Middle East Institute

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The Middle East Institute (MEI) is a 501(c)(3) non-profit organization founded in 1946 by Middle East scholar George Camp Keiser and former Secretary of State Christian Herter in Washington, DC. The Institute's mission is to, "promote knowledge of the Middle East in America and strengthen understanding of the United States by people and governments of the region." The organization initially began as part of the Johns Hopkins University School of Advanced International Studies.

Early MEI initiatives included seminars, which addressed subjects such as the Syrian and Lebanese economies in the 1950s; biannual newsletters with country reports from Morocco to Iran; and annual conferences, which offered constructive public dialogue about the Middle East on key issues. MEI’s conferences addressed a myriad of topics, such as the impact of the Middle East energy crisis and petrodollar problems on Americans; Soviet policy toward the region; violence and dialogue in the Middle East; and, the changing US-Middle East relationship.

The Institute also created a Public Policy Research Center and established the George Camp Keiser Library which holds the English-language collection of materials on the Middle East outside of the Library of Congress. Since 1947, The Institute has published the The Middle East Journal, which includes contemporary scholarship concerning Middle Eastern politics, culture, and history. MEI also offers classes to the public in Arabic, Hebrew, Persian, Turkish.

The Institute has a paying membership of about 1,400. ^{[citation needed]}Ambassador David L. Mack is MEI’s Acting President. He is a former Deputy Assistant Secretary of State for Near Eastern Affairs and a former US Ambassador to the United Arab Emirates.