Program Time: 10:00 to 10:50 a.m.
The Cleveland Council on World Affairs kicks off their 2014-15 distance learning program schedule with a timely examination of the situation in the Middle East. Until recently ISIS (the Islamic State) was an unknown entity. Now the Islamic State militant group that has taken over large parts of Syria and Iraq and declared a self-styled caliphate poses one of the most significant threats to stability in the Middle East in years. ISIS’ ambition is to establish an Islamic caliphate. Can they be stopped? What can the U.S. and our NATO allies do to stop these extremists? Dr. James Zogby will discuss, with your students, conditions in the region and prospects for defeating ISIS.
James J. Zogby is the author of Arab Voices and the founder and president of the Arab American Institute (AAI), a Washington, D.C.–based organization which serves as a political and policy research arm of the Arab American community. He is a senior analyst with JZ Analytics, a firm created by employees of his brother's polling firm Zogby International. Zogby is a lecturer and scholar on Middle East issues and a Global Professor of Social Research and Public Policy at New York University Abu Dhabi. He is also a member of the Executive Committee of the Democratic National Committee.