Tuesday, November 28, 2017

Rubin Center Facing Closure: Final Plea for Support


Dear Friends and Readers,

Throughout his year-and-half battle with cancer, Prof. Barry Rubin, founder of Global Research in International Affairs (GLORIA) Center—today the Rubin Center—continued to write and analyze events in the region and across the globe. When he could no longer type, he dictated. Even from his hospital bed, while hooked up to an IV dispensing chemo, he struggled to get the words out, publishing his final article just two weeks before his untimely death.

In his final days, he was very much occupied with the future of the Rubin (GLORIA) Center. It was his dream that the center would continue on the path he had set.

“My approach,” he once remarked, “…is to ignore the Western scholarly literature and to examine the facts on the ground.” He stressed that events “should be approached as objectively as possible with an honest attempt to be accurate, to produce evidence proving one’s assertions, and to follow where the facts lead.”

"The great thing about being alive is that every day amazing things happen to startle, entertain, and bemuse you. The great thing about being alive and studying the Middle East is that these things happen just about every hour." –Prof. Barry Rubin


As a non-profit organization, Rubin Center content is offered free of charge 



Click here to make your tax-deductible donation from the U.S., Canada, Israel, or the UK. Your contribution is vital to our ability to continue making this otherwise inaccessible information available to you!



For nearly two decades, the Rubin Center’s exclusive frontline reporting has brought you breaking stories, analysis, and research. Rubin researchers have reported from areas inaccessible to most researchers and journalists, often risking their lives to bring you the most accurate and up-to-date analysis.

Rubin Associate Seth Frantzman’s reporting from the frontline in Mosul, Iraq (Photo credit: Seth Frantzman)

Rubin Center achievements:
  • Revealing the Islamic State's use of chemical weapons
  • Creation of a unique archive of over 1,000 Islamic State documents by Rubin Fellow Aymenn Jawad Al-Tamimi and exposing the inner workings of the organization
  • Rubin Center Director Dr. Jonathan Spyer one of the only Western correspondents to report from both the regime and rebels sides during the Syrian civil war
  • Reporting and collecting material in Mosul, Iraq, during and after its liberation from the Islamic State, published in major media outlets
  • Rubin Associate Alex Grinberg identifying and analyzing threats and statements in the Iranian media relating to its crisis with Saudi Arabia and the Gulf, then picked up by major global media
  • Rubin Fellow Aymenn Jawad Al-Tamimi's testimony before Congress and the British Parliament on the topic of Syria and the Islamic State

Syrian Reconciliation Affairs Minister Ali Khaidar addresses a foreign delegation in Damascus, April 2017.  Jonathan Spyer can be seen on the left. (Source: Jonathan Spyer)

 
Prof. Rubin was a pioneer in the field of Middle East research. He established The Middle East Review of International Affairs (MERIA) in 1996, at a time when internet publications were not yet developed. MERIA, which produced high-quality articles on the region, was one of the first open-access, online Middle East journals and has always been offered free of charge.

Prof. Rubin believed in efficiency and accessibility. He noted, The money spent on a single conference or on a print journal could probably fund a journal or other online project for one or two years. In one of his final projects, "Free Books," he offered 13 of his books online at no cost.

Among the titles featured in the Free Books project


The Rubin Center has been completely self-funded, receiving no financial assistance from the Interdisciplinary Center (IDC) Herzliya. As a non-profit organization, the center has always operated on a very modest budget-- investing its time and money in frontline reporting and research.

Prof. Rubin also believed in encouraging talented young scholars and invested a great deal in helping those who were unrecognized develop and grow. The Rubin Fellowship program was founded in 2014 in his memory. Our first Rubin Fellow, Aymenn Jawad Al-Tamimi, is now a renowned expert sought out by government officials and whose work has been published in major media outlets.


Rubin Fellow Aymenn Jawad Al-Tamimi

Many more promising young researchers have joined the Rubin Center since, including Dr. Seth J. Frantzman, Dave McAvoy, Sarit Zehavi, Neri Zilber, and Aynur Bashirova.

In our final conversations with Prof. Rubin, he urged us to continue the research.

If you value our work, please make a tax-deductible contribution today. In doing so, you would be supporting groundbreaking research, promising young scholars, and Barry Rubin’s legacy.

If we do not receive funding, the Rubin Center will be closing its doors at the end of December 2017.

As a non-profit organization, Rubin Center content is offered free of charge


 

Click here to make your tax-deductible donation from the U.S., Canada, Israel, or the UK. Your contribution is vital to our ability to continue making this otherwise inaccessible information available to you!



Yours,

Judith Colp Rubin, Honorary President

Dr. Jonathan Spyer, Director

Yeru Chernilovsky, Director of Management/Publications


Rubin Fellow, Aymenn Jawad Al-Tamimi

Wednesday, August 2, 2017

Donate to the Rubin Center Now! Keep Us on the Frontline!


Dear Reader,

With the civil war still raging in Syria, the defeat of the Islamic State not yet complete, and Iran’s ongoing attempts to spread its regional influence through proxies, the Rubin Center has been working on the ground as events unfold within the Middle East and across the globe.

Beyond a traditional think tank, the Rubin Center also functions as a news-gathering organization, breaking stories, analyzing developments, and researching deeper trends.

Through our frontline reporting and research, we make the most up-to-date, accurate, often otherwise inaccessible information available to policymakers, the broader public, and the media. In our publications, we offer the best of contemporary Middle East analysis from voices close to and engaged with the events.

“The mortar shells came early in the morning.  At about 5.  At regular intervals. Solemn and sinister. They were a reminder of how close it all was… ” –Dr. Jonathan Spyer, reporting from the frontline [Read more…]


Rubin Associate Seth Frantzman’s reporting trip: Iraqi ERD soldiers firing at the Islamic State in Mosul, Iraq (Photo credit: Seth Frantzman)
Rubin Associate Seth Frantzman’s reporting trip: Iraqi ERD soldiers firing at the Islamic State in Mosul, Iraq (Photo credit: Seth Frantzman)


As a non-profit organization, Rubin Center content is offered free of charge


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Founded by the late Professor Barry Rubin, the Rubin Center is one of the most versatile and active Mid-East research centers in the world.

4-Barry

Here’s what your tax-deductible donation supports:


Frontline reporting


Rubin Center Director Dr. Jonathan Spyer spent time in government-controlled Syria, reporting from the heart of Damascus and obtaining rare access to senior Syrian officials. Spyer exposed the extent of Russian power and immunity in Syria. He also visited Homs and Aleppo cities as part of an official delegation of journalists.

 

“The Assad regime makes it hard for journalists to acquire visas.  The authorities are keen consumers of media and keep track of the names of reporters who have spent time among their enemies.  The number of journalists who have managed to report from both the government and rebel sides is very small…” --Dr. Jonathan Spyer [Read more...]

Rubin Center Director Dr. Jonathan Spyer in Damascus, with ministers of the Assad government, April 2017 (Source: Jonathan Spyer)
Rubin Center Director Dr. Jonathan Spyer in Damascus, with ministers of the Assad government, April 2017 (Source: Jonathan Spyer)

Spyer, Rubin Fellow Aymenn Jawad Al-Tamimi, and Rubin Research Associate Dr. Seth Frantzman visited Iraq on different occasions in 2017, embedding with Iraqi forces at the frontline of the war against the Islamic State in Mosul.

Rubin Research Associate Dr. Seth Frantzman on reporting trip to Mosul, Iraq (Source: Seth Frantzman)
Rubin Research Associate Dr. Seth Frantzman on reporting trip to Mosul, Iraq (Source: Seth Frantzman)

Spyer’s forthcoming book Days of the Fall: A Reporter’s Journey in the Syria and Iraq Wars (November 2017, Routledge) will include a large amount of hitherto unseen primary reporting based on his numerous trips to the war-torn countries.

 

"If you read one book on the carnage in Syria-Iraq, make it this one. Jonathan Spyer's reporting stands out for its mix of deep knowledge, crisp prose, and personal witness. His courage, savvy, and insight have my admiration." –Daniel Pipes, Middle East Forum

 

Frantzman also spent time in Egypt, Jordan, and the Palestinian territories carrying out research on security and policy issues affecting those regions and states.

Sisi poster hangs in front of a Cairo mosque, Frantzman’s February 2017 visit (Photo credit: Seth Frantzman)
Sisi poster hangs in front of a Cairo mosque, Frantzman’s February 2017 visit
(Photo credit: Seth Frantzman)


As a non-profit organization, Rubin Center content is offered free of charge


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Your tax-deductible donation--from the U.S., Canada, Israel, & the UK--is vital to our ability to continue making this otherwise inaccessible information available to you!


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Exclusive resources & interviews


Rubin Fellow Aymenn Jawad Al-Tamimi has continued to build up his unique archives of over 500 previously unseen Islamic State documents, creating a vital public resource on the inner workings of the organization.

 

“Aymenn [Jawad] al-Tamimi… has worked over the past year to compile the most thorough log of ISIS documents available to the public.” -- The Guardian


Islamic State training camp contract exposed by Rubin Fellow Aymenn Jawad Al-Tamimi (Photo: Aymenn Jawad Al-Tamimi)
Islamic State training camp contract exposed by Rubin Fellow Aymenn Jawad Al-Tamimi (Photo: Aymenn Jawad Al-Tamimi)

Jawad has also profiled numerous militias in Syria, including native Syrian Hizballah and the integration of Shi’i militias into the Syrian state apparatus and has conducted exclusive interviews with dozens of militia leaders. He is currently working on a major new research project looking at the Islamic State’s internal security structures.


Bringing together the experts


With continued instability in the Middle East and questions about the new U.S. administration’s role in the region, the Rubin Center’s third annual conference in memory of the late Prof. Barry Rubin, “A New Era? Trump and the Middle East,” brought together a panel of experts to discuss U.S. policy under President Trump and the implications for Israel and the region.

Third annual Rubin Center conference, March 5, 2017. From left to right: Rubin Center Director Dr. Jonathan Spyer, Rubin Center Research Associate Alex Grinberg, Rubin Fellow Aymenn Jawad Al-Tamimi, and Rubin Center Research Associate Dr. Seth Frantzman
Third annual Rubin Center conference, March 5, 2017. From left to right: Rubin Center Director Dr. Jonathan Spyer, Rubin Center Research Associate Alex Grinberg, Rubin Fellow Aymenn Jawad Al-Tamimi, and Rubin Center Research Associate Dr. Seth Frantzman



Media & consultancy


The Rubin Center is regularly sought out by the White House, British Parliament, China, Israel, India, Canada, and the Czech Republic, Finland, Japan, and other governments to advise policymakers, as well as media bodies and human rights NGOs.

 

As part of its consultancy activities, the Rubin Center recently prepared a detailed and innovative report on the Hizballah threat to Israel.

Poster in Damascus of Hizballah leader Hassan Nasrallah “Have faith in me: To Haifa and far, far beyond Haifa,” (Source: Flickr)
Poster in Damascus of Hizballah leader Hassan Nasrallah “Have faith in me: To Haifa and far, far beyond Haifa,” (Source: Flickr)

The Rubin Center also publishes in a broad range of media outlets, among them the New York TimesJane’s Intelligence Review, Foreign PolicyWest Point’s CTC SentinelThe American Interestthe National InterestThe Australian, and more.


Read Rubin Center Research Associate Neri Zilber’s “Israel’s Secret Arab Allies” for the New York Times


Rubin Center Research Associate Neri Zilber speaking at third annual Rubin Center conference
Rubin Center Research Associate Neri Zilber speaking at third annual Rubin Center conference


Publications


Middle East Review of International Affairs (MERIA)
, the Rubin Center’s quarterly journal, with a circulation of over 25,000, covers the latest developments in the region from a wide variety of viewpoints. Get your free subscription today!

 

Rubin Fellow Aymenn Jawad Al-Tamimi produced a groundbreaking study on Israel’s relations with the Syrian rebels for the center’s Middle East Review of International Affairs (MERIA), based on extensive Arabic language research and interviews with rebels in the border area.

 

“Numerous articles on Israel’s relations with the Syrian Arab rebels have suffered from an absence of on the ground knowledge and sourcing. This MERIA special report from Rubin Center Fellow Aymenn Jawad Al-Tamimi represents the most in-depth and serious study on this important issue to have appeared until now.”—Dr. Jonathan Spyer, Editor, MERIA

The rebel-held town of Jubatha al-Khashab just opposite the Druze town of Buq’atha in the Golan Heights (Photo credit: Aymenn Jawad Al-Tamimi)
The rebel-held town of Jubatha al-Khashab just opposite the Druze town of Buq’atha in the Golan Heights (Photo credit: Aymenn Jawad Al-Tamimi)

Turkish Studies: Turkey is today undergoing profound, even historic, internal changes. At the same time, it is a major player in regional processes--intervening in Syria in support of the rebels, and standing behind Qatar in its contest with Saudi Arabia. Turkish Studies quarterly, listed in the Social Sciences Citation Index (SSCI), is among the top three in Google Scholar’s Middle Eastern & Islamic Studies ranking.


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The Rubin Center has produced numerous books on subjects related to the modern Middle East.

As part of our Free Books Project, we continue to offer 13 of Barry Rubin’s books online at no cost, including books covering the Israel-Palestinian conflict, Syria, U.S. policy, Jewish assimilation, and more.


16-Free Books logo

Expanding our research team


From left to right: Dr. Seth Frantzman, Sarit Zehavi, and Aynur Bashirova
From left to right: Dr. Seth Frantzman, Sarit Zehavi, and Aynur Bashirova

The Rubin Center is happy to welcome Research Associates Dr. Seth Frantzman, a prolific journalist and researcher who travels frequently throughout the region, and Lieutenant-Colonel (Res.) Sarit Zehavi, a former career officer with the research department of IDF Military Intelligence who specializes in the Israel-Lebanon border area. Visiting Fellow Aynur Bashirova, an expert on Israeli-Azerbaijani relations from the Université Libre de Bruxelles (ULB), has also recently joined the Rubin team.


As a non-profit organization, Rubin Center content is offered free of charge


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Your tax-deductible donation--from the U.S., Canada, Israel, & the UK--is vital to our ability to continue making this otherwise inaccessible information available to you!


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Now accepting tax-deductible donations from Canada!


The Rubin Center brings you exclusive, on-the-ground coverage as events develop. As it is our duty to make this otherwise inaccessible information available to all, we offer this content at no charge. Our work directly influences policymakers, the media, and also keeps the wider public informed and up-to-date. The Rubin Center relies on your contribution so that we can continue serving you unique, in-depth, and current reporting.

 

 


Sincerely,

18-JS

Dr. Jonathan Spyer
Director, Rubin Center
Editor, Middle East Review of International Affairs (MERIA)


Click here to support the Rubin Center today!


Friday, February 3, 2017

Invitation: Symposium in Honor of Barry Rubin: "A New Era? Trump & the Middle East"

The Rubin Center for Research in International Affairs at IDC Herzliya cordially invites you to

A Symposium in Honor of the Late Prof. Barry Rubin:
“A New Era? Trump and the Middle East”


Sunday, March 5th, 2017, at 8:30am
Room EL03, Adelson Building
Interdisciplinary Center (IDC) Herzliya

8:30 | Reception

8:45 | Opening remarks

Prof. Uriel Reichman, President and Founder, IDC Herzliya

Judith Colp Rubin, Honorary President, Rubin Center for Research in International Affairs, IDC Herzliya

Dr. Jonathan Spyer, Director, Rubin Center for Research in International Affairs,
IDC Herzliya

Symposium on “A New Era? Trump and the Middle East”

9:00 | Session 1: Current Middle East Strategic Issues

Panel Chair: Dr. Jonathan Spyer, Director, Rubin Center for Research in International Affairs, IDC Herzliya

Alex Grinberg, Research Associate, Rubin Center for Research in International Affairs, IDC Herzliya
"Iran and the ‘Fatigue of Islam’ in the West"

Aymenn Jawad Al-Tamimi, Rubin Fellow, Rubin Center for Research in International Affairs, IDC Herzliya
“Local Loyalist Militias in Syria”

Dr. Seth Frantzman, Journalist and Op-ed Editor, Jerusalem Post
"Facing the Future and Past: Post-ISIS Middle East and the Kurds"

Dr. Gallia Lindenstrauss, Research Associate, Institute for National Security Studies (INSS)
"Turkey’s Multiple Dilemmas in a Divided Middle East"

10:40 | Break

11:00 | Session 2: The End of the Obama Legacy, Looking to the Future

Panel Chair: Dr. Seth Frantzman, Journalist and Op-ed Editor, Jerusalem Post

Dr. Martin Kramer, President, Shalem College
“America: Great Again in the Middle East?”

Caroline Glick, Journalist and Middle-East Commentator
“Israel’s Opportunity with the Trump Administration”

Neri Zilber, Research Associate, Rubin Center for Research in International Affairs, IDC Herzliya
“The Palestinians Adrift: After Obama, with Trump, Under Abbas”


The event will be conducted in English

To ensure a seat, please RSVP to info@rubincenter.org