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Rubin is also a Contributing Editor for the online national security website ''19FortyFive''.<ref>{{Cite web |title=Michael Rubin |url=https://www.19fortyfive.com/author/michael-rubin/ |access-date=2022-09-21 |website=19FortyFive |language=en-US}}</ref>
Rubin is also a Contributing Editor for the online national security website ''19FortyFive''.<ref>{{Cite web |title=Michael Rubin |url=https://www.19fortyfive.com/author/michael-rubin/ |access-date=2022-09-21 |website=19FortyFive |language=en-US}}</ref>




==Controversies==
==Controversies==
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Mansoureh Mills, an analyst at Amnesty International and [[Ahmed Mansoor]] accused Rubin of having been paid by the UAE to write the piece on Ghaith.<ref>{{Cite web|url=https://www.middleeasteye.net/news/ex-us-official-accused-pushing-uae-propaganda-targeting-jailed-activist|title=Ex-US official accused of pushing UAE propaganda by targeting jailed activist|website=Middle East Eye|access-date=2021-05-23}}</ref> According to Nicholas McGeehan, the analyst from HRW on this case, [[Yousef_Al_Otaiba#GlobaLeaks|emails to Yousef Al Otaiba from advisors that were leaked]] mention Rubin's articles as demonstrating success in encouraging favorable articles.<ref>{{Cite web|url=https://medium.com/@NcGeehan/the-men-behind-man-city-a-documentary-not-coming-soon-to-a-cinema-near-you-14bc8e393e06|title="The Men Behind Man City: a documentary not coming soon to a cinema near you"|first=Nicholas|last=McGeehan|date=2017-12-18}}</ref> In a Twitter exchange with McGeehan, Rubin denied any relationship with the UAE and noted his articles are cited by governments from [[Iran]] to [[Morocco]].<ref>{{cite tweet|user=mrubin1971 |number=1055394988782166016 |url=https://twitter.com/mrubin1971/status/1055394988782166016 |title=No funding or "commercial relationship"...}}</ref>
Mansoureh Mills, an analyst at Amnesty International and [[Ahmed Mansoor]] accused Rubin of having been paid by the UAE to write the piece on Ghaith.<ref>{{Cite web|url=https://www.middleeasteye.net/news/ex-us-official-accused-pushing-uae-propaganda-targeting-jailed-activist|title=Ex-US official accused of pushing UAE propaganda by targeting jailed activist|website=Middle East Eye|access-date=2021-05-23}}</ref> According to Nicholas McGeehan, the analyst from HRW on this case, [[Yousef_Al_Otaiba#GlobaLeaks|emails to Yousef Al Otaiba from advisors that were leaked]] mention Rubin's articles as demonstrating success in encouraging favorable articles.<ref>{{Cite web|url=https://medium.com/@NcGeehan/the-men-behind-man-city-a-documentary-not-coming-soon-to-a-cinema-near-you-14bc8e393e06|title="The Men Behind Man City: a documentary not coming soon to a cinema near you"|first=Nicholas|last=McGeehan|date=2017-12-18}}</ref> In a Twitter exchange with McGeehan, Rubin denied any relationship with the UAE and noted his articles are cited by governments from [[Iran]] to [[Morocco]].<ref>{{cite tweet|user=mrubin1971 |number=1055394988782166016 |url=https://twitter.com/mrubin1971/status/1055394988782166016 |title=No funding or "commercial relationship"...}}</ref>


'''Kurdistan Human Rights/Attempted Blackmail'''

Rubin has been a fierce critic of both main Iraqi Kurdish families, the Barzani and Talabani clans. In retaliation, the Kurdish security services known as the Asayish have circulated reports about an incident between Rubin and a male student when Rubin was teaching at the University of Sulaymanayah. Kurdistan Pride, a Kurdish LGBTQ group, has praised Rubin for his support of human rights in Kurdistan and his courage in standing up to the attempted blackmail.


===Turkey coup attempt and bounty===
===Turkey coup attempt and bounty===

Revision as of 17:24, 11 November 2022

For other uses, see Michael Rubin (historian) (disambiguation).

Michael Rubin (born 1971) is a senior fellow at the American Enterprise Institute (AEI). He previously worked as an official at the Pentagon, where he dealt with issues relating to the Middle East, and as political adviser to the Coalition Provisional Authority.[1]

Michael Rubin
Born1971
Philadelphia, Pennsylvania
EducationYale University, B.S. biology, 1994 Yale University, Ph.D. history, 1999

Biography

Early life

A native of Philadelphia, Rubin earned both his B.S. in biology (1994) and his Ph.D. in history (1999) from Yale University.[1] His dissertation, The Making of Modern Iran, 1858–1909: Communications, Telegraph and Society won Yale's John Addison Porter Prize.[2]

Career

Rubin has lectured in history at Yale University, Hebrew University, Johns Hopkins University, and worked as visiting lecturer at Universities of Sulaymaniyah, Salahuddin, and Duhok, in the Kurdistan Region of Iraq. From 2002 until 2004, Rubin served as a staff adviser on Iran and Iraq for the Office of the Secretary of Defense.[3] Between 2003 and 2004, Rubin worked as a political adviser to the Coalition Provisional Authority in Baghdad.[4]

Between 2004 and 2009, he was editor of the Middle East Quarterly. He has received fellowships from the Council on Foreign Relations,[5] and the Carnegie Council for Ethics in International Affairs.

Since 2007 and 2021, he taught senior U.S. Army, U.S. Marine, and U.S. Navy leadership prior to their deployment to Iraq, the Persian Gulf, and Afghanistan as a lecturer at the Naval Postgraduate School.[1]

Rubin is also a Contributing Editor for the online national security website 19FortyFive.[6]


Controversies

Human Rights Watch criticisms

Rubin has repeatedly criticized Human Rights Watch, Amnesty International, and the American Friends Service Committee for political bias and conflicts of interest. In 2014, for example, he questioned whether policymakers could trust Human Rights Watch reports after the group held a fundraiser in Saudi Arabia.[7] That same year, he alleged Human Rights Watch had incorporated information that was provided by Alkarama, an organization founded by a U.S.-designated Al Qaeda financier.[8] He also accused Human Rights Watch of fabricating statistics.[9]

UAE/Nasser bin Ghaith controversy

In 2014, the Intercept, in an article about an alleged UAE campaign through the public relations firm Camstoll, mentioned Rubin as a "target" to "plant" stories favorable to the UAE government.[10] According to a Human Rights Watch analyst, Rubin traveled to the UAE to meet senior government ministers in 2014.[11]

In 2016, Rubin wrote an article on the case of Emirati economist Nasser bin Ghaith, one of the UAE Five, criticizing Human Rights Watch's calling for bin Ghaith's release.[12] Bin Ghaith had been arrested in Abu Dhabi in August 2015 for online comments critical of the Egyptian and UAE governments, including "tweets and images ridiculing the Egyptian president and government" and "claiming that he was tortured and unjustly accused during his previous trial", according to HRW[13] and the Scholars at Risk Network.[14] Rubin criticized HRW for "cherry-picking" and not mentioning that bin Ghaith was accused of membership in the Emirati Ummah Party. HRW amended their report to include the Ummah party accusation which they said had been omitted from the English translation due to an error. Bin Ghaith's family denied those accusations, saying the Ummah party unilaterally appointed bin Ghaith after he was already in prison and one day before the trial session in order to harm him.[15][16] Rubin reiterated the claims in subsequent articles. [17][18]

Mansoureh Mills, an analyst at Amnesty International and Ahmed Mansoor accused Rubin of having been paid by the UAE to write the piece on Ghaith.[19] According to Nicholas McGeehan, the analyst from HRW on this case, emails to Yousef Al Otaiba from advisors that were leaked mention Rubin's articles as demonstrating success in encouraging favorable articles.[20] In a Twitter exchange with McGeehan, Rubin denied any relationship with the UAE and noted his articles are cited by governments from Iran to Morocco.[21]


Kurdistan Human Rights/Attempted Blackmail

Rubin has been a fierce critic of both main Iraqi Kurdish families, the Barzani and Talabani clans. In retaliation, the Kurdish security services known as the Asayish have circulated reports about an incident between Rubin and a male student when Rubin was teaching at the University of Sulaymanayah. Kurdistan Pride, a Kurdish LGBTQ group, has praised Rubin for his support of human rights in Kurdistan and his courage in standing up to the attempted blackmail.

Turkey coup attempt and bounty

In June 2017, Recep Tayyip Erdoğan filed a criminal complaint against Rubin in Turkish courts, accusing him of "supporting and committing offenses for the Fethullahist Terror Organization".[22] In December 2017, Turkish national offered a reward of three million Turkish lira (almost $800,000) for help in delivering Rubin to Turkey to answer Turkish terrorism allegations in connection with the 2016 Turkish coup d'état attempt.[23]

Ethiopia

Since the start of the Tigray War in November 2020, Rubin has written a number of editorials critical of the Ethiopian government on various topics, accusing it of exploiting Kenya and Somalia,[24] calling for International Criminal Court proceedings against Ethiopian Prime Minister Abiy Ahmed,[25] and predicting the dissolution of the country,[26] a coup,[27] a genocide,[28] and war on Somaliland.[29] In September 2022, Rubin wrote an article calling on the US to support the TPLF against the government of Ethiopia, by supplying weapons to the group, imposing a no-fly zone, and establishing relationship with Ethiopian regions by-passing the federal government.[30]

Bibliography

  • Seven Pillars: What Really Causes Instability in the Middle East? (co-editor, with Brian Katulus, AEI Press, 2019)
  • Kurdistan Rising (AEI Press, 2016)
  • Dancing with the Devil: The Perils of Engaging Rogue Regimes. New York: Encounter Books, 2014. (ISBN 978-1594037238)
  • The Shi'ites of the Middle East (co-author, AEI Press, 2014)
  • Dissent and Reform in the Arab World (editor, AEI Press, 2008)
  • Eternal Iran: Continuity and Chaos (co-author with Patrick Clawson). London: Palgrave Macmillan, 2005. (ISBN 978-1403962768)
  • Into the Shadows: Radical Vigilantes in Khatami's Iran. Washington: Washington Institute for Near East Policy, 2001. (ISBN 9780944029459)

References

  1. ^ a b c "Michael Rubin | AEI Scholar". AEI. Retrieved 2019-04-11.
  2. ^ Yale University, "Democracy, Security, and Justice" lecture series, "Democracy, Security and Justice: Perspectives on the American Future". Archived from the original on 2008-05-15. Retrieved 2008-05-29..
  3. ^ "Michael Rubin Appointed Middle East Quarterly Editor". Middle East Forum. Retrieved 2021-12-17.
  4. ^ "Seven Years In, Assessing Value Of Iraq War". NPR.org. Retrieved 2019-04-11.
  5. ^ Council on Foreign Relations Annual Report (2002), http://www.cfr.org/content/about/annual_report/ar_2002/032-39.pdf Archived 2020-10-02 at the Wayback Machine
  6. ^ "Michael Rubin". 19FortyFive. Retrieved 2022-09-21.
  7. ^ "Should Human Rights Watch Be Trusted?". 3 September 2014. Retrieved 2021-12-17.{{cite web}}: CS1 maint: url-status (link)
  8. ^ "Alkarama Doubles Down on Al-Qaeda". 7 February 2014. Retrieved 2021-12-17.{{cite web}}: CS1 maint: url-status (link)
  9. ^ "Does Human Rights Watch Make Up Its Numbers?". 4 September 2014. Retrieved 2021-12-17.{{cite web}}: CS1 maint: url-status (link)
  10. ^ "How Former Treasury Officials and the UAE Are Manipulating American Journalists". The Intercept. Retrieved 2021-05-23.
  11. ^ @NcGeehan (October 25, 2018). "... meetings with senior UAE govt ministers" (Tweet) – via Twitter.
  12. ^ "Human Rights Watch doubles down on terror apologetics". AEI. Retrieved 2021-05-23.
  13. ^ "UAE: Free Two Jailed for Criticizing Egypt". HRW. Retrieved 2021-05-23.
  14. ^ "Nasser bin Ghaith". scholarsatrisk.org. Retrieved 2021-05-23.
  15. ^ @Wedad562 (May 5, 2016). "... appointment came on May 1, i.e. one day before the trial session of Dr. Nasser. Signed: The family of and on behalf of Dr. Nasser bin Ghaith" (Tweet) – via Twitter.
  16. ^ @Wedad562 (May 5, 2016). "Emirati Umma Party ... unilateral decision to appoint Dr. Nasser" (Tweet) – via Twitter.
  17. ^ "Political bias cripples human rights advocacy". AEI. Retrieved 2021-06-08.
  18. ^ "Is Human Rights Watch's UAE campaign collapsing?". AEI. Retrieved 2021-06-08.
  19. ^ "Ex-US official accused of pushing UAE propaganda by targeting jailed activist". Middle East Eye. Retrieved 2021-05-23.
  20. ^ McGeehan, Nicholas (2017-12-18). ""The Men Behind Man City: a documentary not coming soon to a cinema near you"".
  21. ^ @mrubin1971 (October 25, 2018). "No funding or "commercial relationship"..." (Tweet) – via Twitter.
  22. ^ "President Erdoğan files criminal complaint against ex-Pentagon official Michael Rubin".
  23. ^ Kredo, Adam (2017-12-12). "Turkey Places Bounty on Two Former U.S. Government Officials". Washington Free Beacon. Retrieved 2019-04-11.
  24. ^ "Ethiopia's hydro-hegemony has arrived".
  25. ^ "Abiy Ahmed: The First Nobel Laureate On Trial at the International Criminal Court?". Retrieved 2021-08-25.{{cite web}}: CS1 maint: url-status (link)
  26. ^ "Abiy Ahmed has condemned Ethiopia to dissolution".
  27. ^ "Is A Coup in Ethiopia Imminent?".
  28. ^ "Will Ethiopia's genocide be worse than Rwanda's?".
  29. ^ "Is Ethiopia preparing for war on Somaliland?".
  30. ^ "The U.S. Should Support The Tigray Defense Forces".
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