Khalid Medani is a visiting professor in the Politics Department.

Where did you work before coming to Oberlin?
I finished my doctorate at Berkeley and then spent a year at the Stanford Center for International Security.

You were a journalist before that weren’t you?
Yes. I was a journalist with NBC news in the late 80s.

Where did you do most of your reporting?
In Sudan, where I am from, as well as Egypt, Jordan and Iran.

How is being a professor different from being a journalist?
The main difference is breadth versus depth. Being a journalist you have the opportunity to investigate a broad range of issues. Everything from a civil war in Sudan, to the death of Khomeni in Iran to Islamic fundamentalists in Egypt. If you’re interested in a variety of different topics than being a journalist is almost like a drug.
If you’re extremely curious about a single thing, as a professor you have the opportunity to not only teach about it but research it in depth. I decided I was so interested in a single topic that I wanted to focus on it. I will say that the best journalists combine both.

Have you been back to Sudan recently?
Yes. My family still lives there so I go back frequently. The last time was over winter break.

How have things changed since you lived there?
The big change came in 1989 with the Islamic fundamentalist military coup. Since then its been very bad and there have been a lot of human rights violations. The country has been hurt a great deal economically and financially and that’s made them try to begin what we call a “charm offensive” towards the rest of the world open things up a it.

What’s your view on the recent reports of ethnic cleansing in the western provinces?
I’m glad they are coming to light. The American press has only started publishing articles about 4 moths ago. In Africa and the Middle East its been reported for some time. It’s a very bad humanitarian and political situation.

What did you think about the U.S.’s protest of Sudan’s appointment to the U.N. Human Rights Commission?
I think it’s good. I’m very supportive of democratic forces in Sudan. I was also supportive of the controversial sanctions in the mid 90s. This is a fundamentalist, minority-led regime that overthrew a democratic government. It is led by a group of hardcore Islamists. They don’t represent the southerners or even the majority of Sudanese Muslims. They’ve stopped democratic forces all over. Until democracy resumes, the Sudanese government should not be represented in the human rights commission. The government has to be isolated and the U.S. can play a really positive role in that.

How do you think the recent revelations of torture in the Abu Gharib prison in Iraq will affect the U.S.’s credibility in the Middle East?
A great deal. There’s always been suspicion about the motivation of the U.S. presence in Iraq. The broadcasting of these images on Al Jazeera and elsewhere is a really big problem not only in the Middle East but in Europe and other countries as well. As of yet, Bush has not fervently apologized. If some miracle happens and Rumsfeld is fired, that could restore some credibility.

Do you think there’s anything the U.S. can do at this point to restore stability in Iraq?
I think what they have to do is really take seriously the input of the international community and the region. The problem is the timetable. They need to take the makeup of the governing council very seriously. It would also help if they brought in the UN to reorganize the whole structure. There also has to be a willingness to take some risks.

What about Israel and Palestine—is a two state solution still possible with the current leadership?
The problem is that the letters exchanged among the parties have pulled a rug out from under the Road Map for Peace. I don’t think that a settlement is possible under the current Bush policy. Perhaps there is some hope with a new policy. There is still no substitute for a two state solution and people on both sides are saying that. Bush has really tried to undercut some longstanding U.S. policies in the region. This is a very dangerous precedent.

The College has taken major steps towards improving the level of dialogue about this issue on campus this year. How effective do you feel they have been?
Pretty effective I think. We had a very successful panel yesterday to discuss the film “Arab and Jew: Return to the Promised Land.” It was myself Shulamit Magnus from the Jewish Studies department and Ben Schiff from politics. The idea was to really start a process where students from different points of view could talk in a civil matter. The idea is to make sure we focus on the issue rather than personalities or identity issues. The fact that it happens throughout the world, including in the region itself, should indicate that it is possible here.
- Interview by Josh Keating