Policy Analysis

Brewing discontent among Iran's Azeri population has potential implications for U.S. and Western policy toward Tehran.

If there is one thing that the Bush administration and its critics agree on, it is that we can not win the war on terror only through military means. So long as the greater Middle East is a cauldron of anger, resentment, alienation and frustration'characterized by conflict and corrupt regimes'radical

David Makovsky reviewed Schlomo Ben-Ami’s new book, Scars of War, Wounds of Peace: The Israeli-Arab Tragedy (Oxford University Press, 2006), for the June 4, 2006, Washington Post Book World. The following is the text of his review. Shlomo Ben-Ami was there when it all went sour -- serving as Israel's

On May 18, 2006, Ambassador James Jeffrey and Maj. Gen. William McCoy addressed The Washington Institute’s Special Policy Forum. Ambassador Jeffrey is senior advisor to the secretary of state and coordinator for Iraq policy at the U.S. Department of State. He previously served as deputy chief of mission and charge

While Algeria appears to have succeeded in defeating the Salafist Group for Preaching and Combat, in reality the threat can still not be discounted. Emily Hunt explains why the terrorist organization’s silence does not necessarily mean it is defeated, but may instead show that the group is evolving into a

Iraq is most likely to see a protracted internal war and economic difficulties for years to come. A mildly optimistic scenario is possible but so are some outcomes that would be destabilizing for the region, unpleasant for Iraq, and detrimental for U.S. interests. Iraq's difficulties are disappointing to the Iraqi

On May 17, a gunman chanting Islamist slogans attacked the Turkish Council of State (the Danistay, or high court for administrative affairs) in Ankara. The gunman killed one judge and wounded four others who were sitting in the Council’s second chamber, which has recently upheld Turkey’s ban on “turbans” in

Ehud Olmert's first visit to Washington as Israel's prime minister may not produce dramatic announcements, but a lot will be riding on his private conversations with President Bush. Olmert will be presenting his concept of "consolidation," which, if implemented, could lead to Israel's evacuating more than 60,000 settlers from 72

Palestinian Authority (PA) president Mahmoud Abbas’s surprise May 25 announcement that he would call for a national referendum should Palestinian factions fail to reach agreement during their national dialogue was wrongly interpreted as a peace plan by many in the press. The document Abbas threatened to put to a popular

On May 3, 2006, Efraim Halevy addressed The Washington Institute’s Special Policy Forum. Efraim Halevy is head of the Center for Strategic and Policy Studies at the Hebrew University of Jerusalem. He served as head of the Mossad from 1998 to 2002 and head of Israel’s National Security Council from

As the five permanent members of the UN Security Council and Germany consult today about what measures to take to influence Iran’s decisions about its nuclear program, it is worth evaluating what impact outside pressure would have on President Mahmoud Ahmadinezhad’s administration and its ability to overcome internal political and

With Iran's nuclearization a hot button issue, analysts are asking how Turkey, the only NATO country bordering Iran, would respond if the United States imposed sanctions on Tehran or chose a military option to prevent Iran from acquiring a nuclear weapon. There is one answer that American policymakers will hear

On May 16, 2006, David Makovsky and Dennis Ross discussed Ehud Olmert’s “consolidation plan” and his agenda for his first visit to Washington, D.C., as prime minister of Israel. David Makovsky is director of the Institute’s Project on the Middle East Peace Process. Dennis Ross, the Institute’s counselor and Ziegler

With Iran's nuclearization a hot button issue, analysts are asking how Turkey, the only NATO country bordering Iran, would respond if the U.S. imposed sanctions on Tehran or chose a military option to prevent Iran from acquiring a nuclear weapon. There is one answer that American policymakers will hear in

On May 11, 2006, Undersecretary of State for Political Affairs R. Nicholas Burns delivered the Michael Stein Address on U.S. Middle East Policy at The Washington Institute's annual Soref Symposium. Following is a full transcript of his remarks. I want to present to you some thoughts about the way we

On May 17, 2006, Institute deputy director for research Patrick Clawson testified before the U.S. Senate Committee on Foreign Relations. The following is the prepared text of his remarks. If Iran saw its nuclear program as essential to defending the country’s very existence -- the way Israel and Pakistan view

The second meeting in a new round of twice-yearly strategic dialogues between the United States and Saudi Arabia will be held May 18 in Washington. Established at the Crawford summit between President George W. Bush and then Crown Prince Abdullah in April 2005, the first meeting was held in the

The eventual bankruptcy under international boycott of the Palestinian Authority led by Hamas appears imminent. Since Hamas's sweeping victory in January, the US and the European Union have sought to put pressure on the movement to moderate or face international isolation by blocking all financial aid to pay for the

During the early morning hours of May 7, militants from Hamas and Fatah engaged in a bloody clash near Khan Yunis in Gaza that left three fighters dead. Reporting on this incident -- one of the deadliest intra-Palestinian confrontations in recent history -- indicates that Hamas activists responded to the

On May 12, 2006, Graham Allison and Richard Haass addressed the 2006 Soref Symposium. Dr. Allison is a professor of government and the director of the Belfer Center for Science and International Affairs at Harvard’s Kennedy School of Government. During the Clinton administration, he served as assistant secretary of defense