Africa, or more interesting than the world's biggest man-made natural disaster in oil fields of the Middle East.” MenWorldChildrenMadeImportantSelfStarsSexNaturalInterestingLandMiddleFieldsMinesSoldierPopsOilEastDisasterCapitalistMiddle EastStarvationIdioticPop StarsNatural DisasterSelf IndulgentOil FieldChild Soldier Author:Peter Menzel
“We come from an abundant, endlessly providing, always forthcoming, always giving source. If we would just stay like that, if we would be forthcoming and giving and sharing and allowing, excluding no one, then it wouldn't be possible to have wars in the Middle East, or poverty in Africa, or any of these kinds of things.” IfsGivingKindWarWould BePovertyMiddleSourceEastAllowingMiddle EastProvidingForthcoming Author:Wayne Dyer
“Israel is our strongest, most reliable ally in the Middle East. Of course, we're their most reliable ally, too.” CoursesMiddleIsraelEastStrongestAlliesMiddle East Author:Ben Stein
“[T]he people of Iraq have spoken to the world, and the world is hearing the voice of freedom from the center of the Middle East.” PeopleWorldVoiceMiddleIraqHearingEastMiddle East Author:George W. Bush
“In a summer marked by instability in the Middle East and Eastern Europe, I know the world also took notice of the small American city of Ferguson, Missouri - where a young man was killed, and a community was divided. So yes, we have our own racial and ethnic tensions.” KnowsMenWorldYoungCommunityCitiesMiddleSummerEuropeEastYoung ManTensionDividedMiddle EastEasternInstabilityEastern EuropeMissouriAmerican CitiesFerguson Author:Barack Obama
“If everybody that had two cars had a Prius instead of an SUV, we wouldn't be in the Middle East right now.” IfsTwoMiddleCarRight NowEastMiddle EastSuvsPrius Author:Meryl Streep
“Darwin found out that when you took horses up to the high country in the Middle East, they would then grow long hair after a season or two. But when you took them - these long-haired horses - back into the low, hot country, they wouldn't get rid of the long hair, just in case, for about four generations.” LongTwoCountryFoundGrowsCasesFourGenerationsMiddleHairLowsSeasonsHorseHotEastMiddle EastLong HairFour Generations Author:L. Ron Hubbard
“The prostitute journalist is a familiar and well-understood figure in the Middle East, and Saddam Hussein's regime made lavish use of the buyability of the regional press. Now we, too, have hired that clapped-out old floozy, Miss Rosie Scenario, and sent her whoring through the streets.” WellsMadeUseStreetsMiddleMissingFiguresUnderstoodPressesEastFamiliarJournalistRegimesMiddle EastSaddamHusseinScenariosRosie Author:Christopher Hitchens
“Culture constitutes an essential element of social and political liberation. As people rise up across the Middle East and North Africa, the diversity of their cultures is not only the means but also the ultimate goal of their liberation and their freedom.” PeopleMeanPoliticalCultureSocialGoalMiddleEssentialsElementsDiversityUltimateEastLiberationMiddle EastUltimate GoalNorth Africa Author:Tariq Ramadan
“We need a leader who won't be silent - as Barack Obama and Hillary Clinton have been - as millions of Christians are persecuted throughout the Middle East.” NeedsHas BeensChristianLeaderMillionsMiddleSilentClintonEastBarackMiddle EastPersecuted Author:Carly Fiorina
“As president, I will stand up to the great human rights tests of our time - in China, Russia, and the Middle East. We must send a signal to our allies and adversaries that America is back in the leadership business.” HumansAmericaPresidentRightsMiddleTestsHuman RightsChinaEastRussiaOur TimeAlliesMiddle EastSignalsAdversaries Author:Carly Fiorina
“There are fewer Arabs in Tel Aviv, one of the largest cities in the Middle East, than there are in Chicago, the largest city in the American Midwest. How do you accomplish such a remarkable feat of social engineering without massive violence?” SocialCitiesViolenceMiddleAccomplishEastRemarkableMassiveChicagoFewerMiddle EastEngineeringFeatsMidwestSocial Engineering Author:Max Blumenthal
“I think there is a general interest in films that deal with contemporary issues. Constructions of Iran, Islam, the Middle East as well as the U.S. itself are also of interest, it seems.” ThinkingWellsSeemsFilmInterestDealsIssuesMiddleIslamEastContemporaryIranConstructionMiddle East Author:Mohammad Marandi
“Americans are curious about the texture of everyday life in the Middle East because they rarely get to see it. I wanted readers to feel like they were sitting around the dinner table with me and my friends, hearing what average people really say and really think, [where] the dinner table is the best place to find out.” PeopleThinkingFeelsWantedMiddleReaderSittingMy FriendsTablesEverydayAverageHearingDinnerEastCuriousMiddle EastEveryday LifeTextureSitting AroundBest PlaceDinner Table Author:Annia Ciezadlo
“So much of what we see and hear about the Middle East focuses on what we call politics, which is essentially ideology. But when it comes to the Middle East, and especially the Arab world, simply depicting people as human beings is the most political thing you can do.” PeopleWorldHumansPoliticalCan DoHuman BeingsMiddleEastIdeologyMiddle EastArab World Author:Annia Ciezadlo
“In the Middle East, bread is so essential to everyday life that word for it in Egyptian Arabic is aish, which means life. It's always been the staple grain. But the predicament is that the Fertile Crescent, where wheat cultivation began, has now become the part of the world most dependent on imported wheat.” WorldMeanMiddleEssentialsEverydayEastBreadDependentMiddle EastGrainEveryday LifeWheatFertileCultivationEgyptianMeaning LifePredicamentsStaplesCrescent Author:Annia Ciezadlo
“The Middle East is the only region in the world outside of sub-Saharan Africa where rates of malnutrition actually rose over the past decade or two, instead of falling.” WorldTwoPastFallMiddleRoseRateEastDecadesRegionsMiddle EastOver The PastMalnutritionSub Saharan Africa Author:Annia Ciezadlo
“There's a long history in the Middle East of "bread intifadas," starting with 1977 in Egypt, when Anwar Sadat tried to lift bread subsidies. People rebelled and poured into Tahrir Square, shouting slogans against the government just like they did earlier this year. Sadat learned his lesson and kept bread subsidies in place, and so did a host of other Middle Eastern dictators - many of whom were propped up for years by the West, partly through subsidized American wheat.” PeopleYearsLongGovernmentMiddleLessonsWestStartingEastBreadLiftsSquaresHostMiddle EastDictatorEgyptEasternSlogansShoutingWheatSubsidiesSadatTahrir Square Author:Annia Ciezadlo
“The problem is that so many of them are not getting told. This is a massive problem, not just in the Middle East but for places from Africa to Afghanistan. There are millions of stories out there, millions of potential Booksellers of Kabul or Valentino Achak Dengs.” StoriesProblemMillionsMiddleEastMassiveAfghanistanMiddle EastBooksellersKabulValentino Author:Annia Ciezadlo
“There are definitely recurring themes in humanity's relationship with our environment. The biggest is probably adaptation, because humans are incredibly good at adapting to new environments in relatively short periods of time. The ancestors of Homo sapiens started leaving Africa over one million years ago, moving from warm, tropical climates into the freezing wilderness of Europe and the desert ecosystems of the Middle East.” YearsHumansMovingHumanityMillionsEnvironmentMiddlePeriodsEuropeYears AgoClimateLeavingWarmEastDesertThemeWildernessAncestorMiddle EastAdaptationOur EnvironmentHomo SapiensEcosystemsAdaptingFreezingTropicalRecurringNew EnvironmentRecurring Themes Author:Annalee Newitz
“But when you only speak using generalizations, you run the danger of denying the specific. In recent decades, millions of people have come to us from cultural groups within which women have absolutely no rights. They do not have a voice of their own and they are totally dependent on their fathers, brothers or husbands. That applies to North Africa and that applies to large parts of the Middle East. It isn't always linked to Islam.” PeopleRunningFatherSpeakVoiceMillionsRightsGroupsMiddleDangerBrotherHusbandIslamEastDecadesDependentMiddle EastLinkedGeneralizationNorth Africa Author:Alice Schwarzer
“We will not commit suicide because of pressure from the international community. A Palestinian state is not possible at the moment. I would rather fight and try to explain the situation in the Middle East to the world than to agree to steps that harm my country to satisfy the international community.” WorldTryingCountryStatesMomentsFightingCommunitySituationStepsMiddlePressureAgreeSuicideInternationalHarmEastCommitMiddle EastPalestinianInternational Community Author:Ayelet Shaked
“I think a lot it was the theology, that the road to Jerusalem runs through Baghdad, that somehow if we broke apart the rejectionist states, like Iraq, then the whole Middle East would reconfigure itself into a more favorable environment for democracy and Israel and us.” IfsThinkingStatesWholeRunningDemocracyEnvironmentMiddleIraqIsraelEastTheologyBrokeMiddle EastJerusalemBaghdad Author:Chris Matthews
“Israel is the American watchdog in the Middle East, and that's why the Palestinians remain victims of one of the longest military occupations. They don't have oil. If they were the Saudis, they wouldn't be in the position they are now. But they have the power of being able to upset the imperial order in the Middle East.” IfsAbleOrderMiddleMilitaryPositionVictimIsraelOilEastUpsetOccupationMiddle EastPalestinianSaudis Author:John Pilger
“I'm worried about people who say Bush is lying. It's much more frightening that he's not lying, that he believes what he believes: that it's his mission to change the Middle East into a democracy. That's more unnerving.” PeopleBelieveLyingDemocracyMiddleMissionsEastWorriedMiddle EastFrightening Author:Seymour Hersh
“There were initiatives I have remained involved with in the U.S. and in the Middle East, like the Peace Corps, which might be summed up as, "Ask not that the world serve you, but ask what you can do to serve the world."” WorldMightAsksCan DoMiddleInvolvedEastMiddle EastInitiativePeace Corps Author:Queen Noor of Jordan
“King Hussein of Jordan dedicated his life - I witnessed it in his sleeping as well as waking hours - to trying to break through the impasses keeping people apart. He understood that the security and prosperity of any one of us in this world depends on the security and prosperity enjoyed by others. As Martin Luther King said, "Injustice anywhere is a threat to justice everywhere." In the Middle East, nothing could be more true.” PeopleWorldTryingWellsSaidHoursJusticeSleepBreakMiddleSecurityThis WorldDependsKingsUnderstoodThreatInjusticeProsperityEastEnjoyedWakingDedicatedMiddle EastHusseinLutherJordanBreak ThroughImpasseInjustice Anywhere Author:Queen Noor of Jordan
“I'm finding myself really angry over spending and the deficit. I'm finding myself really angry over what's happening in the Middle East, the decision to stay in Afghanistan indefinitely. I'm angry about cap and trade. And I've been on record for a long time on the failed war on drugs.” LongWarDecisionRecordsMiddleDrugFindingsLong TimeHappeningsAngryTradeSpendingEastAfghanistanMiddle EastDeficitCapsWar On DrugsFinding Myself Author:Gary Johnson