The Regional group was planned during the Second World War when the United States and the Soviet Union were allies. It was thought that the two countries would have close contact in the peacetime years to follow, but as Adam Ulam, head of the Regional Studies, says, "We were overly optimistic, of course." Instead of preparing men for commerce with the Soviet Union, the study group has been funneling men into the State Department and into education.

This department has a total of about 20 students in each of its two classes,--admitting one of every four applicants for admission. In addition, there are special students, sometimes consisting of State Department trainees to learn from the best possible source. And Harvard certainly has one of the best possible sources.

There has been criticism of the whole idea of Regional studies because it is not specialized enough--a person in the M.A. program has to take courses not directly connected with his real field. Also, there is an oral general exam on three fields at the end of the second year, as well as a written and oral exam in Russian.

But Ulam says the department is not necessarily limited to scholars: "We are fashioned to meet the needs of people who do not necessarily want to become scholars--people who are mainly interested in putting their fact in the water and seeing how it feels. Some go all the way. Others go in half way and then go into government."

If the Soviet Union program is now firmly accepted and respected, the program on the Middle East is just barely getting started. As Derwood W. Lockwood, lecturer on Anthropology and Executive Secretary of the Center for Middle Eastern Studies, observes, "We're the baby of the group --both in age and finances."

Initiated in 1954 with substantial backing from American business interests, the Middle Eastern program will produce its first batch of eight graduates this June. They will learn at least one of the four languages taught--Arabic, Turkish, Persian and Hebrew and will generally survey the area from economics to religion. Actually, the eight M.A.'s are only one part of the work of the Middle Eastern Center, which also sponsors independent research and grants doctoral degrees jointly with other University departments. It was the M.A. program, however, which brought the greatest response--especially from private business.

Starting Fight

"We had a fight to get the Center started," Frye notes. "After much talk, we finally persuaded the university to call a meeting of prominent people from American oil companies, the airlines, and the State and Defense Departments. We thought that these people would be interested in very specific training, in oil economics for example. But they told us to leave that to them." Frye says that both the government and business representatives were looking for an over-all approach to the area--its background and languages. "We were really taken aback. We had expected them to respond to such general training, although it was precisely what we had desired all the time."

The effect of the meeting, Frye points out, was proof that the University was "going into a field which was crying for people. There was little adequate training anywhere in the country."

Actually, five other universities had already taken up the challenge by the time Harvard got around established its Center, but all were small and new. The new strategic importance of the Middle East--both in resources and location--required many more people with a knowledge of the area. In addition, as Frye points out, the whole area is going through "nothing less than a basic revolution. The impact of the West is really reaching down to the people on all levels, and we must begin to understand the changes in what was a sleeping part of the world."

There had, of course, always been fine scholars of the Middle East, but as Lockard observes, "Their interests were largely medieval, Biblical, or archaeological. They were all aware of problems in the modern period, but there was never any formal study as such."

A formal study of the modern Middle East required, first of all, the establishment of boundaries--even if the are somewhat artificial. From Iran in the east, the Center includes all of the traditional "Near East," as well as Egypt in North Africa. Frye hopes the Center will expand into Afghanistan, Pakistan, and other areas of Africa, but for the present, the Center is somewhat overwhelmed by the areas already included.

Vastly more important that mere technical boundaries was the addition of more scholars to the University staff. Frye, brilliant young linguist and historian, had carried much of the load himself until Sir Hamilton A. R. Gibb was appointed University Professor and Richard Jewett Professor of Arabic in 1954. Langer calls him "one of the very greatest living Arabists," and with his special interest the impact of the West upon Arab Society, the British scholar is certain to be a continuing inspiration for the Center.

Although the University has provided most financial support for the Center, American business intedests--especially the oil companies--have helped substantially. These companies not only send their own employees to the Center for additional training, but they look over the students for personal purposes. Although no students will finish the M.A. program until June, companies at that time may be somewhat surprised to find that a majority of the present students want to go on with their academic training.

It is not hard to see why many students would rather go on with their studies than go directly into either government or private industry, for the research projects now under way at the post-doctoral level and indeed significant. One Iranian economist, for instance, is investigating the many "fringe benefits" that Iran reaps from foreign oil industries--a project that will be of great use to the other industries and nations involved.

At no level in the Middle Eastern Center, either post- or pre-doctoral, do the students or professors involve themselves in day-to-day political controversies. "We just don't want to get involved in the Soviet-Iran or