Policy Analysis

U.S. military attacks on terrorist facilities in Sudan and Afghanistan highlight the continuing threat to U.S. interests from terrorists -- and their state sponsors -- around the globe. Since the Nairobi and Dar es Salaam bombings, various Middle Eastern actors have speculated on the culprits of the attack and their

Saudi terrorist financier Osama bin Laden has posed a significant problem for the United States for some time. The extradition from Pakistan to Kenya this past weekend of Mohammad Saddiq Odeh, a reported Bin Laden associate, heightened speculation Bin Laden was involved in funding and planning the attacks on the

Two Visions of Peacemaking: The fundamental difference between Labor and Likud lies in their willingness to take risks for peace. Likud believes that the first step toward peace is a change in the basic attitude of the Arab people toward the State of Israel, an evolution that will take a

With Yasir Arafat in South Africa and Benjamin Netanyahu poised to take his summer vacation, Israeli spokesman David Bar Illan recently predicted "not much progress [in the peace process] the next couple of weeks." Recent days have, in fact, witnessed significant, though not yet successful, backroom maneuvering inside the fractious

Saddam Husayn's refusal to cooperate with United Nations Special Commission (UNSCOM) has re-opened a confrontation with the U.N. and the United States that was temporarily resolved through Kofi Annan's diplomatic efforts in February 1998. Over the course of that earlier crisis, U.S. officials made strong statements about the threat posed

Early Turkish elections, recently set for April 18, 1999, hold little prospect for change in a longstanding political impasse, yet they raise potential problems for Turkey's domestic and foreign policies -- not least its approach to Greek Cypriot plans to deploy Russian S-300 surface-to-air missiles. Meanwhile, the departure of the

In the aftermath of the August 8, 1998, bombing of the American embassies in Kenya and Tanzania, the United States has initiated investigation into who was responsible for the attacks, which wounded nearly 5,000 persons and killed 200, including 12 Americans. These bombings required extensive in-country infrastructure, logistical support and

On July 29, 1998, Amatzia Baram, an associate professor in the Department of Modern History of the Middle East at Haifa University and the recipient of The Washington Institute's 1998 Ira Weiner Fellowship, addressed the Institute's Special Policy Forum to discuss the findings of his new book, Building toward Crisis

On July 27, 1998, Zalman Shoval, the new Israeli ambassador to the United States, addressed The Washington Institute's Special Policy Forum. The following is a rapporteur's summary of his remarks. Read a full transcript. The Oslo Agreement: Oslo has been a big disappointment for both sides; in retrospective it was

Iran gave a new twist to President Khatami's call for a "civilizational dialogue" on July 22 when it test-launched a medium-range missile with the potential to reach India in the east, Russia in the north, Egypt and Turkey in the west and Israel, Jordan and all Gulf Cooperation Council states

The December 1997 European Union (EU) summit in Luxembourg accepted the membership candidacies of ten Eastern and Central European countries and Cyprus. Contrary to Turkish expectations, however, Turkey was not accepted as a "candidate." This disappointing result -- known in Turkey as ''the Luxembourg shock'' -- was the result of

The oil price downturn began in late 1996, but the very sharp fall started in mid-1997 and has persisted to the present. The average price of oil in 1997 was approximately $1.50 less per barrel than in 1996, and the average for 1998 may be as much as $3.00 to

With the first high-level, direct talks between Israel and the Palestinian Authority in 16 months reaching an impasse just hours after they opened, pressures facing Israeli Prime Minister Netanyahu are heating up. From Gaza come statements that Palestinians will talk only with Washington, which has already declared that the "ball

On July 21, Iraq's ruling Revolutionary Command Council "strongly warned that it will not allow any party . . [including] the United States or UNSCOM [to] prolong the embargo." This developed a theme introduced in Saddam Husayn's speech on the July 17th anniversary of the 1968 Ba'th revolution. The July

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

On July 7, 1998, Patrick Clawson, research director at The Washington Institute; Andrew Parasiliti, director of programs at the Middle East Institute; and Kenneth Pollack, research fellow at The Washington Institute addressed a Special Policy Forum marking the release of Iraq Strategy Review, an Institute study outlining the different possible

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

This is the first in a two-part series on the topic "U.S. Aid to Egypt: Building a Partnership for the 21st Century." Read Part II. For the first time in nearly twenty years, the United States will soon revamp foreign aid to Israel and Egypt. Given the centrality of these

Saddam Husayn and Iraq have undergone a remarkable transformation since 1995, when Saddam was fighting for his very survival. Today, Saddam seems firmly in control in Iraq. He has pacified his family and bought time with the tribes, restored some of the Republican Guard's shattered pride, and apparently convinced his

Iraq has been a continuing problem for U.S. policy, as was brought home during the November 1997-February 1998 crisis. Whereas much dissatisfaction was heard about the current policy, the popular debate exposed the difficulties with alternative courses of action. The challenge posed by Iraq for U.S. policy has some enduring