All Policy Analysis by Robert Satloff

President Bill Clinton and Prime Minister Ehud Barak have vowed to recreate the personal partnership and strategic coordination that characterized the late Yitzhak Rabin's term of office. On the Palestinian track, however, much has happened since 1996 to change the nature of the Oslo process. New agreements -- over Hebron

Israeli prime minister Ehud Barak arrives in Washington this week amid an aura of unprecedented anticipation and expectation. His main goal is to reaffirm a multifaceted partnership between Israel and the United States and to sketch a basic understanding on the strategic goals and operational plans for advancing the Arab-Israeli

Campaign: Israel's elections were primarily a referendum on Prime Minister Binyamin Netanyhahu's leadership, and the verdict was clear: "Anybody but Netanyahu." This was also the sentiment during the campaign, especially when the three prime ministerial candidates (Yitzhak Mordechai, Ze'ev "Benny" Begin, and Azmi Bishara) from the three smaller parties dropped

After three years of a foreign policy that found Israel increasingly isolated, Ehud Barak's landslide victory in Israel's elections Monday should inaugurate a new "era of good feelings" between Israelis, Americans and Arabs. But once the honeymoon wears off, Israel's negotiating partners shouldn't expect Mr. Barak to make substantive concessions

Finally, after four months of pre-campaign maneuvering, the fireworks of Israel's 51st Independence Day last week marked the welcome opening of the real campaign for this country's May 17 elections. Until now, Israelis have witnessed a surreal campaign, dominated by polls for an electoral contest that will never happen (that

Change in Jordan has come swiftly and remarkably smoothly. The new king--Abdullah II--has adopted as his mantra the promise of "continuity" of his father's policies, yet he has already displayed ingenuity and cunning, especially on internal matters. Nevertheless, the challenges to Abdullah remain acute. Once this honeymoon period ends, Abdullah

"However much one may admire the courage of this lonely young king," wrote former British minister Anthony Nutting, "it is difficult to avoid the conclusion his days are numbered." Those words appeared in the New York Herald Tribune on July 31, 1958. Yesterday, more than 40 years later, Jordan's King

Why change the succession from King Hussein's brother, Hassan, to his eldest son, Abdullah? The principal reason for the change appears to have been paternal loyalty taking precedence over fraternal loyalty. Rationales based on real policy differences between Hussein and Hassan should largely be discounted; if anything, the two were

Today, Jordan's King Hussein formally decreed that his eldest son, Abdullah, would become crown prince in place of the king's brother, Hassan. Following is a brief biographical sketch of Abdullah. Born: Amman, January 30, 1962 Mother: King Hussein's second wife, Princess Muna al-Hussein (Toni Avril Gardiner) Personal status: Married to

King Hussein's return to Amman, after six months of medical treatment in the United States, has produced not only jubilation among Jordanians at the monarch's apparent recovery but also intense speculation about impending changes in the Hashemite line of succession. At this sensitive moment -- with economic perils at home

Barring some last minute parliamentary leger demain by Prime Minister Binyamin Netanyahu, today almost surely marks the beginning of an election campaign in Israel, with the actual vote probably to be held in April 1999. Although prognostications are premature, the campaign is likely to witness an explosion of candidates for

ROBERT SATLOFF The Peace Process: President Clinton's visit is generating Palestinian euphoria and Israeli ambivalence. The huge strategic gain for the Palestinians -- de facto U.S. recognition of the legitimacy of their aspirations to statehood -- is the product of a studied campaign by PA Chairman Yasir Arafat to do

After years of running from the legacy of the last Southern Democrat to serve in the White House, Bill Clinton follows in Jimmy Carter's footsteps this week by hosting the first Middle East peace summit in the United States in 20 years. As at Camp David in 1978, the outcome

On October 26, 1998, Washington Institute executive director Robert Satloff addressed the Institute's Special Policy Forum, along with Zeev Schiff and Abbas Kelidar. The following is an expanded version of his remarks. Read a summary of Mr. Schiff and Mr. Kelidar's remarks. History will judge the Wye River Memorandum by

Is the Wye River Memorandum mediated by President Clinton another Camp David -- a historic breakthrough toward Middle East peace -- or a technical accord tying up the loose ends of previous unimplemented agreements? The answer is "both." The rustic plantation site and the near-constant involvement of the president offered

One needn't be clairvoyant to know that a weary Bill Clinton, Benjamin Netanyahu and Yasser Arafat will emerge from the confines of Maryland's Eastern Shore to declare their Middle East peace summit a success. After all, presidential summits have to be successes; the alternative is too unpalatable to contemplate. But

After two years of back-stabbing and finger-pointing, this week's Mideast "peace summit" at Wye Plantation, Md., has the potential for a real breakthrough between America and Israel. Given the common challenges these two allies face, this rapprochement may come just in the nick of time. Ever since Benjamin Netanyahu's narrow

ROBERT SATLOFF Background on the U.S. Role in the Peace Process. The October Wye Plantation conference underscores the shift in the character of U.S. involvement since the September 1996 clashes that followed the opening of the Hasmonean Tunnel in the Old City of Jerusalem. After this incident, the U.S. role

Though it has escaped the attention of the media, the Clinton Administration seems to have decided on a Middle East policy that does not rule out U.S. recognition of a unilateral declaration of Palestinian statehood. The articulation of this policy has come subtly, emerging not from the direct comments of

This is the second in a two-part series on the topic "U.S. Aid to Egypt: Building a Partnership for the 21st Century." Read Part I. The question of U.S. military aid to Egypt poses an unusual policy dilemma: should it go up or down? On one hand, Egypt's strategic location