Policy Analysis

On December 15, 2006, Iran's third municipal election and fourth election of the Assembly of Experts for the Leadership will take place simultaneously. Some observers are expecting a return of the reformists who lost much influence and standing in the most recent elections. However, the election process has, as yet

The New York Times invited several experts with unique personal experience in Iraq to comment on the Iraq Study Group Report. Andrew Exum is currently a Soref fellow at The Washington Institute; in 2003 he led a platoon of Army Rangers in Iraq. The fates of 26 million Iraqis and

On December 10, 2006, Institute executive director Robert Satloff sent this letter to Deborah Lipstadt, the Dorot professor of modern Jewish and Holocaust studies at Emory University, in response to her review of Dr. Satloff’s book Among the Righteous: Lost Stories of the Holocaust’s Long Reach into Arab Lands in

We have had the pre-publication leaks. Now we have the report. What I’m looking for now are the post-publication leaks. Only those leaks will explain what is, on the face of it, a very strange report. So strange, in fact, that its logic and findings might complicate the position of

In its report due out on December 6, the Iraq Study Group (ISG), often referred to as the Baker-Hamilton commission, will presumably recommend reaching out to Iran to seek its involvement in stabilizing Iraq. To evaluate the prospects for success, it is useful to look at the history of efforts

Virtually no corner of the world remains immune to the threat of radical Islamists. Africa, Asia, Europe, the two Americas -- in different ways, using different means, and operating under different guises, jihadists of various stripes have waged war against "infidels" (America, Israel, the West) and "apostates" (non-Islamist Muslims) around

On December 5, 2006, Sallai Meridor addressed The Washington Institute’s Special Policy Forum. Recently appointed Israeli ambassador to the United States, he previously served as chairman of the Jewish Agency for Israel and as advisor to the Israeli ministers of defense and foreign affairs. The following is a rapporteur’s summary

On December 6, the long-awaited report of the Iraq Study Group (ISG), often referred to as the Baker-Hamilton commission, will be available to the public. One of the report’s recommendations is likely to be direct talks with Iran and Syria, providing plenty of fodder for American politicians, journalists, and foreign

According to press reports, one of the principal policy recommendations of the congressionally mandated Iraq Study Group will be that Washington should engage Iraq’s neighbors—particularly Syria and Iran—in its efforts to staunch the ongoing violence in Iraq. However, both historical precedent and current conditions on the ground in Iraq suggest

On November 20, 2006, David Schenker and Nohad el-Machnouk addressed The Washington Institute’s Special Policy Forum. Mr. Schenker is a senior fellow at the Institute specializing in Arab politics and former Levant country director at the Pentagon. He had just returned from Lebanon prior to the forum. Mr. el-Machnouk served

Robert Satloff’s new book is sure to rankle Arabs who insist that the Holocaust never happened. In Among the Righteous: Lost Stories from the Holocaust’s Long Reach into Arab Lands, Satloff chronicles the persecution of North Africa’s Jewish community during the Axis occupation and the Arab reaction to it. From

In 2002, it seemed as if Turkey's two-decade long struggle against the Kurdistan Workers Party (Partiya Karkerên Kurdistan, PKK) had ended. It did not. Peace was ephemeral. While the PKK, on October 1, declared yet another cease-fire, it came only after a sustained period of almost daily attacks on Turkish

With less than a week before the publication of the Iraq Study Group's report, it is speculated that the panel chaired by James Baker and Lee Hamilton will recommend diplomatic engagement of Syria and Iran. The Bush administration has been firmly against dialogue with Syria, emphasizing how Damascus has made

As Western diplomats debate ways to counter Iran's nuclear program, the strategies they devise must take Iranian motives into account. If Iranian leaders see their nuclear program as essential to defending Iran's existence—as the Israeli and Pakistani governments view their nuclear programs—then economic considerations would make little difference to Iran's

On October 1, the Kurdistan Workers Party (PKK), an organization on the European Union (EU)’s list of terrorist organizations, declared a unilateral ceasefire in its long campaign against Turkey. Since then, however, the PKK has killed dozens of Turks. Because the PKK enjoys an extensive support network in Europe, many

The production of plans, options, and proposals for Iraq has become a cottage industry. As the plans roll out, by what criteria should they be evaluated? What makes one plan or set of plans qualitatively better than another? General Criteria Several criteria that all plans or proposals should include are

Earlier this week, Israeli prime minister Ehud Olmert announced that Israel would release “many Palestinian prisoners” once captured Israeli soldier Gilad Shalit is released. Some policymakers believe this prisoner exchange might strengthen Palestinian Authority president Mahmoud Abbas and improve Israeli relations with the Palestinians. According to official information, there are

The assassination of Lebanese minister of industry Pierre Gemayel last week was yet another in a seemingly endless series of brutal murders of anti-Syrian politicians in Lebanon. But while Gemayel’s death was tragic, for Lebanon watchers, the killing didn’t come as much of a surprise. For weeks Hezbollah Secretary General

For many long years it was fair to describe the development of Saudi Arabia's foreign policy in terms of the "dynamics of inaction." The Wahhabi royal house followed an essentially cautious, awkward, defensive path of diplomacy, rarely taking the initiative, and prefering to remain in the shadowy realm of influence

On November 15, 2006, Jonathan Davidson, Soner Cagaptay, and Mark Parris addressed The Washington Institute’s Special Policy Forum. Jonathan Davidson is senior advisor for political and academic affairs at the European Community Delegation in Washington, D.C. Soner Cagaptay is a senior fellow and director of the Turkish Research Program at