Policy Analysis

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

"In the Oslo Accords, that question [of statehood] was left for the final status negotiations. Because of the heavy involvement of the United States in the peace process, I believe it would be an error for me to comment on that. I think the important thing is that has to

The surprise White House meeting Monday of President Bill Clinton, Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and Palestinian Authority Chairman Yasser Arafat calls for both caution and hope. On the one hand, the meetings themselves were a significant achievement, given that Netanyahu and Arafat had not met for more than a

Yasir Arafat received a standing ovation from the United Nations General Assembly last week when he reiterated Palestine's claim to statehood and eventual full UN membership. He had hoped to receive even more substantive backing when he asked the member-states of the Arab League to lend tangible support to the

On September 24, 1998, just two days shy of the tenth anniversary of the original publication of Salman Rushdie's The Satanic Verses, Iranian foreign minister Kamal Kharrazi made a major statement in the presence of his British counterpart: "The government of the Islamic Republic of Iran has no intention, nor

Introduction Muhammad Khatami's surprise victory in the May 23, 1997, Iranian presidential election generated much enthusiasm at home and much interest abroad. For Iranians, the massive popular mandate -- Khatami received 70 percent of the vote with a nearly 90 percent turnout -- showed their disillusionment with the ruling establishment

Libya's economic decomposition has led to the rise of an Islamic opposition. The Islamists are increasingly allying with the Libyan armed forces, forming a pragmatic union that is likely to define Libya's political future in the post-Qaddafi period. Background. In the pre-Qaddafi period, Islam played a central role in Libya's

Turkey's weekend decision to boost diplomatic ties with Saddam Hussein to ambassadorial level highlights widespread regional opposition to an agreement between two long-feuding Iraqi Kurdish leaders signed in Washington earlier this month. The agreement affirms the Iraqi Kurds' desire to avoid further inter-factional fighting and to prevent Saddam's return to

Yitzhak Rabin was elected in 1992 as prime minister of Israel based on his pledge that he could deliver an autonomy agreement with the Palestinians and that there would be no major deal with Syria. Nevertheless, between 1993 and 1996, two dramatic opportunities arose for an Israel-Syrian peace agreement; both

The visit to the United States from Wednesday September 23 (the Saudi national day) by Crown Prince Abdullah, the heir apparent of the kingdom of Saudi Arabia, is part of a rare world tour which has so far taken in Britain and France, and is scheduled to include later China

As U.S. negotiator Dennis Ross continued his efforts this week to bridge gaps preventing an Israeli-Palestinian agreement on "further redeployment" (FRD), Palestinian Authority leader Yasir Arafat was at the Arab League Foreign Minister's meeting in Cairo seeking backing for his plan to establish a Palestinian state next year. His efforts

The peace process has, in practice, meant Israel's acceptance by the Arab world. This process, however, is not irreversible. It is mainly a function of Israel's military, economic, and strategic strength and the Arab recognition of structural weakness. Only as long as current conditions hold, the peace process will continue

Testimony before the House National Security Committee U.S. policy toward Iraq is at a turning point. Decisions made in the coming weeks and months will affect American interests in the Middle East and the fate of the region for years to come. Unfortunately, there is no clear, obvious solutions to

Return of U.S. Mediation: Less than four months after the standoff between the Clinton and Netanyahu administrations over the extent of Israel's further redeployment (FRD) from the West Bank, Special Middle East Coordinator Dennis Ross is back in the Middle East trying to "narrow the differences" between the Israeli and

On September 2, 1998, H.E. Baki Ilkin, Turkish ambassador to the United States, addressed The Washington Institute's Special Policy Forum. The following are excerpts from his opening remarks and a rapporteur's summary of the subsequent question-and-answer session. Read a full transcript. Transformation of Bilateral Relations "We are no longer only

As Ambassador Dennis Ross begins a diplomatic mission to resurrect the dormant Israeli-Palestinian peace talks, inside the Palestinian Authority, reverberations are still being felt from one of the most important political developments to take place since the PA's founding -- the Authority's first judicial executions. These executions, along with the

It is impossible to determine exactly what Iraq is concealing because Iraq has not accurately reported what it had to begin with. Therefore, it is not possible to produce a precise material balance of initial and current holdings. However, it is possible -- using data derived from Iraqi documents in

Richard Murphy's Aug. 25 op-ed piece in support of the administration's "new diplomatic approach" toward Iraq is a recipe for disaster. Ambassador Murphy asserts that this "new approach . . . may prove more effective" than the policy abandoned by the administration after the last confrontation with Iraq that ended

The August 20 bombing of Osama bin Laden's terrorist bases in Afghanistan and the alleged bin Laden-funded chemical weapons production facility in Khartoum, was a decisive and appropriate U.S. response to the atrocities in Nairobi and Dar es Salaam, and President Bill Clinton should be commended. Although Washington has, in

The U.S. cruise missile attacks on the Sudanese chemical weapons precursor plant and the Afghanistan terrorist camps raises questions about the future direction of U.S. policy on several fronts: the emphasis on state linkages to terrorism, the means used to counter proliferation, the role of law enforcement and military force