All Policy Analysis by David Makovsky

Public remarks by top U.S., Israeli, and Palestinian officials this week indicate that the character of the upcoming Middle East peace conference in Annapolis has changed. First, instead of the expected pre-conference declaration of final status -- principles and conceptual tradeoffs on core issues such as Jerusalem, borders, security, and

On October 20, 2007, Nader Said, David Makovsky, and David Pollock addressed The Washington Institute's Weinberg Founders Conference. Dr. Said is director of the Development Studies Program at Birzeit University and team leader for the UN Palestine Human Development Report. Mr. Makovsky is a senior fellow at The Washington Institute

Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice recently visited Israeli prime minister Ehud Olmert and Palestinian president Mahmoud Abbas to get personal briefings from each leader regarding their sensitive discussions on peace. Such briefings are designed so that Rice can identify the existing gaps between the parties and fashion U.S. strategy in

It seems a very long time ago that President George W. Bush gave his second inaugural address. In January 2005, he proclaimed that "the best hope for peace in our world is the expansion of freedom in all the world." With this soaring idea, deeply rooted in America's Wilsonian political

For the past several years, Palestinian moderates often have been on the defensive amid the growth of Hamas (the Islamist Resistance Movement). The re-emergence of Palestinian moderates is key, as Israel and the Palestinians now try to restore their shattered partnership and head toward a Middle East peace meeting in

On July 31, 2007, David Makovsky, Hatem Abdul Khader, and Ephraim Sneh addressed a Policy Forum at The Washington Institute. Mr. Makovsky is a senior fellow and director of the Project on the Middle East Peace Process at The Washington Institute. Mr. Abdul Khader is a former Palestinian Legislative Council

Hamas will be more decisive than any other actor -- including the United States -- in determining whether it is isolated or not. The militant movement must now decide whether it will govern responsibly or remain mired in violence. Some of those who criticized the United States and the European

On June 4, 2007, the Washington Institute for Near East Policy held a symposium marking the fortieth anniversary of the June 1967 war between Israel and its Arab neighbors. The purpose of the symposium was to grapple with the failure of U.S.-led diplomacy on the eve of the war, exploring

The following are edited extracts from an exclusive on-camera interview with Israeli vice prime minister Shimon Peres, conducted by David Makovsky, director of The Washington Institute's Project on the Middle East Peace Process. The interview was shown to participants at the Institute's Soref Symposium on May 11, 2007. Q: Can