Dr. Alon Ben-Meir is a professor of international relations at the Center for Global Affairs at NYU. He teaches courses on international negotiation and Middle Eastern studies. alon@alonben-meir.com
Published books available on Amazon include:
* A Strategy for Implementing the Reconciliation Process Between Israel and the Palestinians
*A War We Must Win
* Framework for Arab-Israeli Peace
* In Defiance of Time
* Israel: The Challenge of the Fourth Decade
* Lost Perspectives
* Middle East Imperatives and Choices
* Spring or Cruel Winter: The Evolution of the Arab Revolutions
* Toward The Abyss: Israel and the Palestinians
By Alon Ben-Meir NEW YORK — Israeli Prime Minister Netanyahu’s decision to call for an early election, scheduled to take place on April 9, was really nothing short of another political stunt that Netanyahu has masterfully learned to employ when the time is right and he is reasonably assured of another victory. One would think, […]
Israel’s parties, NGOs, need to coalesce for peace Read More »
Alon Ben-Meir, Middle EastBy Alon Ben-Meir and Arbana Xharra NEW YORK — The six Western Balkan countries —Serbia, Bosnia and Herzegovina, Kosovo, Macedonia, Montenegro, and Albania, are “state captured” by corrupt politicians, linked with organized crime. These facts have been documented by various international reports, which are raising major concerns among EU officials on the enlargement process. These
Corruption deters EU admission for Balkan countries Read More »
Alon Ben-Meir, InternationalBy Alon Ben-Meir NEW YORK — Trump’s decision to withdraw US forces from Syria is extremely reckless and is bound to backfire in more than one way. To make such a decision, which has major implications that directly and adversely affect our allies in and outside the region, through a simple tweet and against the
Trump’s Syria withdrawal will hurt several allies Read More »
Alon Ben-Meir, International, Middle East, USABy Alon Ben-Meir NEW YORK — To dramatically slow the flow of illegal immigration and even end it does not rest on building walls or sending troops to the border, or by heartlessly snatching children from their mothers’ arms, or by incarceration, deportation, or prosecution. A big part of the answer lies in economic development,
2-prong policy needed to stem migrant flow to U.S. Read More »
Alon Ben-Meir, International, USA, Yossef Ben-MeirBy Alon Ben-Meir and Arbana Xharra NEW YORK — Until five years ago, Fethullah Gülen and Turkey’s President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan were allies who supported each other. Both use Islam as the basis for their doctrine, which made them ideologically different from the revolutionary secularist stateman Mustafa Kemal Atatürk, the founder of the new Republic
The history of the Gülen – Erdoğan rivalry Read More »
Alon Ben-Meir, International, Middle East, USABy Alon Ben-Meir NEW YORK — When I woke up yesterday morning, I was shocked yet once again to read about Wednesday’s mass killing of 12 people during “college night” at a country music bar in southern California, sending hundreds fleeing in terror. I have young children who occasionally visit these types of bars, and I
America should not live and die by the gun Read More »
Alon Ben-Meir, USABy Alon Ben-Meir NEW YORK — Last week I conducted a panel discussion about Turkey under the leadership of Erdogan. The day before the event, we were alerted that several of Erdogan’s stooges will await us to disrupt the event, and we feared that violence may erupt. Earlier in the morning, NYU received a letter
Turkey sends ‘thugs’ to break up NYU meeting Read More »
Alon Ben-Meir, International, Middle East, Science, Medicine, & Education, USABy Alon Ben-Meir NEW YORK — The cold-blooded killing of the journalist Khashoggi, however gruesome, pales compared to the brutality and gross human rights violations Saudi Arabia is committing in Yemen. The Saudis are deliberately preventing food and medicine from reaching areas where children are dying from starvation or disease. Their indiscriminate bombings are killing
Saudi role in Yemen more brutal than Khashoggi murder Read More »
Alon Ben-Meir, Middle East, USABy Alon Ben-Meir and Arbana Xharra NEW YORK — A billboard at a construction site, with a photo of an Ottoman-style mosque with four minarets and the flag of Turkey, was erected recently in the center of Pristina, the capital of Kosovo. With less than 2 million people, Kosovo, which declared its independence from Serbia
Turkey’s Islamic penetration of the Balkans Read More »
Alon Ben-Meir, International, Middle EastBy Alon Ben-Meir NEW YORK — I maintain that regardless of the political, strategic, demographic, and regional vicissitudes, the two-state option remains the only viably sustainable solution to the Israeli-Palestinian conflict; the one-state solution is simply a non-starter. I also maintain that successive Israeli governments, irrespective of their political leanings, perpetuated the occupation. They created
2-State solution still the only one practicable Read More »
Alon Ben-Meir, Middle East, USABy Alon Ben-Meir NEW YORK — Much of what Israel and the Palestinians are experiencing today has befallen them under Netanyahu’s leadership. He believes that the Palestinians will always pose an existential threat to Israel, which led him to pursue domestic policies that dangerously undermined the country’s founding principles of freedom and equality. Concurrently, he
Netanyahu policies destructive to Israelis, Palestinians Read More »
Alon Ben-Meir, Middle EastBy Alon Ben-Meir NEW YORK –With Syria’s civil war nearing an end with the takeover of the city of Idlib by Assad’s forces and his allies, I do not expect that Syria will soon enter a period of calm and amicably divide the spoils of the war. Russia, Iran, Turkey, and the US have conflicting
Russia, Iran, Turkey, U.S. have different goals in Syria Read More »
Alon Ben-Meir, International, Middle East, USABy Alon Ben-Meir NEW YORK — As we wait for President Trump to unveil his peace plan to reach an Israeli-Palestinian peace agreement, he has in fact made the prospect of achieving “the deal of the century” far more remote than it was already. His recognition of Jerusalem as Israel’s capital has enraged the Palestinians,
Trump’s Mideast deal or debacle of the century? Read More »
Alon Ben-Meir, Middle East, USABy Alon Ben-Meir and Arbana Xharra NEW YORK — As Turkey’s President Erdogan runs out of money, he is now, more than any time before, using religion to exploit the Balkans, especially the states that are more susceptible to Islamic influence. Bosnia is at the fore of Erdogan’s ambitious Islamic agenda, where he is
Failing economy dampens Turkey’s Balkan influence Read More »
Alon Ben-Meir, International, Middle East