The death of Fouad Ajami this weekend, at the age of 68, deprived this country and the world of a uniquely powerful voice – one that is at the same time both Arab and American – that could have helped guide us, as he has in the past, through the hazards and complications of his native Middle East.

When I became dean of the Johns Hopkins School of Advanced International Relations in 1994, Professor Ajami was the director of Middle East studies and one of the joys of that job was being able to interact with him on a regular basis.

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