Policy Analysis

Despite the multitude of regional, bilateral, and domestic political complications frustrating efforts to build upon peace, Jordan and Israel have made substantial gains toward normalizing relations since signing their peace treaty at Wadi Araba on October 26, 1994. The treaty and more than one dozen subsequent sectoral agreements have established

Out of the four people recommended for indictment by Israeli police, only Aryeh Deri—head of the Shas party and former minister of the interior—will probably be indicted. Although the police had "tangible suspicion" of Prime Minister Binyamin Netanyahu and Minister of Justice Tzahi Hanegbi, there was not an "irrefutable proof

Peace in the Persian Gulf is crucial for international stability, including in East Asia. Moreover, a stable supply of crude oil and natural gas is essential to the United States, the European Union and the Asian countries. Nearly 80 percent of Japan's crude oil imports come from the Gulf region

Charles Krauthammer: Israelis and Palestinians should move immediately to accelerated final status negotiations. It is the only viable alternative to a failed Oslo process. The last three years of intensive diplomacy demonstrates that Oslo's premise is erroneous, serving to diminish rather than build confidence between the parties. Incrementalism undermines trust

Evidence continues to mount of a link between Iran and the Saudi national arrested in Canada for complicity in the bombing of the al-Khobar Towers in Saudi Arabia, which killed 19 U.S. military personnel last June. Although proof is not yet conclusive, the answer to "who bombed al-Khobar" may soon

Since the beginning of the Oslo process, Israel and the United States have consistently underestimated Palestinian Authority (PA) Chairman Yasser Arafat. Arafat is a historic figure who deserves respect. In his many years as leader of the Palestinians he has learned to employ a wide range of personas and emotions

Testimony before the House Committee on International Relations Mr. Chairman, It is an honor to appear before this Committee to discuss Egypt and U.S. policy. In recent years, as visible signs of discord have emerged between the United States and Egypt over a wide array of issues, this topic has

Tomorrow, a German court will announce the verdict in the "Mykonos" trial, in which the Iranian government has been implicated in the murder in Berlin of four Kurdish leaders. The Mykonos case is one of a series of recent events suggesting a serious deterioration of European relations with Iran. Increasing

As Prime Minister Netanyahu prepares to meet President Clinton on Monday, policymakers and analysts are asking how Israeli-Palestinian relations could plummet from the optimism that surrounded the signing of the Hebron agreement in mid-January to today's violence, brinkmanship and gloominess. Explanations abound—from the controversy surrounding Har Homa construction to the

With Arab League foreign ministers, meeting in Cairo today, taking their most critical stance against Israel since the start of the Madrid peace process—"recommending" that member-states "stop all normalization" with Israel, suspend participation in the multilateral talks, and "reactivate" the Arab boycott—tomorrow's meeting between President Clinton and Jordan's King Hussein

Behind the headlines of today's political difficulties in Israel lies a series of problems that are the product of the country's new election law. Last May, for the first time, Israel elected its prime minister through a direct mandate. As a result, the position of the prime minister is now

On March 26, 1997, Secretary of State Madeleine Albright is scheduled to deliver her first major speech on Middle East policy-her focus, Iraq. Strengthening U.S. policy toward Iraq was a key theme of The Washington Institute's recently released Presidential Study Group report, Building for Security and Peace in the Middle

Before Israel's elections last May, Washington warned that the peace process could fail under the leadership of a Likud-led coalition. No one expected that nine months later, Israeli Prime Minister Binyamin Netanyahu's government would have established almost daily contact with the Palestinian Authority (PA) and its head, Yasser Arafat, redeployed

Hamas's suicide bombing in Tel Aviv today follows a period of improved ties between that organization and the Palestinian Authority. Over the past month, Yasser Arafat has undertaken several steps to reach a rapprochement with his Islamist opponents through personal meetings with Hamas leaders, a "National Dialogue" on February 27

As the stand-off over Har Homa continues, Israeli leaders and commentators are increasingly calling for a shake-up of the incremental Oslo process and an immediate move to substantive "final status" talks. According to this argument, leapfrogging over the rest of the "interim phase" has the benefit of avoiding a series

Who lives there? Most of the Jewish residents in the West Bank (Judea and Samaria) and Gaza are Israeli-born, white collar, young couples. The median age in Israel is twenty-nine, however in the territories the median age is nineteen. This high number of young people is one explanation for the

Today's murder of seven Israeli children by an apparently lone and deranged Jordanian soldier-the most recent outrage of Middle Eastern terrorism-ironically coincides with the first anniversary of the extraordinary "Summit of Peacemakers" in Sharm El Sheikh, Egypt. The summit, which brought together 29 leaders from throughout the Arab world, Turkey

A tense confrontation between the Turkish military and Islamist Prime Minister Necmettin Erbakan's governing Refah Party may come to a head Thursday, when the Turkish cabinet meets to consider a set of uncompromisingly tough pro-secular measures inspired by the military. There is little doubt the military mistrusts Erbakan and wants

The Presidential Study Group—a bipartisan, blue ribbon commission of statesman, diplomats, legislators, scholars and experts—was convened in Spring 1996 to examine the state of the Middle East and effectiveness of U.S. policy in advancing U.S. interest in the region. At its inaugural meeting, the 1996 Study Group defined a bold

In the latter half of the 1990s, the Iranian economy faces horrendous problems: economic mismanagement, high inflation, declining living standards, a growing gap (much of it fueled by pervasive corruption) between a wealthy minority and vast impoverished majority, high rates of unemployment, an inability to significantly increase oil production (concurrent