Policy Analysis

Testimony before the House Committee on Financial Services, Subcommittee on Domestic and International Monetary Policy, Trade, and Technology Two important considerations in judging U.S. reaction to World Bank lending to Iran are: how important is World Bank lending be to Iran, and how would lending to Iran fit with World

U.S. assistant secretary of state for Near Eastern affairs William Burns visited Algeria on October 25-26, just days after a new Algerian terrorist organization was added to the Treasury Department's list of Specially Designated Global Terrorists (SDGT). The visit also came amid reports that several Algerian groups with al-Qaeda ties

EDWARD MORSE The effects of the 1973 oil embargo by the Organization of the Petroleum Exporting Countries (OPEC) can still be felt. Although the United States has successfully curtailed OPEC's ability to use oil as a weapon or as leverage for political blackmail, the resource remains a viable instrument of

During the first half of 2001, a new, fortified fence was constructed in the Gaza Strip, and since that time not a single Palestinian suicide bomber has infiltrated Israel from Gaza. Previously, in December 2000, the Israel Defense Forces (IDF) had decided to create a 60-square-kilometer security buffer zone around

On October 22, 2003, Matthew Levitt, The Washington Institute's senior fellow in terrorism studies, testified before the Senate Committee on Banking, Housing, and Urban Affairs. The following is an edited version of his remarks. Read a full transcript. Constricting the Operating Environment No counterterrorism effort, however extensive, will put an

Testimony before the Senate Committee on Banking, Housing, and Urban Affairs I. Introduction: Networks and Relationships Pundits and politicians alike tend to think of the war on terror against al-Qaeda as a completely disparate phenomenon from the battle against other terrorist groups. This is, in part, a logical supposition as

This PolicyWatch is the third in a three-part series written to coincide with the Madrid Donors Conference on Iraq, which begins on October 24, 2003. Read Part I and Part II (both by Michael Knights). Although economics is not the driving force behind Iraqi resistance to the U.S.-led coalition, restoring

The October 21 deal between Iran and the European trio of Britain, France, and Germany has the potential to significantly reduce the risk of Iran producing a nuclear weapon from highly enriched uranium (HEU)—assuming the accord is implemented strictly and on a tight timetable. Yet, HEU is only one of

This PolicyWatch is the second in a three-part series written to coincide with the Madrid Donors Conference on Iraq, which begins on October 24, 2003. Read Part I (also by Knights) and Part III (by Patrick Clawson). Expanding the size of Iraqi government security forces will be key to reducing

On September 6, the European Union finally abandoned the sophomoric position that the social and political wings of Hamas are somehow distinct from the group's military wing, banning not only the Izz al Dinn al Qassam Brigades but Hamas overall. This should have made it harder for Hamas to raise

Despite its billing as an alternative blueprint for Middle East peace, the draft Geneva Accord for a permanent status agreementproduced by an Israeli opposition parliamentarian and a Palestinian confidant of Yasir Arafatis not primarily a bilateral Israeli-Palestinian peace deal. Rather, its main innovation is the comprehensive and, in some cases

This PolicyWatch is the first in a three-part series written to coincide with the Madrid Donors Conference on Iraq, which begins on October 24, 2003. Read Part II (also by Knights) and Part III (by Patrick Clawson). A recent series of violent riots has underlined the close relationship between employment

Just as the self-proclaimed new historians burst onto the scene in the late 1980s, the Palestinian Center for Policy and Survey Research's (PSR) July 2003 poll purported to upend the conventional understanding of the Palestinian refugee problem. The PSR poll, widely covered in the international media, surveyed 4,506 refugees living

The bombing of a U.S. convoy in Gaza on Wednesday, which killed three American contract employees of the U.S. embassy in Tel Aviv and injured a U.S. diplomat, was neither unprecedented nor unexpected. Indeed, U.S. embassy employees narrowly escaped injury in a similar attack last June, when unknown assailants detonated

Shi'i leader Muqtada al-Sadr, one of the most dangerous men in Iraq, has moved to the brink of a direct and violent confrontation with the Coalition Provisional Authority (CPA) and U.S. forces. This is neither an accident nor a surprise. He has prepared for this eventuality almost from the beginning

On October 18, Crown Prince Abdullah of Saudi Arabia will begin two days of talks in Pakistan. One of the subjects that may be discussed is the potential transfer of Pakistani nuclear missiles to Saudi Arabia. The kingdom has long been suspected of funding Pakistan's nuclear program; given recent revelations

The bombing of a U.S. convoy in Gaza today, which killed three American contract employees of the U.S. embassy in Tel Aviv and injured a fourth, is neither unprecedented nor unexpected. Indeed, U.S. embassy employees narrowly escaped injury in a similar attack on June 28, 2003, when unknown assailants detonated

The Republic of Azerbaijan, a secular, predominately Shii-populated state, will hold presidential elections on October 15, 2003. The state borders Iran, produces significant quantities of oil and gas, and conducts a pro-American foreign policy. The capital, Baku, maintains extremely close ties with Turkey, including military cooperation, and is friendly to

With Israeli-Palestinian diplomacy frozen, it is not surprising that the world is focusing its attention on the barrier that the Israelis are building in the West Bank. Israelis say it is about security. Palestinians say the "apartheid wall" is about Israeli imposition and land-grabs. For the Bush administration, it is

Over the past two years of the war on terror, the United States has significantly toughened its procedures for obtaining visas to enter the US, including requiring more face-to-face interviews and eliminating a transit-visa program officials feared terrorists were planning to use to sneak into the country. Despite these efforts