THE NEW AMERICAN ADMINISTRATION AND U.S. NATIONAL SECURITY: PROSPECTS AND CHALLENGES

Robert G. Rabil
Lifelong Learning Society Distinguished Professor of Current Affairs 2012-2013
Recipient of the LLS 2008 Excellence in Teaching Award

DESCRIPTION: The Obama Administration will face a multitude of national security threats and challenges. The American Administration will confront a world in transition, marked by circumstances and constraints imposed by the US war on extremism and the emergence of a new political order in the Middle East. Consequently, the nature and scope of international conflicts in relation to US national security takes on broad and complex dimensions. This series attempts to identify and contextualize a number of highly complex challenges and threats to US national security and provide a comprehensive framework for addressing them.

SIX LECTURES:

1. The Political Salafis and Salafi Jihadis: Between politics and terrorism
2. The Day After in Syria: A new regional order?
3. Iran and Rejectionism in South America
4. The Afghanistan-Pakistan Dilemma
5. China and the New World Disorder?
6. The Post-Revolutions Arab-Israeli Conflict: The death of the peace process?

BIOGRAPHICAL INFORMATION: Dr. Robert G. Rabil holds a Masters in Government from Harvard University and a Ph.D. in Near Eastern and Judaic Studies from Brandeis University. He served as Chief of Emergency for the Red Cross in Lebanon, and was Project Manager of the U.S. State Department-funded Iraq Research and Documentation Project. He has written extensively on Syria, Iraq, Lebanon, Israel, U.S.-Arab Relations, reform in the Arab world, radical Islam and terrorism. Dr. Rabil is a frequent speaker at major university campuses throughout the country. He lectures and participates in forums and seminars sponsored by the U.S. government, including the U.S. Army and the National Intelligence Council. He currently is an Associate Professor of Political Science at Florida Atlantic University (FAU) and was recently conferred with an honorary Ph.D. in humanities from the Massachusetts College of Liberal Arts.