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  "authors": [
    "Michele Dunne"
  ],
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    "Carnegie Endowment for International Peace"
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Source: Getty

In The Media

President Obama's Speech and Middle East Policy

While President Obama’s speech on the Middle East expressed support for the dramatic changes going on in the region and compared those changes with the U.S. experience of nonviolent civil disobedience, it did not set out any bold policy shifts.

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By Michele Dunne
Published on May 19, 2011
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Middle East

The Middle East Program in Washington combines in-depth regional knowledge with incisive comparative analysis to provide deeply informed recommendations. With expertise in the Gulf, North Africa, Iran, and Israel/Palestine, we examine crosscutting themes of political, economic, and social change in both English and Arabic.

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Source: CNN International

In his speech on the Middle East, President Obama expressed support for the dramatic changes going on in the Middle East and aligned these changes with U.S. values and America’s own history of nonviolent civil disobedience, explained Michele Dunne on CNN International. The president also announced a substantial aid package for Egypt and Tunisia. Ultimately, Dunne said that “the speech was more timid than it needed to be.” In reference to Palestine and Israel, President Obama did not indicate any movement by the administration to begin a new push for peace. Instead, Dunne said, the president favored an approach based around negotiating borders and security before turning to weighty issues like Jerusalem and the fate of Palestinian refugees, an approach that Israel favors. Dunne suggested that Obama’s phrasing “should pave the way for a smother visit with Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu.”

About the Author

Michele Dunne

Former Nonresident Scholar, Middle East Program

Michele Dunne was a nonresident scholar in Carnegie’s Middle East Program, where her research focuses on political and economic change in Arab countries, particularly Egypt, as well as U.S. policy in the Middle East.

    Recent Work

  • Research
    Islamic Institutions in Arab States: Mapping the Dynamics of Control, Co-option, and Contention
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Michele Dunne
Former Nonresident Scholar, Middle East Program
Michele Dunne
Political ReformForeign PolicyMiddle EastNorth Africa

Carnegie does not take institutional positions on public policy issues; the views represented herein are those of the author(s) and do not necessarily reflect the views of Carnegie, its staff, or its trustees.

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