Policy Analysis

On May 6, 1998, Bruce Riedel, special assistant to the president and senior director of Near East and South Asian Affairs at the National Security Council, addressed The Washington Institute's Soref Symposium. The following are excerpts from his speech. Read a full transcript. When President Clinton was elected in 1992

The United States played an important supporting role in the quiet drama of re-building Jordan-Israel ties by holding an official signing ceremony two weeks ago to recognize the Al Hassan Industrial Zone in Irbid, Jordan as a "Qualifying Industrial Zone" (QIZ). The QIZ agreement, first signed at the Doha conference

Mr. Chairman, Mr. Satloff:, dear friends, ladies and gentlemen. Please allow me to say first that I changed my mind three times before this meeting so as to engineer a successful meeting for this institute and its anniversary of the foundation, which we highly appreciate. And I hope, I'm sure

Remarks last week by Iranian Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC) commander Yahya Rahim Safavi during a closed meeting with IRGC officers -- leaked to the Iranian press -- underscore the growing impatience of the country's conservative hardliners with the liberal trend of the Khatami government, Iran's declared intention to adhere to

This presentation will expound on security and coexistence, an alternative approach to breaking the deadlock between Israel and the Palestinians. But first, a discussion of the strategic conflict is needed. This conflict stems from the strength and development in the Middle East, coupled with the existence of hostility and hatred

Keynote address by Bruce Riedel. With Ariel Sharon, Ahmed Qurei (Abu Ala), Dori Shadmon, Khalil Shikaki, Daniel Schorr, and Morton M. Kondracke.

It is a great pleasure to be here this evening to speak to this audience on the subject of U.S. policy in the Gulf. I would especially like to thank Rob Satloff for inviting me. Five years ago, of course, my predecessor, Martin Indyk, addressed the Institute on our policy

The Israeli-Palestinian peace process, Secretary of State Madeleine Albright says, is "in grave danger." Why? There are two main reasons. The first should be obvious: The Oslo accords have yet to produce very much peace. More Israelis have died in the 4 1/2 years since Oslo than did during the

The successful launch of the $158 million Nilesat communications satellite last week is yet another sign of dramatic changes underway in Arab broadcasting and communications. The outcome of those changes will shape American challenges, threats and opportunities in the Arab world in the coming decade. The Egyptian-owned satellite, built by

On Monday, May 4, the U.S.-brokered peace talks involving Israel and the Palestinian Authority will be held in London. Few expect progress in those talks. But the occasion might serve to enhance the role of the European Union (EU), and particularly Britain, in the peace process, making it a more

During the period when his movement's goal was the destruction of Israel, Yasser Arafat developed a style of leadership that allowed him to deal effectively with the Palestinian people and the Arab countries. That style was for all power to be centralized and personalized, although non-dictatorial. This leadership style allowed

Throughout its reform program, Egypt has established a pattern of reform that avoids the problems of the Southeast Asian economies in three key ways: First, Egypt has not run a large deficit in the balance of payments current account. Egypt's current account deficit is of the order of a couple

As President Clinton toured Africa earlier this month, seven U.S. government officials met with Sudanese rebel leaders in Asmara. The meeting followed months of signs that the U.S. government is stepping up efforts to weaken if not overthrow the Sudanese government. At the same time, ties between the governments of

What do Middle Easterners have to learn from the Northern Ireland peace accord? Other than the common legacy of terrorism and the shedding of innocent blood, the two conflicts are fundamentally different and the solutions reached at Stormont last week and in Oslo in 1993 are very different, too. But

The Department of State will soon issue Patterns of Global Terrorism 1997, its authoritative survey of trends and developments in international terrorism. Its credibility requires fair, objective, and comprehensive reporting of all relevant documented facts, complemented by convincing circumstantial evidence, concerning the activities of terrorist organizations and the role of

The only people who do not realize that the Islamic revolution is over are some in Washington and those in power in Tehran. The revolutionary zeal and popularity is gone. In many ways, Iran today is like the Soviet Union under Gorbechev, with the critical difference that the transition away

The crisis with Iraq, the decision to immunize U.S. troops against anthrax, and recent incidents in the U.S. and Britain (including at least one hoax) have together raised the American public's awareness of the threat posed by chemical and biological (CB) terrorism. Heightened awareness, however, has not been matched by

The peace process, says the State Department spokesman, is in "dire straits." That is the assessment following Special Middle East Coordinator Dennis Ross's trip to the Middle East, in which no solution was reached for a key element of the current impasse: the question of the second and third redeployments

Introduction Anwar Sadat remains a controversial figure in the Middle East. Praised as a prophet and cursed as a traitor, neither his death in 1981 nor the passage of time have resolved the ongoing debate about the man and his legacy. There is not yet an authoritative biography of Sadat

The following analysis was prepared for the Commission to Assess the Ballistic Missile Threat to the United States (The Rumsfeld Commission), March 23, 1998. This paper will attempt to answer the following questions: 1) What are the current missile capabilities of Iraq and Iran? 2) What kind of WMD payloads