The Current Status of Middle Eastern and Islamic Studies in the USA Theme: Religion Paper Abstract (500 words): In 1990 the US government has issued the National Security Education Program (NSEP) in which it allocated a certain amount of funds to support grants to study foreign languages particularly Arabic. These grants were conditioned by serving different national agencies in which the intelligence service comes first. This was subject of debate and criticism from the academic circles in the United States. Nevertheless, it seems that the US government went ahead with this project. The number of students applying for this grant has increased by 50%. The area studies field has been witnessing in changes since early 1990s. One of these changes the improvement in the representation of Middle Eastern issues the annual Middle East Studies association conference by allowing more sessions on the Arab World conducted by Arab and Muslim scholars. ...