Walid Phares Explained

Walid Phares
Native Name Lang:ar
Birth Date:24 December 1957
Birth Place:Batroun, Lebanon
Party:Kataeb Party (–1990)
Republican Party (–present)
Notable Works: (1995)
Future Jihad: Terrorist Strategies Against America (2005)
Alma Mater:Lebanese University (LLB)
Saint Joseph University (BA)
University of Lyon (LLM)
University of Miami (PhD)

Walid Phares (Arabic: وليد فارس; born December 24, 1957) is a Lebanese-American politician, scholar, and conservative pundit.[1] [2]

He worked for the Republican presidential campaigns of Mitt Romney in 2012 and Donald Trump in 2016. He has also served as a commentator on terrorism and the Middle East for Fox News since 2007,[3] and for NBC from 2003 to 2006.[4] Since 2022 he is foreign policy analyst for Newsmax.[5]

A Maronite Christian, Phares has gained notoriety for being a Chairman of the Social Democratic Party in Lebanon in the 1980s during the Lebanese Civil War, and for his expertise in counter-terrorism focusing on jihadism.[6] [7] [8]

Early life and education

Phares was born to a family of Maronite Christians in 1957 in Lebanon, and was raised in the capital city of Beirut and in his native village of Ghouma in the Batroun District. A dual Lebanese and American citizen, he immigrated to the United States in 1990, when the Lebanese Civil War was coming to a close.[2]

He holds joint undergraduate degrees from Saint Joseph University and the Lebanese University in law, political science, and sociology. Following his undergraduate studies, Phares practiced law in Beirut for a short period before earning a master's degree in international law from the Jean Moulin University Lyon 3 in France and a PhD in international relations and strategic studies from the University of Miami.[9]

Career

Academia

Phares taught at the Department of International Relations at Florida International University (FIU) in 1992 and was a visiting professor of comparative politics at Florida Atlantic University (FAU) in Palm Beach County from 1993 to 1994. He was hired as a full-time professor of Middle East studies and international relations in the Department of Political Science at FAU in 1995.[10] While at FAU, Phares sponsored the student organization Haiti Watch.[11] In 2008 he became Coordinator of the Trans-Atlantic Parliamentary Group on Counter Jihadi-Terrorism.[12] [13] Since 2008, he has lectured at the National Intelligence University in Washington DC, at the Center for Counterintelligence and Security Studies (CI Center) in Virginia, and at the Daniel Morgan Academy, a Graduate School of National Security in Washington DC. He teaches at BAU International University in Washington, D.C.[14] also serving as a university provost and as Director of Graduate Studies at the university.[15]

Phares's resume says that he "taught Global Strategies at the National Defense University in Washington DC since 2006". A spokesperson for the National Defense University noted that Phares was employed as an "expert/consultant" from April 2011 to April 2012.[16]

Politics

In 1984, Phares adhered to a small Lebanese political party of the center-left, the "Social Democratic Christian Union" – Union Sociale Démocratique Chrétienne (USDC).[17] Phares has served as secretary general of the World Maronite Union,[18] and secretary general of the World Lebanese Cultural Union.[19] [20]

Phares has testified before committees of the U.S. State, Justice, Defense and Homeland Security and the United States Congress. He briefed and testified to international bodies like the European Parliament and the United Nations Security Council on matters related to international security and Middle East conflict. He serves as an adviser to the Anti-Terrorism Caucus in the U.S. House of Representatives since 2007 and is a co-secretary general of the Transatlantic Legislative Group on Counter Terrorism, a Euro-American Caucus, since 2009. He has served on the Advisory Board of the Task Force on Future Terrorism of the Department of Homeland Security in 2006-2007 as well as on the Advisory Task force on Nuclear Terrorism in 2007. He lectures at defense and national security institutions and serves as a consultant on international affairs in the private sector.[21]

Advisor to Mitt Romney (2012)

Phares was appointed as foreign policy adviser to Mitt Romney for his 2012 presidential campaign.[22] His appointment was met with criticism from the Council on American–Islamic Relations (CAIR), which described him as "an associate to war crimes" (due to his ties to the Lebanese Forces) and a "conspiracy theorist". The appointment also provoked negative reactions from Islamic studies academics Ebrahim Moosa and Omid Safi, however both scholars were described as militant Islamists by several pieces, including "Walid Phares vs the Middle East Studies" as well as the Center for a New American Security's Andrew Exum, who said that Phares was "widely viewed as an extremist".

Advisor to Donald Trump (2016)

Phares worked as an advisor to presidential candidate Donald Trump in 2016;[23] he was paid $13,000 per month by the campaign.[24] Trump's choice of Phares renewed scrutiny and speculations about Phares' past alleged role as an ideologue to Lebanese Christian fighters during the Lebanese Civil War and his perceived far-right views as an academic and analyst of the Middle East region.[25] His supporters argued that Phares had presciently discerned the threat of jihadist ideology and that he was eminently qualified for a senior post, and pointed to his strong pro-Israel track record.

Phares did not have a government post in the Trump administration.[26]

Controversies

Involvement in the Lebanese Civil War

Phares has drawn controversy over his association with the Social Democratic Party in the 1980s during the Lebanese Civil War.[27] [28] [29] [30] According to The Washington Post, Phares "was a political adviser to Lebanese militants during their war against Muslim factions during the 1980s."[31] Phares has said that he was only involved with the militants in a political capacity and that he has not been directly implicated in any acts of violence.

Abed Ayoub, the national legal and policy director for the American-Arab Anti-Discrimination Committee, criticizes Phares saying: "If you look at his history, he was a warmonger and he shouldn't be near the White House. He was part of a militia that committed war crimes and, if anything, he should be tried for war crimes." Sarah Stern, president of the Endowment for Middle East Truth, defended his actions: "He represented his left-of-center party within a coalition of parties that oversaw the local government of the Christian community when it was surrounded by the Syrian army and the terrorist groups between 1986 and 1988. Phares is being attacked because he is on the right side of the issues and is fearless in speaking out the truth... [Walid] is in a caliber of his own. He understood the rise of radical Islam in the Middle East. He understood very early on what ISIS is, that it's a real threat. He understands that Islam is more than a religion, that it's also an ideology and an ideology of conquest."

Views on the Arab–Israeli conflict

Phares has said that "[<nowiki/>[[Israel]]'s] only rational and historical choice is to link up once more with the Christian community of Lebanon. This may represent a choice which may not be appreciated among many Israelis, for various reasons, but it remains one which cannot be avoided... The Christians of Lebanon are the only potential ally against the advance of the northern Arabo-Islamic threat against Israel."

Views on Islam and Muslims

According to The New York Times, Phares "regularly warns that Muslims aim to take over American institutions and impose Sharia, a legal code based mainly on the Quran that can involve punishments like cutting off the hands of a thief."[32] He has been described as an early advocate of Bat Ye'or's dhimmitude concept.[33] Phares has also asserted that jihadists are posing as civil rights advocates.[34]

Phares has been described as being part of "the Islamophobia industry, a network of researchers who have warned for many years of the dangers of Islam and were thrilled by Mr. Trump’s election." He has served on the board of advisors of anti-Muslim groups ACT for America and the Clarion Project.[35] According to Lawrence Pintak of the Atlantic Council and a member of the advisory board for The Media Majlis at Northwestern University in Qatar,[36] Phares is a "card-carrying Islamophobe".[37] Although Phares is often described as a scholar on terrorism, Stanford University terrorism expert Martha Crenshaw stated that Phares was "not in the mainstream as an academic".[38] Duke sociologist Christopher A. Bail describes Phares as an influential figure in the anti-Islam movement.[39]

According to The New York Times, Phares "is regularly accused by Muslim civil rights groups of being Islamophobic and of fear-mongering about the spread of Sharia law."[40]

Conspiracy theory on Barack Obama–Muslim Brotherhood ties

Phares has asserted that the Barack Obama administration supported the Muslim Brotherhood.[41] [42] In October 2016, he asserted that "the triangle Clintonmachine-Iranregime-MuslimBrotherhood has unleashed a coordinated propaganda offensive" against Donald Trump.[43]

Reaction to the 2017 Westminster terrorist attack

In March 2017 Phares attracted attention in the UK when he implied in a tweet that London had "shut down" in the wake of the terrorist attack in Westminster, despite most roads and tube stations (with the exception of the adjacent Westminster station) remaining open as normal, and the fact that only the immediate crime scene was cordoned off: many Londoners replied to Phares to refute his claim.[44] [45]

Published works

référence : Jean-Marc Aractingi, La politique à mes trousses, Paris, Éditions l'Harmattan, 2006

YearBookPublisher
1979Pluralism in LebanonHoly Spirit University of Kaslik
1980The Lebanese Thought and the Thesis of ArabizationDar el-Sharq Press
1981Democratic DialogueManshurat el-Tagammoh
1985Thirteen Centuries of StruggleMashreq Editions (Beirut)
1986The Iranian Islamic RevolutionDar el-Sharq Press
1995L. Rienner Publishers
1998, 2001History of the Middle East: Trends and BenchmarksIRP University of Miami Press
2005Palgrave Macmillan
2007The War of Ideas: Jihadism against DemocracyPalgrave Macmillan
2008The Confrontation: Winning the War against Future JihadPalgrave Macmillan
2010The Coming Revolution: Struggle for Freedom in the Middle EastSimon & Schuster
2014The Lost Spring. U.S. Policy in the Middle East and Catastrophes to AvoidPalgrave Macmillan

Notes and References

  1. News: Rozen. Laura. Mitt Romney announces his foreign policy team. March 27, 2017. Yahoo News. The Envoy. October 6, 2011.
  2. News: The dark, controversial past of Trump's counterterrorism adviser. The Washington Post . Ishaan . Tharoor . March 22, 2016 . June 7, 2016 .
  3. News: The Trump Campaign Is Paying A Fox News Analyst $13,000 A Month. July 26, 2016. Media Matters.
  4. Web site: Walid Phares. Simon & Schuster. June 28, 2023.
  5. https://www.newsmax.com/insiders/walidphares/bio-60/
  6. News: Sidahmed. Mazin. The Muslim cleric who stumps for Trump draws ire and confusion. March 28, 2017. The Guardian. October 21, 2016.
  7. News: Smith. Ben. Romney and Phares. March 28, 2017. Politico. October 12, 2011.
  8. News: Schanzer. Jonathan. War of Ideas: Jihadism Against Democracy [on Walid Phares' book, refs. Middle East studies, Juan Cole, As'ad Abu Khalil, John Esposito]]. Campus Watch. September 7, 2007. en.
  9. News: AbuKhalil. As'ad. Romney's scary Middle East advisor. 24 January 2017. Salon. October 7, 2011.
  10. News: Ibrahim. Arwa. Trump in the White House: The man advising him on the Middle East. 24 January 2017. Middle East Eye. November 15, 2016.
  11. News: Saville. Kirk. Students At Fau Keep Watchful Eye On Haiti. 24 January 2017. Sun Sentinel. October 27, 1994.
  12. Web site: Trans Atlantic Parliamentary Group on Counter Jihadi Terrorism. 2009-07-27.
  13. Web site: Biography of Walid Phares . Trans-Atlantic Parliamentary Group on Counter Jihadi-Terrorism . 2011-11-01 . 2017-12-16 . https://web.archive.org/web/20171216091309/http://transatlanticgroup.org/wbio.html . dead .
  14. http://www.bauinternational.com/ BAUI University official website
  15. https://vimeo.com/100958207 Prof. Dr. Walid Phares on BAU International University DC Programs
  16. News: Trump's foreign policy team baffles GOP experts. POLITICO. 2017-03-24.
  17. http://www.newlebanon.info/lebanon-now/290499/%D9%85%D9%86-%D9%87%D9%88-%D9%88%D9%84%D9%8A%D8%AF-%D9%81%D8%A7%D8%B1%D8%B3-%D9%85%D8%B3%D8%AA%D8%B4%D8%A7%D8%B1-%D8%AF%D9%88%D9%86%D8%A7%D9%84%D8%AF-%D8%AA%D8%B1%D8%A7%D9%85%D8%A8 NewLebanon.info: من هو وليد فارس مستشار دونالد ترامب؟
  18. Walid Phares, Secretary General World Maronite Union
  19. http://www.defenddemocracy.org/index.php?option=com_content&task=view&id=11774297&Itemid=0 UNSCR 1559:Calling on Syria to Pull Out From Lebanon
  20. Web site: Special Report With Brit Hume . . March 10, 2005.
  21. http://www.foxnews.com/person/p/walid-phares.html FoxNews: Dr. Walid Phares biography
  22. Web site: Mitt's Muslim Problem. 10 December 2011. The Daily Beast. Coppins. McKay.
  23. News: Inside the collapse of Trump's D.C. policy shop. Rogin. Josh. 2016-09-08. The Washington Post. 2017-03-24. Rogin. Josh. en-US. 0190-8286.
  24. News: The Trump Campaign Is Paying A Fox News Analyst $13,000 A Month. Hananoki. Eric. 2016-07-26. Media Matters for America. 2017-11-17. en. mdy-all.
  25. News: Who is Walid Phares, Trump's Mideast adviser?. Lynfield. Ben. November 16, 2016. Jerusalem Post. November 28, 2016.
  26. News: Trump Pushes Dark View of Islam to Center of U.S. Policy-Making. Rosenberg. Scott Shane, Matthew. 2017-02-01. The New York Times. 2017-03-24. Lipton. Eric. 0362-4331.
  27. Web site: Bashing Both Iran and Obama, Trump Scores Points at AIPAC. Foreign Policy. 21 March 2016 . 2017-03-24.
  28. Web site: Peter King's Witch Hunt. Foreign Policy. 9 March 2011 . 2017-03-24.
  29. News: The dark, controversial past of Trump's counterterrorism adviser. The Washington Post. 2017-03-24.
  30. News: One of Trump's foreign policy advisers is a 2009 college grad who lists Model UN as a credential. The Washington Post. 2017-03-24.
  31. News: GOP foreign policy elites don't know whether they'll serve if Trump is president. The Washington Post. 2017-03-24.
  32. News: Gain Peace in Chicago Aims to Counter Anti-Muslim Sentiment. Lepeska. David. 2012-02-23. The New York Times. 2017-03-24. 0362-4331.
  33. Web site: Dhimmitude Unveiled. August 2013. New English Review.
  34. News: Bannon film outline warned U.S. could turn into 'Islamic States of America'. The Washington Post. 2017-03-24.
  35. Web site: Factsheet: Walid Phares. December 5, 2018. Bridge Initiative.
  36. Web site: Author: American Muslims are struggling under Trump - Northwestern University in Qatar . www.qatar.northwestern.edu . dead . https://web.archive.org/web/20181231092457/https://www.qatar.northwestern.edu/news/articles/2018/02-lawrence-pintak.html . 2018-12-31.
  37. Web site: An Idiot's Guide to Islam in America. Foreign Policy. 8 December 2016 . 2017-03-24.
  38. Meet Mitt Romney's Radical, Right-wing, Sharia-phobe Foreign Policy Advisor . Vary . Jarad . 24 October 2011 . The New Republic. 21 October 2014.
  39. Book: Christopher Bail. Terrified: How Anti-Muslim Fringe Organizations Became Mainstream. Princeton University Press. 2015. 67–68, 78–79. 9780691173634.
  40. News: Top Experts Confounded by Advisers to Donald Trump. Rappeport. Alan. 2016-03-22. The New York Times. 2017-03-24. 0362-4331.
  41. News: Rogin . Josh . 2016-08-01 . Pro-Trump Muslim groups bash Khan family . 2017-03-24 . The Washington Post . en-US . 0190-8286.
  42. News: Bobic . Igor . Ahmed . Akbar Shahid . 2016-03-21 . Donald Trump Reveals His Team Of Foreign Policy Advisers . 2017-03-24 . The Huffington Post . en-US.
  43. 2016-10-18 . Donald Trump's team is now floating an evil Clinton-Muslim Brotherhood-Iran nexus. . 2017-03-24 . New Republic.
  44. News: People mock Fox News claim that terror attack 'shut down city' . 2017-03-24 . en-GB.
  45. News: Horton . Helena . 23 March 2017 . Londoners fire back at Fox News pundit who claims the capital is 'shut down' . 23 March 2017 . telegraph.co.uk.