"'Intellectual thugs," huffed Rashid Khalidi, now of Columbia University. "Cyber-stalking," whined Juan Cole of the University of Michigan. "Crude McCarthyism" sniffed David Bartram of the University of Reading. "Totalitarian" thundered Jenine Abboushi of New York University.

What so outrages these academic specialists on the Middle East? It's called Campus Watch (campus-watch.org), and it's a project I started a year ago today to "review and critique Middle East studies in North America, with an aim to improving them."

Campus Watch provides peer review of a vital topic - think how many problems come out of the Middle East. Given the centrality of this region to current world politics, how the scholars fare is not a recondite matter but an issue of importance for our security and welfare...