Policy Analysis

President Obama's April 6 speech to the Turkish parliament in Ankara has addressed Washington's concerns over Turkey's turn from the West. In his speech, Obama tackled the erosion of Turkey's liberal democratic values. He also took up Turkey's recent foreign policy differences with the United States. Lately, a civilizational view

For North Africa, 2009 is a year of elections. Regrettably, these elections -- this week's presidential elections in Algeria, Tunisia's presidential and legislative elections in October, and Morocco's local council elections in June -- attest not to the vibrancy of democracy in the region, but rather to its lingering authoritarianism

PolicyWatch #1504 is second in a two-part series on the legal issues associated with Israel's recent war in the Gaza Strip. PolicyWatch #1497, " Examining the Conduct of IDF Operations in Gaza," dealt with how the Israeli military fought the war (Jus In Bello). This piece addresses questions surrounding the

President Barack Obama will visit Turkey today and tomorrow, flying there from NATO and European Union meetings. Mr. Obama should be applauded for his vision. America can address the challenges it faces in Turkey only by emphasizing that country's place in the West. Turkish public opinion is growing increasingly anti-Western

At first glance, the Alliance of Civilizations, or AoC, founded by Turkey and Spain in 2005, seems like a sensible and strategic undertaking. In the post-Sept. 11 world, it boldly promises to bring two clashing civilizations peacefully together. But this is a fundamentally incorrect assumption. In fact, Turkey and Spain

On April 9, Algerians go to the polls to elect a head of state. A constitutional amendment engineered by two-term President Abdulaziz Bouteflika in November 2008 allows the septuagenarian to vie for a third term. Running with no credible opponents -- and unopposed by the military and security services (DRS)

On April 6 and 7, after attending the NATO and European Union summits, President Obama will visit Ankara and Istanbul as part of his European tour. The visit seeks to build on Secretary of State Hillary Clinton's March 7 trip to Ankara, where she underscored Washington's commitment to a European

On March 27, the official Saudi Press Agency issued a brief, surprise statement announcing that Interior Minister Prince Nayef had been appointed second deputy prime minister. This intriguing development has prompted widespread speculation that the conservative Prince Nayef will become crown prince when the incumbent -- the ailing Prince Sultan

Concurrent with the increase pressure on the Baha'is, once more the Islamic Republic of Iran has declared activities of the followers of the Baha'i Faith illegal. In his letter to the Minster of Intelligence, Iran's Attorney General, Qorban-Ali Dorri Najafabadi, has accused the Baha'is of connection with Israel and of

On March 31, Likud Party leader Binyamin Netanyahu will be sworn in as Israel's next prime minister almost a decade after the end of his first premiership. Although American media has focused on the cabinet inclusion of Avigdor Lieberman, the head of the right-wing Yisrael Beiteinu party, the more important

On March 29, Turkish voters went to the polls to elect mayors of more than eighty cities and two thousand smaller municipalities, as well as members of eighty-one provincial councils. Turkey's governing Justice and Development Party (AKP) won 39 percent of the vote, the main opposition Republican Peoples Party (CHP)

A trap awaits Turkey analysts seeking to explain rising anti-Americanism and anti-Semitism in Turkey. There is a tendency to look into the historic roots of both phenomena and to explain both as hardwired in the Turkish polity, not as products of current politics. To be sure, there are anti-Western instincts

On Monday, the annual Arab Summit will convene in Doha, Qatar, a meeting that may become a media circus if invited Sudanese president Omar al-Bashir -- recently indicted by the International Criminal Court (ICC) for murdering nearly a half million of his countrymen in Darfur -- attends. Nonetheless, for participating

Critics have raised serious ethical questions about how the Israel Defense Forces (IDF) carried out Operation Cast Lead in the Gaza Strip. The IDF has been accused of war crimes ranging from launching an unjustified and aggressive war to wanton damage to civilian property. The Israeli government and the IDF

This week marks the thirtieth anniversary of the signing of the Egyptian-Israeli peace treaty. Reverberating across the Middle East, the accord profoundly impacted regional politics, inter-Arab relations, and the Arab-Israeli conflict. Although the parties, their leaders, and the neighborhood in which they operated were much different from those today, understanding

Earlier this month, the United Kingdom announced that it is reopening dialogue with the political wing of Hezbollah. Unlike the United States, the United Kingdom has only banned Hezbollah's terrorist (External Security Organization) and military wings. The ban on the terrorist wing came in 2000, while the ban on the

Conspiracy theories have been popular in the former Ottoman Empire ever since the 19th century, when Turkey became a pawn in Great Power games. But even by that standard, the current stories swirling around Istanbul and Ankara take the cake. Tales of a sinister "Deep State" (Derin Devlet) have surfaced

The reconstruction period that followed the 2006 Israel-Lebanon War can be instructive for those seeking to curtail Hamas's political influence as Gaza enters a period of restoration. This article assesses the stakes for the Middle East and the international community in this early phase of rebuilding Gaza. © IHS (Global)

In early March, two senior U.S. officials traveled to Damascus for the highest-level bilateral meeting in years, part of the new administration's policy of "engagement." Washington seeks to test Damascus' intentions to distance itself from Iran. While a "strategic realignment" of Damascus is unlikely, in the short term, the diplomatic

In early March, the British government reestablished contact with Hizballah, reversing a ban that had been in effect since 2005. The move comes less than a year after Britain decided to actually tighten the ban on Hizballah and outlaw its military wing. The decision not only highlights the lack of