My long-time colleague, Mike Greene, has an piece in the Policy Forum of Science magazine (Science 21 November 2008) suggesting the need for regional programs to promote scientific cooperation in the Middle East, especially among Israel, Palestine and Jordan. He notes the Association of Middle East and United States National Academies of Science that has been formed to further scientific cooperation and the MERC program supported by USAID, but calls for other similar multinational scientific initiatives.Read:
Comment. I second Mike's suggestion. I would note that there are lots of potential conflicts in the region, such as those that might be triggered by disputes between Lebanon and Syria, Turkey and Iraq (in regions occupied by Kurdish ethnic populations), or futher east Iraq and Iran. There are regional organizations for cooperation among Islamic and/or Arab nations that would help to ameliorate relations among these nations. One potential source of conflict is the management of resources that are shared among countries, ranging from surface and ground water, fish stocks and shipping lanes. So too, the infection of one country by human, animal or plant diseases or the infestation by pests from a neighboring country may lead to quite negative feelings. It seems to me that scientific cooperation on the measurement and modeling of these resources and threats may help to create a common understanding which might thereby reduce distrust among the parties. JAD
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