Policy Analysis

In the weeks since Yasir Arafat first called for an emergency Arab summit to address the peace process stalemate, Arab capitals have responded with near-unanimous support for the idea. But despite that agreement-in-principle, actual planning for a summit has been hampered by disputes among Arab countries on a few minor

Two years after the death of 19 Americans in the June 25, 1996 bombing of the Khobar Towers in Dhahran, it is appropriate to consider the quandaries for U.S. terrorism policy that the bombing exposed. The hope that U.S. investigators could identify the perpetrators of bombings overseas as readily as

The Council of Ministers from European Union (EU) governments is due to meet June 29 to discuss the recommendations of the EU Commission -- the Brussels bureaucracy -- to impose restrictions on trade with Israel. At stake is more than an arcane trade dispute. Because of this matter, Manuel Marin

The recent nuclear tests conducted by India and Pakistan have aroused a range of reactions across the Middle East. Following are representative statements by politicians and media analysts regarding the significance and the implications of the nuclear competition on the Indian subcontinent. Statements from the Arab World "Pakistan's possession of

Let me start with the issue of Moscow's role. Russia is an obvious player in this region. We may or may not like this fact, but there is certainly no blinking it. To the contrary, anyone who starts from the assumption that our goal has to be to marginalize the

On June 15, 1998, Eliot Cohen, director of the strategic studies program at Johns Hopkins University's School of Advanced International Studies (SAIS), Michael Eisenstadt, senior fellow in military affairs at The Washington Institute, and Andrew Bacevich, director of SAIS's Foreign Policy Institute and director-designate of the Center for International Studies

In the five years since the September 1993 signing of the Oslo Accords (formally, the Israel-PLO Declaration of Principles), not much peace has been produced. The feeling of hope and optimism among ordinary people has died down. One issue for Palestinians has been the continuing control by Israel. Despite the

Iran has become pragmatic. The pragmatism began not with Khatemi but with the first day of the revolution. As happens with any ideological revolution, there is a significant change between the ideology while in opposition and the policy upon taking power. This bitter reality has forced Iran to deviate from

Testimony before the House Committee on International Relations The U.S. sanctions on Iran have imposed costs on the U.S. economy, but those have been small compared to the benefits. When the sanctions were adopted, the weight of expert opinion was that they would have little effect on Iran. The Financial

In order to assess policy implications of war crimes tribunals, it is essential to understand the nature of these crimes. The term "war crimes" refers to a body of law more than five hundred years old, though it is profoundly shaped by World War II and the Holocaust. When in

Just days after America's two most powerful men -- the President and the Vice President -- celebrated Israel's fiftieth anniversary in special ceremonies in Washington and Jerusalem, America's two most powerful women -- the First Lady and the Secretary of State -- offered a very different coda to Israel's jubilee

The recent series of nuclear weapons tests in South Asia -- reportedly five bombs by India last week and five by Pakistan yesterday -- are likely to have reverberations for nuclear proliferation in the Middle East, though the impact of these tests may not be evident for some time. A

Russia's foreign policy is a complicated issue because Russia is still in transition. Foreign Minister Primakov has succeeded, for the first time, in bringing the foreign policy under the control of the foreign ministry. However, there still remain some important players such as private industry groups and the Ministry of

Turkey's global role, in the post-Cold War era, is more significant than ever. During the Cold War years, Turkey's primary role was to halt communist expansion in the region. In return, Turkey, under the NATO umbrella, enjoyed the protection of its Western allies. The end of the Cold War removed

With headlines both here and in the Middle East focused on the U.S.-Israel confrontation over "further redeployments," little attention has been paid in recent weeks to the lost opportunity to close the file on two items left from Oslo's interim agenda: the Gaza Airport and the Gaza Industrial Estate at

The Interim Period and Final Status. There is a real crisis; we should recognize it. And I would like here to say that the American administration has tried since a long time to put an end to this crisis. . . . They are doing all their best efforts, but

Testimony before the Senate Foreign Relations Committee, Subcommittee on Near East and South Asian Affairs The May 1997 election of Mohammad Khatami as president of Iran has raised hopes and expectations of change in Iran's domestic and foreign policy. In the foreign policy arena, it is possible to discern a

Security and Peace: "...We are now discussing in Washington a critical passage to complete the closing of the circle of peace around Israel. The territorial aspects of this discussion are very important—the knowledge of what land is vital and what land is less vital for our security... First, a small

On May 14, 1998, Israeli prime minister Binyamin Netanyahu addressed The Washington Institute at the Mayflower Hotel. Following is a full transcript of his speech and the subsequent question-and-answer session. PRIME MINISTER NETANYAHU: Good morning. Thank you. I am very pleased, along with my wife, Sara, to acknowledge old friends

(a) Hostility and hatred. Fifty years after the creation of Israel hostility, hatred and suspicion still characterize the political landscape of the Middle East. On the most basic level, Palestinians and Arabs have still not fully accepted the legitimacy of a non-Arab, non-Moslem entity like the state of Israel in