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An Open Letter to President Barack Obama January 30, 2011 Dear President Obama: As political scientists, historians, and researchers in related fields who have studied the Middle East and U.S. foreign policy, we the undersigned believe you have a chance to move beyond rhetoric to support the democratic movement sweeping over Egypt. As citizens, we expect our president to uphold those values. For thirty years, our government has spent billions of dollars to help build and sustain the system the Egyptian people are now trying to dismantle. Tens if not hundreds of thousands of demonstrators in Egypt and around the world have spoken. We believe their message is bold and clear: Mubarak should resign from office and allow Egyptians to establish a new government free of his and his family’s influence. It is also clear to us that if you seek, as you said Friday “political, social, and economic reforms that meet the aspirations of the Egyptian people,” your administration should publicly acknowledge those reforms will not be advanced by Mubarak or any of his adjutants. There is another lesson from this crisis, a lesson not for the Egyptian government but for our own. In order for the United States to stand with the Egyptian people it must approach Egypt through a framework of shared values and hopes, not the prism of geostrategy. On Friday you rightly said that “suppressing ideas never succeeds in making them go away.” For that reason we urge your administration to seize this chance, turn away from the policies that brought us here, and embark on a new course toward peace, democracy and prosperity for the people of the Middle East. And we call on you to undertake a comprehensive review of US foreign policy on the major grievances voiced by the democratic opposition in Egypt and all other societies of the region. Sincerely, Jason Brownlee, University of Texas at Austin Joshua Stacher, Kent State University Tamir Moustafa, Simon Fraser University Arang Keshavarzian, New York University Clement Henry, University of Texas at Austin Robert Springborg, Naval Postgraduate School Jillian Schwedler, University of Massachusetts at Amherst Noam Chomsky, Massachusetts Institute of Technology Chris Toensing, Middle East Research and Information Project Joel Beinin, Stanford University Ellen Lust, Yale University Tarek Massoud, Harvard University Amaney Jamal, Princeton University Helga Tawil-Souri, New York University Anne Mariel Peters, Wesleyan College Gregory White, Smith College Asef Bayat, University of Illinois Diane Singerman, American University Cathy Lisa Schneider, American University Robert Vitalis, University of Pennsylvania Ahmet T. Kuru San Diego State University Toby Jones, Rutgers University Lara Deeb, Scripps College Michaelle Browers, Wake Forest University Mark Gasiorowski, Louisiana State University Samer Shehata, Georgetown University Farideh Farhi, University of Hawai’i at Mānoa Emad Shahin, University of Notre Dame John P. Entelis, Fordham University Tamara Sonn, College of William & Mary Ali Mirsepassi, New York University Kumru Toktamis, Pratt Institute Rebecca C. Johnson, Northwestern University Nader Hashemi, University of Denver Carlene J. Edie, University of Massachusetts at Amherst Laryssa Chomiak, University of Maryland Mohamed Nimer, American University Steven Heydemann, Georgetown University Miriam Lowi, The College of New Jersey Wendy Pearlman, Northwestern University Hesham Sallam, Georgetown University Melani Cammett, Brown University Michael Robbins, University of Michigan Katherine E. Hoffman, Northwestern University Asli Bali, UCLA School of Law Hamid Dabashi, Columbia University Guilain Denoeux, Colby College Tom Farer, University of Denver Norma Claire Moruzzi, University of Illinois at Chicago Saad Eddin Ibrahim, American University of Cairo & Drew University Asma Barlas, Ithaca College Ethel Brooks, Rutgers University Maren Milligan, Oberlin College Alan Gilbert, Josef Korbel School of International Studies, University of Denver Glenn Robinson, Naval Postgraduate School Ahmed Ragab, Harvard University Kenneth M. Cuno, University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign Agnieszka Paczynska, George Mason University Zillah Eisenstein, Ithaca College Quinn Mecham, Middlebury College Riahi Hamida, Faculty of Arts and Human Sciences Sousse Tunisia Jeannie Sowers, University of New Hampshire Hussein Banai, Brown University Joel Gordon, University of Arkansas-Fayetteville Ed Webb, Dickinson College David Siddhartha Patel, Cornell University Thomas Pierret, Princeton University Nadine Naber, University of Michigan As`ad AbuKhalil, California State University at Stanislaus Dina Al-Kassim, University of California at Irvine Ziad Fahmy, Cornell University William B. Quandt, University of Virginia Lori A. Allen, University of Cambridge Eugene Sensenig-Dabbous, Notre Dame University Lebanon Alfred G. Gerteiny, University of Connecticut (ret.) Lucia Volk, San Francisco State University Anne Marie Baylouny, Naval Postgraduate School Ulrika Mårtensson, The Norwegian University of Science and Technology Emma Deputy, University of Texas at Austin Sherry Lowrance, University of Georgia Kaveh Ehsani, DePaul University Ebrahim Moosa, Duke University Benjamin N. Schiff, Oberlin College Jeff Goodwin, New York University Margaret Scott, New York University (adjunct) Mehrzad Boroujerdi, Syracuse University Kevin M. DeJesus, York University, Toronto Courtney C. Radsch, American University Gamze Cavdar, Colorado State University John F. Robertson, Central Michigan University Amir Niknejad, College of Mount Saint Vincent Mehdi Noorbaksh, Harrisburg University of Science and Technology Anthony Tirado Chase, Occidental College Russell E. Lucas, Florida International University Ariel Saizmann, Queen’s University Patrick Kane, Clatsop Community College Behrooz Moazami, Loyola University New Orleans Anthony Shenoda, Scripps College Mark Allen Peterson, Miami University Amel Ahmed, University of Massachusetts-Amherst Ilana Feldman, George Washington University Marwan M. Kraidy, University of Pennsylvania Mohamad Daadaoui, Oklahoma City University Sidney Tarrow, Cornell University Nathalie Peutz, New York University Abu Dhabi Kamran Rastegar, Tufts University Najib Ghadbian, University of Arkansas Mojtaba Mahdavi, University of Alberta, Canada Stefanie Nanes, Hofstra University Rochelle Davis, Georgetown University Zeinab Abul-Magd, Oberlin College Stephen Zunes, University of San Francisco Andrea Teti, University of Aberdeen Denise M. Walsh, University of Virginia Frances S. Hasso, Duke University Waad El Hadidy, New York University Elliot Colla, Georgetown University Monika Halkort, Queen’s University Sonia Alvarez, University of Massachusetts, Amherst Christa Salamandra, City University of New York Shirin Saeidi, Cambridge University Shiera Malik, DePaul University Steve Tamari, Southern Illinois University Sean Yom, Temple University Ali Banuazizi, Boston College Sinan Antoon, New York University Moustafa Bayoumi, City University of New York Jennifer Derr, Bard College Mirjam Künkler, Princeton University Wilson Jacob, Concordia University, Montreal Alan Mikhail, Yale University Narges Erami, Yale University Gwenn Okruhlik, Trinity University Pete Moore, Case Western Reserve University Max Weiss, Princeton University Margaret Susan Thompson, Syracuse University Sarah Shields, University of North Carolina Sonia Alcarez, University of Massachusetts Amherst Roberto Alejandro, University of Massachusetts Amherst Manal Jamal, James Madison University Jason Stearns, New York University Nicholas Xenos, University of Massachusetts Amherst Rebecca Hopkins, University of Texas Austin John Calvert, Creighton University Nir Rosen, New York University Ian Lustik, University of Pennsylvania Steve Niva, The Evergreen State University Michael C. Hudson, Georgetown University and National University of Singapore Shane Minkin, Swarthmore College Feisal Mohamed, University of Illinois Ahmed Kamel Khattab, Free University Berlin Benjamin Simuin, University of Utah Stephen Engelmann, University of Illinois at Chicago Stacy Fahrenthold, Northeastern University Sondra Hale, UCLA Nicole Watts, San Francisco State University Stacey Philbrick Yadav, Hobart and William Smith Colleges Alan Fisher, Michigan State University Laurie King-Irani, Georgetown University Gary Fields, UC San Diego
egyptletter.blogspot.com
Institutional affiliations are listed for identification purposes only. Views reflected in this letter are those of the individual signatories.
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