Policy Analysis

Over the past several years, terrorist and insurgent groups have established sophisticated networks in Syria to facilitate the movement of foreign fighters into Iraq. These networks are worth closer scrutiny since foreign fighters, facilitated through Syria, have been responsible for some of the most spectacular attacks on Iraqis and coalition

Download the complete proceedings. On October 18, 2009, Israeli deputy prime minister Dan Meridor delivered a keynote address to The Washington Institute's annual Weinberg Founders Conference in Leesburg, Virginia. Dan Meridor is Israel's deputy prime minister and minister of intelligence and atomic energy. During three decades in government, he has

Download the complete proceedings. On October 18, 2009, John Hannah and Amb. Ronald Neumann addressed The Washington Institute's annual Weinberg Founders Conference. John Hannah is a senior fellow at The Washington Institute, focusing on U.S. Middle East strategy. A senior foreign policy practitioner in both Republican and Democratic administrations, he

Download the complete proceedings. On October 17, 2009, David Makovsky, Khalil Shikaki, and Ehud Yaari addressed The Washington Institute's annual Weinberg Founders Conference. David Makovsky is the Ziegler distinguished fellow and director of the Project on the Middle East Peace Process at The Washington Institute. Khalil Shikaki is director of

Download the complete proceedings. On October 17, 2009, Amr al-Azm, Andrew J. Tabler, and Ehud Yaari addressed The Washington Institute's annual Weinberg Founders Conference. Amr al-Azm, a Syrian historian and archaeologist, is an assistant professor of Middle Eastern history and anthropology at Shawnee State University in Ohio. Andrew J. Tabler

A Safe Haven: Harry S. Truman and the Founding of Israel, Allis and Ronald Radosh's suspenseful, meticulously documented account of Harry S. Truman's controversial decision to recognize the new state of Israel, has won the Gold Prize -- including a cash award of $30,000 -- in The Washington Institute's 2009

Download the complete proceedings. On October 17, 2009, Mohamed Abdelbaky, Nabeel Khoury, and David Pollock addressed The Washington Institute's annual Weinberg Founders Conference. Mohamed Abdelbaky is a Keston visiting fellow at The Washington Institute's Project Fikra, focusing on economic and political reform, democracy, governance, and youth development in the Middle

Download the complete proceedings. On October 17, 2009, Daniel Byman, Matthew Levitt, and Jeffrey White addressed The Washington Institute's annual Weinberg Founders Conference. Daniel Byman is director of the Security Studies Program at the Center for Peace and Security Studies at Georgetown University's School of Foreign Service, as well as

Download the complete proceedings. On October 17, 2009, Myriam Benraad, Soner Cagaptay, and Mary Habeck addressed The Washington Institute's annual Weinberg Founders Conference. Myriam Benraad is a Keston Family scholar at The Washington Institute's Project Fikra, focusing on radicalization in the Middle East, North Africa, Europe, and the United States

Download the complete proceedings. On October 17, 2009, Maj. Gen. (Ret.) Aharon Farkash, Hussain Abdul-Hussain, and Gen. (Ret.) Charles Wald took part in a keynote debate moderated by veteran journalist Bernard Kalb at The Washington Institute's annual Weinberg Founders Conference. Aharon Farkash, a retired major general in the Israel Defense

Download the complete proceedings. On October 17, 2009, Ataollah Mohajerani addressed The Washington Institute's annual Weinberg Founders Conference. Ataollah Mohajerani has played a central leadership role in the Islamic Republic of Iran, serving as President Muhammad Khatami's minister of culture and Islamic guidance and as President Akbar Hashemi Rafsanjani's vice

Download the complete proceedings. On October 17, 2009, Hossein Bastani and Patrick Clawson addressed The Washington Institute's annual Weinberg Founders Conference. Hossein Bastani is director-general of Iran Gooya Media Group and an editorial board member of the influential Iranian news outlet RoozOnline.com. Patrick Clawson is deputy director for research at

Download the complete proceedings. On October 16, 2009, Jackson Diehl, Mortimer Zuckerman, and Michael Mandelbaum participated in a keynote debate at The Washington Institute's annual Weinberg Founders Conference. Jackson Diehl is deputy editorial page editor of the Washington Post. Mortimer Zuckerman, a member of The Washington Institute's Board of Advisors

The need to reform the U.S. national security decision and implementation process is widely acknowledged in Washington. Everyone who has participated in the process at a high enough level understands that whenever a problem spills over the competency boundary of any single bureaucracy (as more and more problems seem to

Iran's nuclear program will be the topic of three important upcoming events: an October 19 meeting of nuclear experts from the P5+1 (the five permanent UN Security Council members plus Germany), an October 25 International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) inspection of the recently revealed Qom facility, and a follow-up meeting

If current negotiations falter, international efforts to curtail Iran's nuclear program may escalate to the imposition of "crippling sanctions" or even the use of military force. A crucial question that policymakers must consider is whether such punitive measures would help or hinder the popular uprising against the Iranian regime that

On October 14, 2009, The Washington Institute honored former president William Jefferson Clinton with its 2009 Scholar-Statesman Award at a gala dinner in New York City. Following President Clinton's remarks, attendees enjoyed a special "ask the experts" discussion moderated by Institute executive director Robert Satloff. Senior fellows and panelists Soner

The Obama administration has finally woken up to the fact that Iraqi parliamentary elections scheduled for January 16 are in real danger of not taking place as scheduled. The realization has been lamentably slow in coming and, with just two days to go before an Iraqi government-imposed deadline expires, may

On October 14, 2009, The Washington Institute honored President William Jefferson Clinton with its 2009 Scholar-Statesman Award .

The Washington Post reports that some in the administration see the Lebanese Hezbollah as a possible model for transformation of the Taliban. Describing the Taliban as a movement "deeply rooted" in Afghanistan, much like Hezbollah is in Lebanon, proponents of a Hezbollah model for the Taliban see a scenario in