Dr. James Zogby

Speeches

Posted on Friday September 5, 2008

James Zogby's testimony to the DNC 2008 Platform Committee

I am Arab American. My family came to this great country from Lebanon almost a century ago. They, like hundreds of thousands of other Arab immigrants, came because of the freedom America promised, and the opportunity it provided.

To read the full speech, click here.

James Zogby Audio Recording

• The Stakes Have Never Been Higher: The 2008 Elections and US Middle East Policy

Address to the Arab American Anti Discrimination Committee of Massachusetts (ADCMA) Saturday, May 31, 2008.

Audio courtesy of 492 Café, and Jeff Manzelli

Click on titles below to read the entire speech (PDF).

• The Difference

I thank you for the invitation and the opportunity to participate in this critical conversation. Tragic and terrible terrorist attacks in the past few years have brought to light to the urgency of addressing this issue of how we, in the West, are dealing with issues of integration and assimilation of Arab and Muslim communities in our countries. I speak to you as a practitioner, an activist and a scholar who has studied this issue. I am an Arab American. I know my community’s demographics and have polled the attitudes of both Arab American and American Muslims...

• The Stakes Have Never Been Higher: U.S. Middle East Policy in the 2008 Elections

When I spoke here four years ago, I delivered an address entitled "The Mess We're In: How Our Leaders Failed Us in the Middle East." What I noted then was that, despite our decades of engagement in the Middle East, on so many levels—the amount of foreign aid that we send, the weapons that we provide, the troops that we have sent into the region going back to the '50's, even the wars that we've fought, the lives that we've lost, the interests that we have and the friends and relationships that developed—despite all of this, we, as a country, have no understanding of the Middle East, of its history, of its evolution during the last century...

• The Important and Interesting 2008 U.S. Presidential Contest

Ever since I can recall, we have tended to describe each election as “this is the most important election in our lifetime.” While not dismissing the importance of past elections, or ignoring the penchant of every age to over-appreciate itself, I think it is fair to say that this one is important. The convergence of issues, both foreign and domestic, makes this year’s contest quite special...