Policy Analysis

Three recurring themes have marred much of the recent analysis of terrorism. First, many analysts downplay the danger of Islamic militants by arguing that they represent a very small percentage of the Muslim population. This argument is specious; September 11 should be enough to illustrate that small can be lethal

There is an old adage that the first casualty of war is the truth. If offering up this casualty can spare real casualties in lives, it is worth sacrificing some truth. I heard it said the other day, by a very accomplished analyst of the Middle East, that this is

For five years, Osama bin Laden made his home in Sudan. Five years on, the country remains a safe haven not only for the al-Qa'eda organisation, but also for Islamic Jihad, Hamas and the Egyptian terrorist organisation al-Gama'a al-Islamiyya. Yet, Sudan has played its diplomatic cards exceptionally well since September

Shaykh Yousef al-Qaradawi, head of the Sunni studies department at Qatar University and a well-known Islamic scholar, was the first in the Arab Sunni world to Islamically legitimate the suicide operations of Hamas (1995). But he was also among the first Islamic scholars to condemn the September 11 attack on

Ten years after the Gulf War, much of Iraqi Kurdistan is free from Baghdad's control and is busy trying to build a civil society in a very difficult region. Out of the ashes of tyranny, the Iraqi Kurds have built something tangible: a free, liberal society by Middle Eastern standards

The assassination of Israeli cabinet minister Rehavam Ze'evi today outside his hotel room in Jerusalem is unprecedented. With the Palestinian Front for the Liberation of Palestine (PFLP) taking responsibility, it marks the first time that an Israeli cabinet minister has been assassinated by a Palestinian since Israel was established. According

Bright Star 01/02, the largest multinational exercise in the world, began in Egypt the same day U.S. strikes against Afghanistan commenced. With world and regional attention focused on the war against terrorism, relatively little media notice has been taken of Bright Star. Despite its massive size, the exercise was "expected

Secretary of Defense Donald Rumsfeld's visit to the Middle East and Central Asia last week -- in an attempt to shore up the coalition against anti-American terrorism -- brought him to Saudi Arabia as well. The Saudi government has neither openly acknowledged how they will allow the United States to

In 1990, Saddam Hussein claimed that he had invaded Kuwait to help the Palestinians. He understood that he was isolated and needed to link his invasion to a cause that might appear legitimate. While his claim was absurd on its face, the United States had to fight the linkage argument

October 12 marks the first anniversary of the terrorist attack on the American warship USS Cole, an attack that killed seventeen sailors while the ship was refueling in Aden harbor, Yemen. A year later, although United States and many Yemeni officials are certain that Osama bin Laden was behind the

The current situation in the region creates an opportunity for Afghanistan and the United Front. The United Front is the only force present in Afghanistan and ready to move against Osama bin Laden and the Taliban. If there is cooperation between the forces of the United States and the United

It is looking increasingly likely that the clearest winner of the Afghan conflict could be Zahir Shah, the exiled king. At 86, he is seen by many as the most appropriate symbol of reconciliation. His politics may be diametrically opposed to those of the Taliban, but Zahir Shah is of

As U.S. and British forces readied for battle Sunday, President Bush telephoned a handful of world leaders to give them warning. Prominent among them: Israel. Why? The answer should be clear, given the democratic values we share and the common enemies we face. Based on its size and population, no

With attention focused on the bombings against Afghanistan, the most radical change in U.S. policy toward any other Muslim state since September 11 has been the accelerated rapprochement between the United States and Sudan, a country that hosted Osama bin Laden between 1991 and 1996. The quickly warming relations between

As the world has focused on the U.S. effort against Osama bin Laden in the aftermath of September 11, friction has been building between the United States and Israel. The growing feeling in Israel has been that U.S. coalition-building with the Arabs against terrorism has involved tradeoffs which come at

As the United States pursues its military operations, the Organization of the Islamic Conference's (OIC) foreign ministers are scheduled to meet in the Qatari capital of Doha on Wednesday. Among the important issues that are likely to be mooted are the antiterrorism coalition and the scope of its activities; the

They are the tallest towers in town, a pair of them in the hub of the city's financial district. And thanks to some good intelligence and smart police work, which nabbed the terrorists before they completed their mission, the buildings are still standing today. In this real-life story the city

After a three-week hiatus following the September 11 attacks on the World Trade Center and Pentagon, Tuesday saw renewed car bombings in Israel. Yet, it is not only Israel that faces a threat from radical Islamist suicide terrorists, but also many Arab states. Given this fact, it is all the

The internal Bush administration debate over the "broad coalition/narrow target versus narrow coalition/broad target" in the war against terrorism will be put to a test Monday, when the United Nations General Assembly is scheduled to vote in secret ballot on the nomination of Syria as a non-permanent member of the

The Taliban's main concerns are domestic. They have accepted Osama bin Ladin because he is important to their ability to stay in power. They have used bin Ladin's brigade because it was the most capable brigade in countering Ahmed Shah Massoud, the former leader of the Northern Alliance. The Northern