Policy Analysis

The fracas over Secretary of State Colin Powell's interview with the London Arabic daily al-Hayat yesterday—the contents of which White House spokesman Ari Fleisher has pointedly refused to endorse—reflects a growing pattern of White House–State Department division on key Middle East issues, a damaging dynamic that will only be exorcised

Although the current campaign against terrorism is just unfolding, America has actually been in the middle of a new "World War" of sorts for some time. In order to understand this war, one must answer three crucial questions: 1) With whom is the United States at war? 2) Why is

The Bush administration appears determined to lose the War on Terror. Rather than confront sponsors of terror, the State Department increasingly engages them. The logic of engagement can sound enticing. Proponents argue that dialogue and trade encourages pariah states to moderate, while isolation and confrontation encourage rogue regimes to retrench

The year 2001 will forever be known as the year of the worst terrorist attack in the history of mankind, so far. The 2001 edition of Patterns of Global Terrorism, the U.S. government's preeminent annual accounting of international terrorism, understandably focuses on Sept. 11 and attacks by al-Qaida and its

In an effort to resuscitate flat-lining Israeli-Palestinian peacemaking, President Bush dispatched CIA Director George Tenet to the region one more time. This time, however, his mission has focused not on obtaining a ceasefire, but on merging the various Palestinian security forces into a coherent, hierarchical, and accountable security and intelligence

With this week's dispatch to the Middle East of Director of Central Intelligence George Tenet and Assistant Secretary of State for Near Eastern Affairs William Burns, the Bush administration has put its toe into the water of Palestinian reform. Success in this vital effort will require avoiding the trap of

On May 22, 2002, Iranians demonstrated in the heart of Tehran, chanting antigovernment slogans. Riot police clashed with protestors on Vali Asr Avenue, the city's main thoroughfare. The protest came five days after security services sealed off the streets leading to Arak University, where student protestors had barricaded themselves. On

As President George W. Bush completes his latest European trip -- one highlighted by a symbolic Memorial Day speech in Normandy that underscored the link between America's past wars and the current war on terror -- his European Union (EU) hosts have begun to implement a policy on terrorism that

On June 10, European Union foreign ministers may send a deathblow to Iran's reformers. On the table is a trade and cooperation pact with the Islamic Republic. Prominent EU bureaucrats such as External Affairs Commissioner Chris Patten strongly support the measure, arguing, "there is absolutely no dispute on the importance

The US administration should be wary of three "conventional wisdoms" that have stealthily displaced lessons from years of experience promoting Arab-Israeli peace. These ideas pretend to offer the promise of true conflict resolution. They sound logical and reasonable. But they are wrong in conception and would be reckless in practice

The State Department recently submitted its semiannual Palestine Liberation Organization Commitments Compliance Act (PLOCCA) report to Congress, assessing PLO and Palestinian Authority (PA) compliance with commitments made under the Israeli-Palestinian peace accords during the period June 15, 2001–December 15, 2001. The report acknowledges some PA shortcomings over the reporting period

Amid the gloom one feels in speaking to Israelis and Palestinians these days, I discovered something interesting in a just-completed trip to the area. Both sides have been profoundly affected by the events of the past 20 months. Both have suffered. Both are angry. Both have doubts about each other

There is a rub-your-eyes quality to the summit that kicks off tonight between President Bush and Russian leader Vladimir V. Putin in Russia. Erstwhile enemies are embarking on a historic new partnership. If they seize the moment, they could parlay their new friendship into solving a problem that has eluded

The 2001 edition of Patterns of Global Terrorism, the U.S. government's preeminent annual accounting of international terrorism, is slated for release tomorrow, a few weeks later than its usual April unveiling. The delay is presumably the result of the sharp rise in international terror activity in 2001. The report is

On September 12, 1997, United Nations Secretary-General Kofi Annan appointed Mary Robinson as the United Nation's High Commissioner for Human Rights. On paper, Robinson is as eminently qualified as any other U.N. political appointee. For seven years, she served as president of Ireland. The website of the Office of the

Near the end of the Clinton administration, some analysts expressed a degree of hope that Iran's reform movement would inject some measure of pragmatism into Iranian foreign policy. That hope seems to have faded. The Bush administration has established terrorism and proliferation -- two areas in which Iran has been

The United States is viewed with suspicion by much of the rest of the world, and its motives are consistently questioned for several reasons. This reality can be addressed through actionable goals. First, the United States is perceived as being too big, a hyperpower whose global reach is threatening. Second

Speaking to the Palestinian Legislative Council (PLC) in Ramallah yesterday, Palestinian leader Yasir Arafat offered a new political agenda to guide the Palestinian Authority (PA) in the aftermath of Israel's Operation Defensive Shield and U.S.-led diplomatic efforts to win his release from Israeli encirclement. The main headings of that agenda

Last week, during the visit of Israeli prime minister Ariel Sharon, President George W. Bush announced the need to "immediately begin to help rebuild a security force in Palestine that will fight terror, that will bring some stability to the region." He also stated that Central Intelligence Agency director George

Last week, the New York Times's Patrick E. Tyler reported that President Bush and Crown Prince Abdullah of Saudi Arabia had agreed on a new strategy of joint action and pressure to break the deadlock in the Middle East crisis. American officials would talk bluntly with Prime Minister Ariel Sharon