"We should be skeptical, " said Fouad Ajami, a senior fellow at Stanford University's Hoover Institution.

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Stevens was well-regarded among Libyans, said Fouad Ajami, an expert on Islamic politics.

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Pipes's nomination has been endorsed by, among others, Fouad Ajami, Walter Berns, Donald Kagan, Sir John Keegan, Paul Kennedy, Harvey Mansfield and James Q.

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Outspoken liberals such as the Lebanese-American, Fouad Ajami, who wholeheartedly applauds the policy, are in a small minority, at least among Arabs prepared to go public.

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Professor FOUAD AJAMI (Johns Hopkins School for Advanced International Studies): Well, first of all, it would stand to reason that Zbigniew Brzezinski would say so, and I think Mr. Brzezinski should know something about getting lost in the alleyways of the Middle East.

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