Policy Analysis

By Peter Edidin One constant, in calls to the Middle East on Thursday and Friday, was the background noise of a television, set to a program that was reporting on the condition of Ariel Sharon. Whether the person being called was a Palestinian or an Israeli, to the left or

Abdul Halim Khaddam, who was vice-president of Syria from 1984 to June 2005, gave an explosive interview to the Dubai-based al-Arabia TV on December 30 implicating the Syrian leadership, including President Bashar al-Asad, in the assassination of former Lebanese prime minister Rafiq Hariri. Khaddam's action widened irrevocably the crack in

In Israel yesterday, Ariel Sharon's allies and his adversaries were praying for his life. But even if the man who has fought or led Israel in every war since its independence does not survive this battle against a massive stroke, his five years as prime minister have already left a

Before al-Qaeda's fanatics were blowing themselves up in Iraq, members of Abdullah Ocalan's Kurdistan Workers Party (PKK) were terrorizing Turkey in the 1990s. According to Yoram Schweitzer from the Institute for Counter-Terrorism in Herzliya, Israel, between 1996 and 1999, the PKK carried out sixteen suicide bomb attacks (plus five failed

After suffering a stroke yesterday, Ariel Sharon is fighting for his life in a Jerusalem hospital. Even if he survives, he is unlikely to lead Israel again. But while his tenure as prime minister is probably over, Sharon has already accomplished more than enough to earn a place among Israel's

Turkish Edition Now Available Conventional wisdom holds that in the interwar period, Kemalist secularism eliminated religion from the public sphere in Turkey, leaving Turkish national identity devoid of religious content. Yet in his new book, Islam, Secularism and Nationalism in Modern Turkey, Institute senior fellow Soner Cagaptay reaches an altogether

When the European Union (EU) initiated accession talks with Turkey in October, some Western commentators suggested that a major underlying issue is the relationship between the West and the Muslim world. How is this issue viewed in the Arab press, and what significance is seen for the relationship between Europe

Read Institute military fellow Brig. Gen. Michael Herzog's (IDF) discussion of the historical and ethical aspects of director Steven Spielberg's film Munich. On December 15, 2005, Lt. Gen. (ret.) Moshe Yaalon, Avi Dichter, and Ambassador Dennis Ross addressed The Washington Institute's Special Policy Forum. General Yaalon, a distinguished military fellow

Former Israeli prime minister and recently resigned finance minister Benjamin Netanyahu won the Likud leadership primary on December 19, beating the foreign minister, Silvan Shalom, by a margin of 45 percent to 33 percent. Netanyahu returns to the leadership of Likud, which he vacated after his loss in the 1999

Recent events, including the launch of Iran's first space imaging satellite, the announcement that Russia is selling Iran twenty-nine Tor-M1 (SA-15 Gauntlet) mobile short-range surface-to-air missile systems for $700 million, and the crash of an air force C-130 transport plane into an apartment block in Tehran, have focused attention on

This week in Washington, I attended a preliminary screening of Steven Spielberg's film, Munich, and I emerged with a very uneasy feeling. The film deals with Israel's response to the murder of its athletes at the 1972 Munich Olympics by Palestinian terrorists. According to the film, Israel decides to take

At the annual summit of the Gulf Cooperation Council (GCC), held in Abu Dhabi on December 18 and 19, the leaders of Saudi Arabia, Kuwait, Bahrain, Qatar, the United Arab Emirates (UAE), and Oman avoided confronting Iran directly on its suspected nuclear weapons program. Instead, these member states confronted Israel

Since the fall of Saddam Hussein's regime, no political event has been more important for Iraq than the December 15 elections for a permanent parliament. Although there were other important aspects to the elections, Sunni Arab participation will primarily mark them as a success or a failure to many observers

Last night President Bush offered a firm response to those who advocate American withdrawal from Iraq. “To retreat before victory would be an act of recklessness and dishonor,” he said, “and I will not allow it.” He also refused to set a timetable for withdrawal, saying, “I will make decisions

The recent decision by Ariel Sharon, Israeli prime minister, to bolt from the Likud party has shaken Israeli politics to its core, where Likud has dominated for 20 of the last 28 years. Now Palestinians and Israelis will be going to the polls within two months of each other in

Read an interview with David Keyes in Frontpagemag.com on the topic of al-Qaeda infiltration of Gaza. Since the U.S.-led military intervention in Afghanistan in 2001, al-Qaeda has responded by splintering into affiliate groups that work along the same lines as the parent group but have a wider degree or organizational

For years, President Bush has prematurely heralded missions accomplished and corners turned in Iraq. But now it is Bush's critics who are peddling an implausibly rosy forecast: namely, that Iraqis are ready to stand on their own and could do a better job of stabilizing the country without an American

Ayatollah Ali Sistani has played a very important political role in postwar Iraq as the most influential jurist in the Shiite world. However, as Iraq approaches legislative elections, Sistani seems to be reducing his political activity. Iraq's Shia Establishment While Sistani is the highest ranking Shiite jurist in Iraq, he

The confluence of key political events and security developments in Iraq suggests that the next several months will be of immeasurable importance for the country's future. The success of upcoming elections, the formation of a constitutionally based government, and the potential withdrawal of significant U.S. forces will depend in large

December 15 parliamentary elections will mark a major step in Iraq's political transformation, establishing the basis for the first permanent government since the fall of the Saddam regime and propelling the country deeper into the current critical "tipping period." A key, perhaps the key, aspect of the election will be