Policy Analysis

Beijing's reaction to the November 2010 North Korean attack on the South Korean island of Yeonpyeong is a case study of how China's continuing support of the North Korea-Iran axis is intimately linked with its fears of a U.S.-Taiwan alignment, among other possible scenarios. This paper explores how that axis

Amid the latest setback in the peace process -- the ongoing failure to agree on a "peace talks for settlement freeze" deal -- Palestinian public opinion trends reveal unexpected flexibility on short-term tactics, but also troubling long-term intentions. Five public opinion polls of West Bank and Gaza Palestinians taken by

The recent announcement that the Obama administration has ended efforts to negotiate a ninety-day extension of Israel's moratorium on West Bank settlement construction is more opportunity than embarrassment. After twenty-two months of near-fruitless efforts to promote Israeli-Palestinian negotiations conditioned on a total cessation of Israeli settlement activity, the administration can

On November 30, 2010, Daniel Serwer and Mithal al-Alusi addressed a special Policy Forum luncheon at The Washington Institute. Mr. Serwer, a visiting scholar, senior fellow, and professorial lecturer at Johns Hopkins University's School of Advanced International Studies, previously led U.S. Institute of Peace teams working on rule of law

Negotiations between Iran and the world's leading powers in Geneva wrapped up yesterday, with a pledge by the parties to resume talks in Istanbul at the end of January. Here's what Foreign Policy contributor Simon Henderson, who released a paper on the talks and traveled to Switzerland to see them

On November 23, 2010, David Makovsky, along with Robert Satloff and J. Scott Carpenter, addressed a special Policy Forum at The Washington Institute. Mr. Makovsky is the Ziegler distinguished fellow at the Institute and director of its Project on the Middle East Peace Process. At the forum, he offered fresh

On November 23, 2010, Robert Satloff and J. Scott Carpenter, along with David Makovsky, addressed a special Policy Forum at The Washington Institute. The speakers offered fresh observations from the Institute's 25th anniversary study tour to Israel, the West Bank, Egypt, and Jordan in mid-November. Dr. Satloff is executive director

On December 6, representatives of the United States, Russia, China, Britain, France, and Germany will meet with Iranian delegates in Geneva for two days of renewed talks on Tehran's nuclear program. The aspiration of the P5+1 -- the permanent members of the UN Security Council plus Germany -- is to

J. Scott Carpenter, director of The Washington Institute's Project Fikra, gave remarks at an event marking the release of "Unfinished Business: An American Strategy for Iraq Moving Forward," a report to which he contributed as coauthor. In highlighting the report's conclusions, Mr. Carpenter emphasized both the centrality of Iraqi domestic

On November 22, 2010, Dina Guirguis, David Schenker, and Leslie Campbell addressed a special Policy Forum luncheon at The Washington Institute to discuss the context surrounding Egypt's parliamentary elections. Held a week after the forum, the elections were reportedly marred by irregularities. Ms. Guirguis is a Keston Family research fellow

On November 30, 2010, The Washington Institute celebrated its 25th anniversary and paid tribute to Founding President Barbi Weinberg with a presentation at the 2010 Los Angeles Symposium, featuring her grandsons, Ari Weinberg and Daniel Zakowski, and dinner chair Jonathan Mitchell. In her first public address on policy in many

For thirty years, Iran has sponsored Iraqi paramilitary proxies, demonstrating the Islamic Republic's ability to commission violence within Iraq. In this new article, Washington Institute Lafer fellow Michael Knights discusses the genesis of Iran's current support for "Special Groups" of militant Shia diehards, emphasizing their destabilizing effect on Iraq and

Some might claim that in spite of the intensifying Justice and Development Party (AKP)-led reorientation of Turkey's domestic and international agenda, Turkey will inevitably maintain, at the least, a fair balance between its Eastern and Western commitments and perhaps even continue to be a strong Western ally. Although some Turks

As Egypt prepares to go to the polls this weekend, official Washington is scrambling to sort out what it thinks about them. Two weeks ago Secretary of State Hillary Clinton met with Egyptian Foreign Minister Aboul Gheit and Director of Defense Intelligence, Omar Soliman. According to the press conference afterwards

On November 9, Jordan conducted its first-ever parliamentary elections monitored by domestic and international observers. I was one of the observers and was impressed by the transparency of the process. Indeed, notwithstanding some isolated incidents of violence, the elections themselves set a regional gold-standard for free and fair balloting. When

A foreign policy rift is emerging between the United States and Turkey's Justice and Development Party (AKP) government on a range of Middle East issues, including Iran's nuclear program, support for Hamas, and the deteriorating relations between Ankara and Israel. Some U.S. officials are concerned that Washington has little or

The recent confirmation that North Korea has built a centrifuge plant for uranium enrichment has major implications for the Middle East as much as it does for East Asia. The presence of the plant, shown on November 12 to visiting Stanford University professor Siegfried Hecker and two colleagues, has sparked

On November 17, 2010, Soner Cagaptay, J. Scott Carpenter, Osman Faruk Logoglu, and Ian Lesser addressed a special Policy Forum luncheon at The Washington Institute to mark the launch of Regenerating the U.S.-Turkey Partnership, a new Institute Policy Note. Dr. Cagaptay, who coauthored the report with Mr. Carpenter, is director

Barack Obama's latest offer to Israel in his quixotic quest for a total construction freeze in West Bank settlements seems at first glance to be a sweetheart deal for Israeli Prime Minister Netanyahu. In exchange for a 90-day extension of the freeze, Israel reportedly would receive 20 additional F-35 fighter

Turkey is not thought of as the Muslim country par excellence, but Turkey is, perhaps, the most Muslim nation in the world. Due to its unique birth during the collapse of the Ottoman Empire, as a state forged exclusively by and for Muslims through blood and war, Turkey is a