Policy Analysis

Iraq's Jan. 31 provincial elections, the first since 2005, may seem to have gone rather smoothly and been accompanied only by limited violence, but it's still too early to breathe a sigh of relief. Every election has losers, and losers don't always accept defeat graciously. In mature Western democracies, losers

Turkey is a special Muslim country. Of the more than 50 majority-Muslim nations, it is the only one that is a NATO ally, is in accession talks with the European Union, is a liberal democracy and has normal relations with Israel. Under its current government by the Justice and Development

Speaking last week in Qatar, Hamas leader Khaled Mashal thanked Qatar for its support and declared that Palestinian fighters had "won the war [in the Gaza Strip] by defeating Israeli plans." Mashal also lauded controversial Islamic scholar Yousef al-Qaradawi as the "shaikh of resistance." By tolerating such an event, Qatar

In his first week in office, President Obama spent the lion's share of his time on domestic economic issues, but international concerns -- specifically Arab, Muslim, and Middle East -- were an important focus as well. Collectively, the new president's actions and words constitute an unusually high-profile and personalized "public

In recent days, Washington has experienced a media blitz by the Libyan leader Muammar Gaddafi, including an op-ed in the New York Times and his first US videoconference in months. In the wake of the Obama transition, the "Guide of the Revolution" is reaching out to the new administration, using

During the early-January Israeli military campaign in the Gaza Strip, unknown groups fired rockets from southern Lebanon into Israel on two separate occasions. The Katyushas were launched from an area supposedly under the control of the United Nations Interim Force in Lebanon (UNIFIL) and the Lebanese army, in accordance with

Arab support for the Palestinians has been the bedrock of Arab diplomacy for decades, but the recent Israeli military action against Hamas fighters in the Gaza Strip has divided those backing Palestinian Authority (PA) President Mahmoud Abbas's Fatah Party and those supporting its Hamas rival. A series of meetings before

This past week, President-elect Obama declared that "Bin Laden and Al Qaeda are our number one threat when it comes to American security," pledging to "do everything in our power" to eliminate safe havens which terrorists can use to plan attacks against the U.S. As these terrorist networks become increasingly

UNRWA -- is it part of the solution to the Arab-Israeli conflict or part of the problem? The humanitarian aspect of the recent conflict between Israel and Hamas has cast a fresh spotlight on the presence in Gaza of the nearly sixty-year-old United Nations Relief and Works Agency for Palestine

Inheriting an uneasy truce in the Gaza Strip presents the Obama-Clinton-Mitchell team with an early set of critical Middle East tests. Before they can begin to address core issues in the Israeli-Palestinian peace process, they will have to focus over the next several weeks on an agenda of "prediplomacy" issues

This week, after more than a year of anticipation, most of Iraq's governorates will hold provincial elections. The election process and its outcome will provide a strong indication of whether Iraq's democracy will continue to consolidate or begin to unravel. More worrisome than the elections, however, may be the frustrated

On January 18, Israel announced its military withdrawal from the Gaza Strip, following the three-week offensive Operation Cast Lead. Although no definitive judgments can be made at this point -- post-conflict arrangements are concluding while scattered gunfire is still occurring -- Israel has made several tangible gains during the Gaza

Last week, the Treasury Department issued terrorist designations for three senior al-Qaeda operatives who spent time in Iran, including Usama bin Laden's son, Saad. But the action, which targeted individuals unlikely to have assets in the United States or to move money in their own names, appears to be linked

I spent part of 2008 in Turkey to figure out whether Ankara could still be considered a Western ally. That it's necessary to raise this question at all is an indication of how far the governing Justice and Development Party (AKP) has isolated the country from its traditional partners. For

When the Justice and Development Party (Adalet ve Kalkinma Partisi: AKP) government took power in Turkey and vowed to pursue EU accession in 2002, there were broad expectations that Turkey would soon join the ranks of liberal European democracies. Six years later, those expectations have been dashed as Turkey's liberalisation

On January 2, in the midst of Israeli military operations in the Gaza Strip, Jordan's King Abdullah removed General Intelligence Department (GID) head Muhammad Dahabi from his post and replaced him with Gen. Muhammad Raqqad, a deputy in the organization. Dahabi, who is the brother of Prime Minister Nader Dahabi

After months of speculation about the health of the designated successor to King Abdullah, Crown Prince Sultan, Saudi officials are now openly talking about Sultan's ill health. The kingdom -- a close U.S. ally, the self-professed leader of the Islamic world, the world's largest oil exporter, and most recently the

More than two weeks into the Israeli-Hamas war, the eyes of the world are narrowly focused on the crisis in Gaza. In the Middle East, however, it is not just the Palestinians and Israelis who are suffering, and it is not only Hamas which hopes to capitalize. Lost amid the

President-elect Barack Obama's administration faces difficult choices regarding its policy toward Turkey. Should Washington choose sides in Turkey's protracted struggle over secularism and democracy involving the ruling Justice and Development Party (AKP) and its opponents? Can the United States bring the reluctant AKP to support U.S. efforts against Iran's nuclear

On January 31, most Iraqis will go to the polls and express their political preferences in provincial elections, but four of Iraq's provinces -- the three governorates within the Kurdish Regional Government (KRG) and Kirkuk province -- will not hold elections. Kirkuk's noninclusion is a symbol of its unresolved status