Daniel Pipes

Daniel Pipes
Born	(1949-09-09) September 9, 1949 Boston, Massachusetts
Occupation	Commentator; Distinguished Visiting Professor at Pepperdine University (Spring '07); Director of Middle East Forum
Nationality	American
Subject	Middle East, Islamic terrorism, Islamism
Website
http://www.danielpipes.org

Daniel Pipes (born September 9, 1949) is an American commentator, specialist, and analyst who specializes in the Middle East. Trained in comparative religion, he has written or co-written 18 books, maintains a blog, and lectures around the world presenting his analysis of world trends. His work contends that militant Islam is incompatible with democracy, freedom, multiculturalism, and human rights.

Pipes is the founder and director of the Middle East Forum, a former member of the board of the U.S. Institute of Peace, and a columnist for the New York Times News Service/Syndicate. He contributes regularly to David Horowitz's online publication FrontPage Magazine, and he has had his work published by many newspapers across North America, including the Washington Post, New York Times, and Wall Street Journal. He is frequently invited to discuss the Middle East on American network television, as well as by universities and think tanks, has appeared on the BBC and Al Jazeera, and has lectured in 25 countries.

Pipes is also the founder of Campus Watch, an organization and website which exposes and publicizes what it claims is poor scholarship concerning the Middle East - although his academic positions have also been criticised. The site has recieved many contributions from numerous individuals on campuses who share Pipes' opinions. Pipes served as an advisor to Rudolph Giuliani's 2008 presidential campaign.

Background

Pipes was born in Boston, Massachusetts, the son of Harvard historian Richard Pipes and his wife Irene (née Roth), and grew up in Cambridge, Massachusetts. Both Pipes' parents were from assimilated Polish Jewish families that fled from Poland in 1939. The couple met in the United States in 1944 and married two years later. Pipes was their first child.

Pipes attended the Harvard pre-school, then received a private school education, partly abroad. He enrolled in Harvard University, where his father was then still a professor, in the fall of 1967; for his first two years he studied mathematics, but has said: "I wasn't smart enough. So I chose to become a historian."[11] He said he "found the material too abstract."[12] He credits visits to the Sahara Desert in 1968 and the Sinai Desert in 1969 for piquing his interest in the Arabic language,[13] and visits to Niger and Tunisia for piquing his interest in the Islamic world, and he changed his major to Middle East history.[14] For the next two years Pipes studied Arabic and the Middle East, obtaining a B.A. in history in 1971; his senior thesis was titled A Medieval Islamic Debate: The World Created in Eternity, a study of Al-Ghazali, one of the greatest jurists, theologians and mystical thinkers in the Islamic tradition.[15] After graduating in 1971, Pipes spent nearly two years in Cairo. He learned Arabic and studied the Quran, which he said gave him an appreciation for Islam.[16]

He returned to Harvard in 1973 and obtained a Ph.D. in medieval Islamic history in 1978. His Ph.D. dissertation eventually became his first book, Slave Soldiers and Islam, in 1981. He studied abroad for six years, three of which were spent in Egypt, where he wrote a book on colloquial Egyptian Arabic which was published in 1983. He switched his academic interest from medieval Islamic studies to modern Islam in the late 1970s.

He taught world history at the University of Chicago from 1972 to 1982, history at Harvard from 1983 to 1984, and policy and strategy at the Naval War College from 1984 to 1986. From 1986 to 1993 he was director of the Philadelphia-based Foreign Policy Research Institute and editor of its journal, Orbis. In 1990 he organized the Middle East Forum as a unit of FPRI; it became an independent organization with himself as head in 1994.

Pipes has served in various capacities at the Departments of State and Defense, while his father served on the National Security Council, and he has testified to the United States Congress. He speaks French, English and Arabic and has a reading knowledge of German.

He has been married twice and has three daughters.

As of January 2007, Pipes held the position of Distinguished Visiting Professor at Pepperdine University teaching a course titled "International Relations: Islam and Politics."

Pipes is also a prolific book reviewer , having published over 530 book reviews on Middle Eastern studies.[17]

Campus Watch

Pipes' think tank the Middle East Forum established a website in 2002 called Campus Watch, which identified what it saw as five problems in the teaching of Middle Eastern studies at American universities: "analytical failures, the mixing of politics with scholarship, intolerance of alternative views, apologetics, and the abuse of power over students." Students and faculty are encouraged to submit information on "Middle East-related scholarship, lectures, classes, demonstrations, and other activities relevant to Campus Watch". The project was accused of "McCarthyesque intimidation" of professors who criticized Israel when it published "dossiers" on eight professors it thought "hostile" to America. In protest, more than 100 academics demanded to be added to what some called a "blacklist". In October 2002 Campus Watch removed the dossiers from their website. It does, however, maintain a list of "Recommended Professors", "scholars whom we consider thoughtful and balanced."

Views and positions

Pipes' strong support of Israel and his argument that Islamism is a threat to the West—conflicts with the views of establishment Middle East scholars, such as John Esposito, who describes Islamist movements as political forces leading to democratic progress.

Pipes was a firm supporter of the Vietnam War, and when his fellow students occupied the Harvard administration building to protest it in the 1960s, he sided with the administration. Pipes had always considered himself to be a Democrat, but after anti-war George McGovern gained the 1972 Democratic nomination for president, he switched to the Republican Party.

Radical Islam

Pipes has long expressed concern about the danger, as he sees it, of radical or militant Islam to the Western world. In 1985, he wrote in Middle East Insight that "[t]he scope of the radical fundamentalist's ambition poses novel problems; and the intensity of his onslaught against the United States makes solutions urgent." In the fall 1995 issue of National Interest, he wrote: "Unnoticed by most Westerners, war has been unilaterally declared on Europe and the United States." He wrote this in the aftermath of the Oklahoma City bombing; investigative journalist Steven Emerson had said in the aftermath of the bombing that it bore a "Middle Eastern trait." Pipes agreed with Emerson and told USA Today that the United States was "under attack" and that Islamic fundamentalists "are targeting us." Four months before the September 11, 2001 attacks, Pipes and Emerson wrote in the Wall Street Journal that al Qaeda was "planning new attacks on the U.S." and that Iranian operatives "helped arrange advanced ... training for al Qaeda personnel in Lebanon where they learned, for example, how to destroy large buildings."

Moderate Muslims

Pipes said that the American government and other powerful institutions should give priority to locating, meeting with, funding, forwarding, empowering, and celebrating those Muslims who, at personal risk, stand up and confront the totalitarians.

Pipes suggested that radical Islam is the problem and moderate Islam is the solution. "Is it not telling that great numbers of moderate Muslims see danger where so many non-Muslims are blind? Do developments in Pakistan and Turkey not confirm my oft-repeated point that radical Islam is the problem and moderate Islam the solution? And do they not suggest that ignorant non-Muslim busybodies should get out of the way of those moderate Muslims determined to relegate Islamism to its rightful place in the dustbin of history?"

American Muslims

In October, 2001 Pipes said, before the convention of the American Jewish Congress. "I worry very much, from the Jewish point of view, that the presence, and increased stature, and affluence, and enfranchisement of American Muslims, because they are so much led by an Islamist leadership, that this will present true dangers to American Jews."

Pipes has angered many American Muslims because he suggested that Muslims in government and military positions should be given special attention as security risks and has claimed mosques are breeding grounds for militants.

French Muslims

Pipes has long held that, unless there is some change "the historic French population will over the long term not be able to control the immigrant population". Of the 1995 Muslim population of three million (half of them citizens) he said they: "... engage disproportionately in criminal activity, and mostly of a violent nature". He presents the argument that France cannot integrate the incomers - partly because the centers of their (European) cities are the preserve of the middle class. Poor people in their societies (particularly Muslims) live geographically and metaphorically on the dreary fringes, and are thus permanently isolated and excluded.

Two-state solution

He wrote in Commentary in April 1990: "There can be either an Israel or a Palestine, but not both. To think that two states can stably and peacefully coexist in the small territory between the Jordan River and the Mediterranean Sea is to be either naïve or duplicitous. If the last seventy years teach anything, it is that there can be only one state west of the Jordan River. Therefore, to those who ask why the Palestinians must be deprived of a state, the answer is simple: grant them one and you set in motion a chain of events that will lead either to its extinction or the extinction of Israel."

Policy toward Iraq

In 1987, Pipes encouraged the United States to provide Saddam Hussein with upgraded weapons and intelligence,[18] to counterbalance Iran's successes in the Iran-Iraq War. In April 1991, when a debate was raging about the desirability of a U.S. intervention against the Saddam Hussein regime, Pipes wrote in the Wall Street Journal about the prospect of U.S. forces occupying Iraq, "with Schwartzkopf Pasha ruling from Baghdad": "It sounds romantic, but watch out. Like the Israelis in southern Lebanon nine years ago, American troops would find themselves quickly hated, with Shi'as taking up suicide bombing, Kurds resuming their rebellion, and the Syrian and Iranian governments plotting new ways to sabotage American rule. Staying in place would become too painful, leaving too humiliating."[19]

Pipes was a strong backer of the Iraq War, saying that Saddam Hussein posed an "imminent threat" to the United States. In a New York Post article published April 8, 2003, Pipes expressed his opposition to Egyptian President Hosni Mubarak's concerned prediction that "[the] war [in Iraq] will have horrible consequences...Terrorism will be aggravated...Terrorist organizations will be united...Everything will be insecure." Though this concern was echoed by various other politicians and academics cited by Pipes in his article, Pipes argued that "the precise opposite is more likely to happen: The war in Iraq will lead to a reduction in terrorism."

Arafat's intentions at Oslo

Writing in The Forward within days of the signing of the Oslo Accords, Pipes said: "Mr. Arafat has merely adopted a flexible approach to fit adverse circumstances, saying whatever needed to be said to survive. The PLO had not a change of heart — merely a change of policy ... the deal with Israel represents a lease on life for the PLO, enabling it to stay in business until Israel falters, when it can deal a death blow."

Iraq-Iran War

Pipes said: "True, it was Saddam Husayn of Iraq who started the Gulf War in September 1980, but Iranian forces went on the offensive in July 1982, and it was Khomeini who continued the fighting for another six years."

On Europe

Pipes has been heavily critical of European welfare states, which he views as a consequence of the U.S. 'taking over' the defence of Europe during the Cold War.

On Iran

In 1980, Pipes wrote that "Iran made the transition to a post-oil economy. It is the only major oil exporter to abandon the heady billions and return to live by its own means."

Pipes suggested in his article at the New York Sun that the Iranian armed "terrorist" group known as Mujahedeen-e Khalq should be unleashed.

On Saudi Arabia

Pipes wrote: "The Kingdom of Saudi Arabia - friend or foe of America? Having been asked exactly this question on such shows as CNN's "Crossfire" and ABC's "Nightline," I've come to the conclusion that the answer is "neither." Rather, Saudi Arabia is a rival." Pipes also wrote: "The Kingdom of Saudi Arabia's massive implication in the death of 3,000 Americans on 9/11, I argued in February, is reason for the victims and their families to consider suing it for compensation."

Praise, criticism and controversy

The Wall Street Journal has called Pipes "an authoritative commentator on the Middle East." Michael Moran of MSNBC described him as one of the best-known "Mideast policy luminaries". CNN referred to him as one "of the country’s leading experts" on the Middle East. In the Boston Globe, Jeff Jacoby wrote, "If Pipes's admonitions had been heeded, there might never have been a 9/11."

A 1984 Business Week book review by Ronald Taggiasco stated that "Pipes has handled his subject well. It is difficult these days to address the question of Islam, the Arabs, and their relations with Israel and remain nonpartisan. Pipes has managed to do just that. He has wended his way through that minefield unscathed."

On the other hand, a 1983 Washington Post book review by Thomas W. Lippman stated that Pipes displays "a disturbing hostility to contemporary Muslims ... he professes respect for Muslims but is frequently contemptuous of them". It said his book "is marred by exaggerations, inconsistencies, and evidence of hostility to the subject" while admitting that "[f]ew other writers have explained so lucidly such complex developments in Muslim history" and that his "book is a valuable contribution to our understanding."

In the 11/19/90 edition of the National Review, Pipes wrote "Western European societies are unprepared for the massive immigration of brown-skinned peoples cooking strange foods and maintaining different standards of hygiene...All immigrants bring exotic customs and attitudes, but Muslim customs are more troublesome than most." After these sentences attracted some attention over time, Pipes, when reprinting the article on his website, said "my goal in it was to characterize the thinking of Western Europeans, not give my own views."

In a column in The Nation, writer Kristine McNeil described Pipes as an "anti-Arab propagandist" who has built a career out of "distortions...twist[ing] words, quot[ing] people out of context and stretch[ing] the truth to suit his purpose." She claimed Pipes was "notorious in the academy for calling fundamentalist Muslims" (whom Pipes estimated at 10 to 15 percent of the Muslim population, and likened to supporters of Nazis and Leninists) "barbarians" and "potential killers", also mentioning the column in which Pipes had described the customs of Muslim immigrants as being "more troublesome than most". She also claimed Pipes is "a regular contributor to the website of Gamla," (he isn't, although Gamla's website features one Pipes article picked up from Policy Review) "an organization... that endorses the ethnic cleansing of every Palestinian as 'the only possible solution' to the Arab-Israeli conflict." (The latter repeats a claim by Alison Weir in the Washington Report on Middle East Affairs,, although the Gamla article cited by Weir actually says "The plan... should in no way be considered as the only possible option or the most correct course of action.")

In a publication of Jerusalem Center for Public Affairs in a May 2, 2004 Pipes, in The End of American Jewry's Golden Era, foresees the end of the golden era for Jews in the United States.

Pipes has criticized various U.S-based Islamic groups, especially the Council on American-Islamic Relations (CAIR). He considers CAIR to be an apologist for Islamist terrorist groups like Hezbollah and Hamas. Robert Spencer described the campaign against Pipes on the CAIR website as a "lynching." [20]

Pipes was invited to speak at the University of Toronto in March 2005 by a new student group at the University called The Middle East Forum at U of T. A letter from professors, staff and students asserted that Pipes had a "long record of xenophobic, racist and sexist [speeches] that goes back to 1990." University officials said they would not interfere with Pipes' visit.[21]

On April 29, 2005 Wahida Valiante, the vice-president of the Canadian Islamic Congress, published on its website's regular "Friday Bulletin" the article Worth Repeating: Media Propaganda: Hitler, Bush and the "Big Lie", which suggested Pipes was a follower of Hitler and/or used tactics like Hitler and that he wanted to ethnically cleanse the United States of Muslims.[22] In the June 10 edition of the Friday Bulletin an "Apology and Retraction" appears, stating:

The Canadian Islamic Congress and Ms. Valiante apologize without reservation and retract remarks in the column that suggest that Dr. Daniel Pipes is a follower of Hitler or that he uses the tactics of Hitler or that he wants to ethnically cleanse America of its Muslim presence."[23]

Awards and honors

On March 11 2006, Daniel Pipes was awarded the "Free Speech Award" from the Danish organisation Free Press Society of 2004 (Trykkefrihedsselkabet af 2004). He has been awarded honorary doctorates from universities in Switzerland and the United States.

In May 2006, Pipes received the Guardian of Zion Award.

The Forward, a Jewish publication, named Pipes as one of America's "50 Most Influential Jews."

Books and policy papers

• Miniatures: Views of Islamic and Middle Eastern Politics (2003), Transaction Publishers, ISBN 0-7658-0215-5
• Militant Islam Reaches America (2002), W.W. Norton & Company; paperback (2003) ISBN 0-393-32531-8
• with Abdelnour, Z. (2000), Ending Syria's Occupation of Lebanon: The U.S. Role Middle East Forum, ISBN 0-9701484-0-2
• In the Path of God: Islam and Political Power (2002), Transaction Publishers, ISBN 0-7658-0981-8
• Muslim immigrants in the United States (Backgrounder) (2002), Center for Immigration Studies
• The Long Shadow : Culture and Politics in the Middle East (1999), Transaction Publishers, ISBN 0-88738-220-7
• The Hidden Hand : Middle East Fears of Conspiracy (1997), Palgrave Macmillan; paperback (1998) ISBN 0-312-17688-0
• Conspiracy : How the Paranoid Style Flourishes and Where It Comes From (1997), Touchstone; paperback (1999) ISBN 0-684-87111-4
• Syria Beyond the Peace Process (Policy Papers, No. 41) (1995), Washington Institute for Near East Policy, ISBN 0-944029-64-7
• Sandstorm (1993), Rowman & Littlefield, paperback (1993) ISBN 0-8191-8894-8
• Damascus Courts the West: Syrian Politics, 1989-1991 (Policy Papers, No. 26) (1991), Washington Institute for Near East Policy, ISBN 0-944029-13-2
• with Garfinkle, A. (1991), Friendly Tyrants: An American Dilemma Palgrave Macmillan, ISBN 0-312-04535-2
• From a distance: Influencing foreign policy from Philadelphia (The Heritage lectures) (1991), Heritage Foundation, ASIN B0006DGHE4
• The Rushdie Affair: The Novel, the Ayatollah, and the West (1990), Transaction Publishers, paperback (2003) ISBN 0-7658-0996-6
• Greater Syria: The History of an Ambition (1990), Oxford University Press, ISBN 0-19-506021-0
• An Arabist's guide to Colloquial Egyptian (1983), Foreign Service Institute
• Slave Soldiers and Islam: The Genesis of a Military System (1981), Yale University Press, ISBN 0-300-02447-9

Documentaries

• Obsession: Radical Islam's War Against the West - film features analysis by notable counter-terrorism figures including Daniel Pipes and others

See also

• Israeli-Palestinian conflict
• Criticism of Islam
• Christopher Hitchens' critiques of specific individuals#Regarding Daniel Pipes
• From Time Immemorial

External links

• Daniel Pipes’s personal website
• Los Angeles Times: “A Misdirected Attack”
• Muslim Public Affairs Council: The Truth About Daniel Pipes
• Financial Times: Islam's battle with a hostile world
• Truth on Terror in World Magazine
• Reply to CAIR's Attack on Daniel Pipes Pipes' response
• Harvard Magazine profile
• In Defense of Steven Emerson and Daniel Pipes, a letter from Shaykh Prof. Abdul Hadi Palazzi, Root and Branch Information Service, September 19, 1999
• "Daniel Pipes Visits Hamilton College"
• A60915-2003Aug14&notFound=true Protests against Pipes' appointment to the USIP *The Truth About Daniel Pipes, from the Muslim Public Affairs Council
• Pipes the Propagandist
• WHO IS DANIEL PIPES? by CAIR
• Pipes, R. Memoirs of a Non-Belonger. Yale University Press, 2003.
• Press, Eyal. Neocon Man, The Nation, May 10, 2004.
• Rooij de, Paul. "Smear Mongers", CounterPunch, September 24, 2002.
• Scherer, Michael. "Daniel Pipes, Peacemaker?", Mother Jones, May 26, 2003
• Essay detailing Pipes views on Tariq Ramadan and Islamism
• Daniel Pipes, a new kind of Israel-basher - article by Bradley Burston in Haaretz.
• Daniel Pipes and the unfolding civil war in Iraq, World Socialist Website, April 11, 2006.

Audio and video

• International Conflict Resolution, NPR: Talk of the Nation, August 27 1998
• Harry Kreisler in conversation with Daniel Pipes, UCSD, 2004
• Rethinking Islam, The Connection, September 10 2002
• U.S. Policy Towards Israel and Dreams of Democracy in the Middle East, On Point Radio, May 20 2004
• Video Conversation with history with Daniel Pipes

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