Middle East Institute

Middle East Institute

The Middle East Institute near Dupont Circle in Washington, D.C.
Abbreviation	MEI
Motto	Providing non-partisan, expert information and analysis on the Middle East.
Formation	1946
Type	Public Policy Think Tank
Headquarters	1761 N ST NW (Washington, D.C.)
Location	Washington, D.C.
President	Wendy Chamberlin
Budget	$ 2.6 million (2009)
Website	www.MEI.edu

The Middle East Institute (MEI) is a non-profit, non-partisan think tank and cultural center in Washington, D.C., founded in 1946. It seeks to “increase knowledge of the Middle East among the citizens of the United States and to promote a better understanding between the people of these two areas”.

MEI fulfills this mission by:

In 1946, architect George Camp Keiser felt strongly that the Middle East, a region he had traveled through before World War II, should be better understood in the United States, so he brought together a group of like-minded people to form the Middle East Institute in Washington, D.C.

"The United States had not yet assumed an active role in Middle Eastern affairs. In anticipation of the role that it would have to play in the postwar world, the founders resolved that steps should be taken to develop among the American people an interest in the Middle East."

His colleagues on the original Board of Governors included Halford L. Hoskins, Director of the Johns Hopkins University School of Advanced International Studies (SAIS); Christian A. Herter, then congressman from Massachusetts and later Dwight Eisenhower's Secretary of State; Ambassador George V. Allen; Harold Glidden, Director of the Islamic Department at the Library of Congress; and Harvey P. Hall, the first Editor of the Middle East Journal, professor at the American University of Beirut and Robert College. Keiser was also MEI's chief source of financial support. In 1946, the Institute found a temporary home at 1906 Florida Avenue NW at SAIS. At the time, they were linked administratively through the Diplomatic Affairs Foundation, the parent organization of both SAIS and MEI.

In its early years, MEI concentrated on establishing a library, publishing the Middle East Journal, holding annual conferences and sponsoring formal courses in Middle East studies at SAIS. Keiser and his group recognized the need for studying the Middle East using the framework of area studies. This interdisciplinary approach to training diplomats and businesspeople was a new phenomenon at the time and as such closely linked to foreign policy initiatives in the United States.