Robert S. Leiken
Encyclopedia
Robert S. Leiken is an American intellectual, political scientist, and historian. He is the Director of the Immigration and National Security Program and the Mexico Program at the Center for the National Interest.
, where he attended public school through the tenth grade. He graduated from the Deerfield Academy
.
in English (he graduated Magna Cum Laude and Phi Beta Kappa, and wrote a Summa Cum Laude thesis on Henry James
), an M.A. from Harvard University in History
, and a doctorate in Politics from St Antony's College, Oxford University. In 2003 he was awarded the Bosch Berlin Prize in Public Policy by the American Academy in Berlin. Leiken is fluent in Spanish. He has also studied French, German, Classical Greek and Latin.
at Massachusetts Institute of Technology
from 1968-1971. In 1971 he went to Mexico, where he served as a Professor of Economics
at the National Agricultural University of Mexico (Universidad Nacional Agricola Autonoma de Chapingo) and also as a Professor of Economic History at the Center for Economic Research and Teaching. He has also served as a Visiting Professor of Political Science
at Boston College and as a Visiting Professor of Communications at Boston University
.
for Mexico
, where he stayed until 1975 and returned from 1977-1980. In Cuernavaca
he taught English at a trade center called CEFESOM and political economy at a school called CDOC.
in 1975. Between 1975 and 1977 Leiken worked as a community organizer, helping to integrate blacks and whites in Dorchester neighborhoods.
. Since then, he has served as a Senior Associate at the Carnegie Endowment for International Peace
, a Research Associate at the Harvard University Center for International Affairs, a Visiting Fellow at the International Forum for Democratic Studies, a Senior Fellow at the Brookings Institution
and the Nixon Center and currently, the Director of Immigration and National Security Programs and of the Mexico Program at the Center for the National Interest in Washington D.C.. Leiken resists the tendency in Washington to derive policy from politics rather than investigation and has earned a reputation for patient, concrete and unbiased analysis.
entitled "Nicaragua's Untold Stories" criticized the Sandinistas for mismanagement, corruption, and human rights
abuses, and political indoctrination. A 1986 profile in The National Journal wrote
Leiken's article caused controversy among both Democrats
and Republicans
, according to Time Magazine:
Diana West of the Washington Times added:
Leiken's account of the Sandinistas and of the Contras
made him a target of former leftist colleagues. He was to experience similar attacks later from conservatives upon the publication of his 2005 Foreign Affairs
article, "The Moderate Muslim Brotherhood". The article argued that Al Qaeda and the Muslim Brotherhood
are bitter enemies, and that the Brotherhood's "relative moderation offers Washington a notable opportunity for engagement -- as long as policymakers recognize the considerable variation between the group's different branches and tendencies."
.
, European Islam
, Mexico
, and immigration
. Mr. Leiken's latest book, Europe's Angry Muslims, will be published January 2012, by Oxford University Press
. He is working on a project of meetings and research on Mexico's drug war.
Early life
Robert Leiken was born in New York City in 1939. Leiken grew up in Great Neck, New YorkGreat Neck, New York
The term Great Neck is commonly applied to a peninsula on the North Shore of Long Island, which includes the village of Great Neck, the village of Great Neck Estates, the village of Great Neck Plaza, and others, as well as an area south of the peninsula near Lake Success and the border of Queens...
, where he attended public school through the tenth grade. He graduated from the Deerfield Academy
Deerfield Academy
Deerfield Academy is an independent, coeducational boarding school in Deerfield, Massachusetts, United States. It is a four-year college-preparatory school with approximately 600 students and about 100 faculty, all of whom live on or near campus....
.
Education
Leiken holds a B.A. from Harvard UniversityHarvard University
Harvard University is a private Ivy League university located in Cambridge, Massachusetts, United States, established in 1636 by the Massachusetts legislature. Harvard is the oldest institution of higher learning in the United States and the first corporation chartered in the country...
in English (he graduated Magna Cum Laude and Phi Beta Kappa, and wrote a Summa Cum Laude thesis on Henry James
Henry James
Henry James, OM was an American-born writer, regarded as one of the key figures of 19th-century literary realism. He was the son of Henry James, Sr., a clergyman, and the brother of philosopher and psychologist William James and diarist Alice James....
), an M.A. from Harvard University in History
History
History is the discovery, collection, organization, and presentation of information about past events. History can also mean the period of time after writing was invented. Scholars who write about history are called historians...
, and a doctorate in Politics from St Antony's College, Oxford University. In 2003 he was awarded the Bosch Berlin Prize in Public Policy by the American Academy in Berlin. Leiken is fluent in Spanish. He has also studied French, German, Classical Greek and Latin.
University teaching
After receiving his M.A. from Harvard, Robert Leiken served as an Acting Assistant Professor of HumanitiesHumanities
The humanities are academic disciplines that study the human condition, using methods that are primarily analytical, critical, or speculative, as distinguished from the mainly empirical approaches of the natural sciences....
at Massachusetts Institute of Technology
Massachusetts Institute of Technology
The Massachusetts Institute of Technology is a private research university located in Cambridge, Massachusetts. MIT has five schools and one college, containing a total of 32 academic departments, with a strong emphasis on scientific and technological education and research.Founded in 1861 in...
from 1968-1971. In 1971 he went to Mexico, where he served as a Professor of Economics
Economics
Economics is the social science that analyzes the production, distribution, and consumption of goods and services. The term economics comes from the Ancient Greek from + , hence "rules of the house"...
at the National Agricultural University of Mexico (Universidad Nacional Agricola Autonoma de Chapingo) and also as a Professor of Economic History at the Center for Economic Research and Teaching. He has also served as a Visiting Professor of Political Science
Political science
Political Science is a social science discipline concerned with the study of the state, government and politics. Aristotle defined it as the study of the state. It deals extensively with the theory and practice of politics, and the analysis of political systems and political behavior...
at Boston College and as a Visiting Professor of Communications at Boston University
Boston University
Boston University is a private research university located in Boston, Massachusetts. With more than 4,000 faculty members and more than 31,000 students, Boston University is one of the largest private universities in the United States and one of Boston's largest employers...
.
Mexico
In 1971 Robert Leiken left the United StatesUnited States
The United States of America is a federal constitutional republic comprising fifty states and a federal district...
for Mexico
Mexico
The United Mexican States , commonly known as Mexico , is a federal constitutional republic in North America. It is bordered on the north by the United States; on the south and west by the Pacific Ocean; on the southeast by Guatemala, Belize, and the Caribbean Sea; and on the east by the Gulf of...
, where he stayed until 1975 and returned from 1977-1980. In Cuernavaca
Cuernavaca
Cuernavaca is the capital and largest city of the state of Morelos in Mexico. It was established at the archeological site of Gualupita I by the Olmec, "the mother culture" of Mesoamerica, approximately 3200 years ago...
he taught English at a trade center called CEFESOM and political economy at a school called CDOC.
Boston
Robert Leiken returned to BostonBoston
Boston is the capital of and largest city in Massachusetts, and is one of the oldest cities in the United States. The largest city in New England, Boston is regarded as the unofficial "Capital of New England" for its economic and cultural impact on the entire New England region. The city proper had...
in 1975. Between 1975 and 1977 Leiken worked as a community organizer, helping to integrate blacks and whites in Dorchester neighborhoods.
Policy and research centers
Upon returning to the United States in 1980, Leiken became a Senior Fellow at the Georgetown Center for Strategic and International StudiesCenter for Strategic and International Studies
The Center for Strategic and International Studies is a bipartisan Washington, D.C., foreign policy think tank. The center was founded in 1962 by Admiral Arleigh Burke and Ambassador David Manker Abshire, originally as part of Georgetown University...
. Since then, he has served as a Senior Associate at the Carnegie Endowment for International Peace
Carnegie Endowment for International Peace
The Carnegie Endowment for International Peace is a foreign-policy think tank based in Washington, D.C. The organization describes itself as being dedicated to advancing cooperation between nations and promoting active international engagement by the United States...
, a Research Associate at the Harvard University Center for International Affairs, a Visiting Fellow at the International Forum for Democratic Studies, a Senior Fellow at the Brookings Institution
Brookings Institution
The Brookings Institution is a nonprofit public policy organization based in Washington, D.C., in the United States. One of Washington's oldest think tanks, Brookings conducts research and education in the social sciences, primarily in economics, metropolitan policy, governance, foreign policy, and...
and the Nixon Center and currently, the Director of Immigration and National Security Programs and of the Mexico Program at the Center for the National Interest in Washington D.C.. Leiken resists the tendency in Washington to derive policy from politics rather than investigation and has earned a reputation for patient, concrete and unbiased analysis.
Nicaragua
Leiken's October 1984 article in The New RepublicThe New Republic
The magazine has also published two articles concerning income inequality, largely criticizing conservative economists for their attempts to deny the existence or negative effect increasing income inequality is having on the United States...
entitled "Nicaragua's Untold Stories" criticized the Sandinistas for mismanagement, corruption, and human rights
Human rights
Human rights are "commonly understood as inalienable fundamental rights to which a person is inherently entitled simply because she or he is a human being." Human rights are thus conceived as universal and egalitarian . These rights may exist as natural rights or as legal rights, in both national...
abuses, and political indoctrination. A 1986 profile in The National Journal wrote
The turning point came in the fall of 1984, when, after an intense 10 day trip to NicaraguaNicaraguaNicaragua is the largest country in the Central American American isthmus, bordered by Honduras to the north and Costa Rica to the south. The country is situated between 11 and 14 degrees north of the Equator in the Northern Hemisphere, which places it entirely within the tropics. The Pacific Ocean...
, Leiken returned "appalled and angry" over conditions there. He wrote an article criticizing the Sandinistas in terms that were, for a liberal Democrat, unmistakably powerful and all the more striking because they appeared in the traditionally liberal The New Republic, which itself was undergoing something of a political reorientation to a more centrist line.
Leiken's article caused controversy among both Democrats
Democratic Party (United States)
The Democratic Party is one of two major contemporary political parties in the United States, along with the Republican Party. The party's socially liberal and progressive platform is largely considered center-left in the U.S. political spectrum. The party has the lengthiest record of continuous...
and Republicans
Republican Party (United States)
The Republican Party is one of the two major contemporary political parties in the United States, along with the Democratic Party. Founded by anti-slavery expansion activists in 1854, it is often called the GOP . The party's platform generally reflects American conservatism in the U.S...
, according to Time Magazine:
The idea that a well respected liberal analyst would launch such a strong attack on the Sandinistas caused considerable stir in Washington. Leiken's apparent conversion was seen by the entrenched left as a betrayal and by ReaganitesRonald ReaganRonald Wilson Reagan was the 40th President of the United States , the 33rd Governor of California and, prior to that, a radio, film and television actor....
as a vindication of their long held views. Most important, many Democrats who had relied on Leiken's analyses began to reconsider their Sandinista sympathies. Senator Edward KennedyTed KennedyEdward Moore "Ted" Kennedy was a United States Senator from Massachusetts and a member of the Democratic Party. Serving almost 47 years, he was the second most senior member of the Senate when he died and is the fourth-longest-serving senator in United States history...
had the article read into the Congressional Record. Suddenly, Leiken became as controversial as Nicaragua itself.
Diana West of the Washington Times added:
"...soon after returning from a trip to Nicaragua in 1984 that fundamentally altered his thinking- an intellectual evolution to which President Reagan referred in yesterday's address on aid to the Nicaraguan resistance- Mr. Leiken became almost as controversial as the wartorn country itself.
There were jeers and cheers to be heard on the left and the right. 'Sellout,' snarled some, 'He's seen the light,'" exulted others. But perhaps the greatest impact of Mr. Leiken's change of heart and mind was felt somewhere in the middle those who had come to rely on his scholarship and who now felt moved to reexamine their Sandinista sympathies."
Leiken's account of the Sandinistas and of the Contras
Contras
The contras is a label given to the various rebel groups opposing Nicaragua's FSLN Sandinista Junta of National Reconstruction government following the July 1979 overthrow of Anastasio Somoza Debayle's dictatorship...
made him a target of former leftist colleagues. He was to experience similar attacks later from conservatives upon the publication of his 2005 Foreign Affairs
Foreign Affairs
Foreign Affairs is an American magazine and website on international relations and U.S. foreign policy published since 1922 by the Council on Foreign Relations six times annually...
article, "The Moderate Muslim Brotherhood". The article argued that Al Qaeda and the Muslim Brotherhood
Muslim Brotherhood
The Society of the Muslim Brothers is the world's oldest and one of the largest Islamist parties, and is the largest political opposition organization in many Arab states. It was founded in 1928 in Egypt by the Islamic scholar and schoolteacher Hassan al-Banna and by the late 1940s had an...
are bitter enemies, and that the Brotherhood's "relative moderation offers Washington a notable opportunity for engagement -- as long as policymakers recognize the considerable variation between the group's different branches and tendencies."
Clinton Administration
Robert Leiken served as the Executive Director of the Presidential Commission on Broadcasting to Cuba under President Bill ClintonBill Clinton
William Jefferson "Bill" Clinton is an American politician who served as the 42nd President of the United States from 1993 to 2001. Inaugurated at age 46, he was the third-youngest president. He took office at the end of the Cold War, and was the first president of the baby boomer generation...
.
Recent work
Mr. Leiken’s recent work has focused on terrorismTerrorism
Terrorism is the systematic use of terror, especially as a means of coercion. In the international community, however, terrorism has no universally agreed, legally binding, criminal law definition...
, European Islam
European Islam
European Islam or Euro-Islam is a hypothesized new branch of Islam, which some believe is or should be emerging in Europe...
, Mexico
Mexico
The United Mexican States , commonly known as Mexico , is a federal constitutional republic in North America. It is bordered on the north by the United States; on the south and west by the Pacific Ocean; on the southeast by Guatemala, Belize, and the Caribbean Sea; and on the east by the Gulf of...
, and immigration
Immigration
Immigration is the act of foreigners passing or coming into a country for the purpose of permanent residence...
. Mr. Leiken's latest book, Europe's Angry Muslims, will be published January 2012, by Oxford University Press
Oxford University Press
Oxford University Press is the largest university press in the world. It is a department of the University of Oxford and is governed by a group of 15 academics appointed by the Vice-Chancellor known as the Delegates of the Press. They are headed by the Secretary to the Delegates, who serves as...
. He is working on a project of meetings and research on Mexico's drug war.
Books
- Europe’s Angry Muslims. (Oxford University Press, 2011 Forthcoming)
- Why Nicaragua Vanished: A Story of Reporters and Revolutionaries. (Rowman and Littlefield, 2003)
- Enchilada Lite: A Post 9-11 Mexican Migration Agreement. (CIS, 2002)
- The Melting Border: Mexico and Mexican Communities in the United States. (CEO, 2000)
- The Central American Crisis Reader. (Summit Books, 1987) (Co- Editor, with Barry Rubin)
- A New Moment in the Americas. (Transaction Publishers, 1994) (Editor) (Foreword by Al Gore)
- Central America: Anatomy of Conflict. Pergamon Press, 1984 (Editor)
- Soviet Strategy in Latin America. (Praeger, 1982)
Essays
- “The Menace in Europe's Midst," Current History, 2009
- “Generation Jihad,” Bulletin of the Atomic Scientists, 2007
- “The Moderate Muslim Brotherhood,” Foreign Affairs, 2007
- “The Quantitative Analysis of Terrorism,” Terrorism and Political Violence, 2006
- “Europe’s Angry Muslims,” Foreign Affairs, July 2005
- “Fair Game: Al Qaeda's New Soldiers,” The New Republic, 2004
- “Europe's Itinerant Imams," The Weekly Standard, 2004.
- “Europe's Immigration Problem, and Ours, Mediterranean Quarterly, 2004 - Duke University Press
- “Who is Abu Zarqawi?" The Weekly Standard, 2004
- “The End of the Affair: U.S.-Mexican Relations after September 11,” The National Interest, Winter 2002-03
- “An Immigration Bargain,” The Boston Globe, 2002
- “With A Friend Like Fox,” Foreign Affairs, September/October 2001
- "The Go-Between for Mexico, U.S.," Los Angeles Sunday Times, 2001
- "Mexico: the Crisis Next Door," Commentary, 1998
- "Controlling the Global Corruption Epidemic," Foreign Policy, 1996-97
- "An End to Corruption," Washington Post, 1996
- "The Revision Thing," The New Republic, 1992
- "O their America," The Times Literary Supplement, 1992
- "Pros and Contras," The Washington Post Book World, 1991
- "Old and New Politics in Nicaragua," Journal of Democracy, 1990
- "The Sandinistas Might Lose," The New York Times, 1990
- "Oops," The New Republic, 1990
- "The Making of a Mock Epic," The Times Literary Supplement, 1989 (about Ollie North)
- "The Charmed Circle," Peter Collier and David Horowitz eds. Second Thoughts: Former Radicals Look Back at the Sixties, Lanham Md., (Madison Books), 1989
- "Earthquake in Mexico," The National Interest, 1988/9
- "Nicaragua Cliffhanger," The New Republic, 1987
- "Reform the Contras," The New Republic, 1986
- "Battle For Nicaragua," The New York Review of Books, 1986
- "Tangled Nicaragua," The New York Review of Books, 1985
- "The Report of the President's National Bipartisan Commission on Central America," The Political Science Quarterly, 1985
- "The USSR and Central America," in Joseph Cirincione ed., Central America and the Western Alliance, New York (Holmes & Meier) 1985
- "Fantasies and Facts: The Soviet Union and Nicaragua," Current History,1984
- "Inside the [Cuban] Revolution," The New York Review of Books, 1984
- "Nicaragua's Untold Stories,” The New Republic, 1984
- "Reconstructing Central American Policy," Washington Quarterly, 1982
- "Potential Conflict in Central America," William J. Taylor Jr., Ed. The Future of Conflict in the 1980's, Lexington (Lexington Books) 1982
- "Soviet, Cuba, and Latin America: Which Western Strategy," Fondation Internationale des Sciences Humaines, November 24, 1982, Paris, France
- “Bitter Wine,” The New Republic, 1981
- "Eastern Winds in Latin America," Foreign Policy, 1981
Monographs, papers, presentations, and speeches
- "Europe's Mujahideen: Where Mass Immigration Meets Global Terrorism", CIS, 2005
- "The Future of Anti-Corruption in Mexico", New Moment, Inc. (www.newmoment.com), 1998
- "USAID Handbook for Fighting Corruption", with Sahr John Kpundeh and Phyllis Dininio, U.S. Agency for International Development, 1998
- "Official Corruption in Latin America: Causes and Controls," Inter-American Development Bank, 1996
- "The Nicaraguan Election: A Test of the News," 2nd prize, Media Studies, Woodrow Wilson International Center for Scholars, January 1992.
- "The Arias Peace Plan," Strategy and Arms Control Seminar", Harvard University Kennedy School of Government, October 21, 1987
- "U.S. Policy Regarding Nicaragua and the Contras," Debate with Senator George McGovern, Kent State University, February 4, 1987
- "U.S. Interests in Latin America," Dartmouth Group, Moscow, April 1985
- "Soviet Strategy in Central America" at "The Central American Crisis and the Western Alliance," International Institute for Strategic Studies (London) and the Carnegie Endowment for International Peace, Washington D.C., May 1985
- "The Kissinger Commission on Central America," at conference convened by Colombian President Belisario Betancur and Inter-American Development Bank. Cartagena, Colombia, Nov. 30 - Dec. 1, 1984.
- "U.S. Interests in Central America," Chairman, Stanley Conference, October 6-8, 1983, Arley House, Virginia.
- "U.S. Policy in Central America," presentation at annual meeting of Latin American Studies Association, October 1, 1983, Washington D.C.
- "Soviet and Cuban Policy in the Caribbean Basin," in Donald Schulz and Donald Graham, eds. Revolution and Counterrevolution in Central America and the Caribbean, Boulder (Westview) 1983
- "Soviet Policy in Latin America: 1960-81" American Association for the Advancement of Slavic Studies, October 17, 1982, Washington D.C.