This week I sat down with Robert Satloff, director of The Washington Institute for Near East Policy, to reflect on the 25th anniversary of my 2001 book, Ivory Towers on Sand: The Failure of Middle Eastern Studies in America (published by The Washington Institute).

Few books are remembered 25 years after publication, especially Washington policy papers. But this one has led an exceptional life. It was supercharged by the events of 9/11, and it has been recharged by the events of October 7th and the subsequent upheaval on American campuses. I can’t say I anticipated any of that, but the book’s core argument remains as timely as ever: academics created an imaginary Middle East to paper over the real one—a Middle East innocent of the threat of radical Islam. (And while I chose not to write about it at the time, their imaginary Middle East had no room for Israel either.)

It’s a permanent defect of vision. And since the academic establishment has done nothing to recognize it, let alone fix it, I’ve given up on reform of Middle East studies. The only way forward is to create a parallel set of institutions, devoted to understanding the Middle East as it is, not as we wish it to be.

Satloff and I discuss this in depth, joined by two other distinguished commentators: Gary Samore, director of the Crown Center for Middle East Studies at Brandeis University, and Rachel Fish, the new CEO of the Israel Institute. One fascinating highlight: Satloff explains why he created a new Master’s degree program in Middle East policy studies in partnership with Pepperdine University. The link is here.

I also shared some thoughts on the book’s anniversary in a webinar for the Association for the Study of the Middle East and Africa (ASMEA). Ever since the older Middle East Studies Association (MESA) passed a 2022 resolution boycotting Israeli academe, only ASMEA covers the full range of the Middle East. I’m proud to serve on its board. Link to my talk here.

Never read the book? Download it here for free.