Comments on: Southwest Asia http://blogs.law.harvard.edu/mesh/2009/03/southwest-asia/ National Security Studies Program :: Weatherhead Center Thu, 12 Nov 2009 21:06:56 -0500 http://wordpress.org/?v=2.8.5.2 hourly 1 By: Ellen Laipson http://blogs.law.harvard.edu/mesh/2009/03/southwest-asia/comment-page-1/#comment-1811 Ellen Laipson Mon, 02 Mar 2009 20:49:21 +0000 http://blogs.law.harvard.edu/mesh/?p=522#comment-1811 The <a href="http://www.stimson.org/swa/programhome.cfm" rel="nofollow">Southwest Asia/Gulf Program</a> at the Henry L. Stimson Center was so-named to convey the geography we intended to cover (Iran, Iraq, the Arabian peninsula and adjacent areas as needed), to avoid the association of the term "Middle East" with the Arab-Israeli conflict, which was not our research focus, and to sidestep the tricky Persian Gulf vs. Arabian Gulf problem. We added the word Gulf when our colleagues said they needed a little help understanding the term. I was well aware that <a href="http://blogs.law.harvard.edu/mesh/2009/03/southwest-asia/" rel="nofollow">Southwest Asia</a> was a meaningful term for the military, but a general reader would not be able to define its boundaries easily. I rather like the fuzzy boundaries, so that we can bring in Pakistan, or Jordan, when the topic or analysis demands it, but stick with the "problem set" that is west of the subcontinent, for the most part. It's also useful to note that Dennis Ross is named as an advisor, not a manager of a geographic bureau, so the ability to see the connections across crisis zones or bureaucratic divisions seems appropriate and helpful. <i><a href="http://www.stimson.org/experts/expert.cfm?ID=40" rel="nofollow">Ellen Laipson</a> is president and CEO of the Henry L. Stimson Center, and director of its Southwest Asia/Gulf Program.</i> The Southwest Asia/Gulf Program at the Henry L. Stimson Center was so-named to convey the geography we intended to cover (Iran, Iraq, the Arabian peninsula and adjacent areas as needed), to avoid the association of the term “Middle East” with the Arab-Israeli conflict, which was not our research focus, and to sidestep the tricky Persian Gulf vs. Arabian Gulf problem. We added the word Gulf when our colleagues said they needed a little help understanding the term. I was well aware that Southwest Asia was a meaningful term for the military, but a general reader would not be able to define its boundaries easily. I rather like the fuzzy boundaries, so that we can bring in Pakistan, or Jordan, when the topic or analysis demands it, but stick with the “problem set” that is west of the subcontinent, for the most part.

It’s also useful to note that Dennis Ross is named as an advisor, not a manager of a geographic bureau, so the ability to see the connections across crisis zones or bureaucratic divisions seems appropriate and helpful.

Ellen Laipson is president and CEO of the Henry L. Stimson Center, and director of its Southwest Asia/Gulf Program.

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