Policy Analysis

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

"The idea of a Palestinian state has always been part of a vision, so long as the right of Israel to exist is respected." With those words, President Bush on Tuesday launched U.S.-Middle East diplomacy into new and uncharted waters. The idea of Palestinian statehood has not, of course, "always"

The events of September 11 have created new urgency in finding a way to end the intifada and ensure the stability of the U.S.-led coalition against terrorism. Now, more than any time since the start of the violence last September, the United States must take strong steps to help Israel

Note: The proceedings of the 2001 Weinberg Founders Conference were published as a monograph edited by Robert Satloff. please See that listing for a full description. Keynote addresses by Bernard Lewis, Samih Buttikhi, and Ami Ayalon. With Martin Kramer, Ibrahim Karawan, Ehud Ya'ari, Khaled Abu Toameh, Moshe Arens, Kanan Makiya

In the spring of 2000, I toured Afghanistan in an unusual way: freely. Normally, the Taliban tightly control foreign visitors. Journalists are quarantined in Kabul's former Inter-continental Hotel, forced to use government translators, and escorted by official guides. I was not. I had grown a beard and I can get

How Washington responds to the passing of Yasir Arafat depends largely on forecasts of internal Palestinian political dynamics, in both the short- and medium-term. The three concise essays in this special Policy Focus publication provide just such analyses. Each is written by a close and informed observer of the Palestinian

Are Middle Eastern studies in America in trouble? To judge from the numbers, the answer would appear to be "no." The Middle East Studies Association, known as MESA and founded in 1966, has more than 2,600 members. Across the country, there is an abundance of course offerings on the Middle

America has come full circle. In 1983, the idea of jihad, or Muslim holy war, was introduced in the contemporary Middle East as 241 American servicemen were killed in Beirut. The United States beat a hasty exit, and Islamic militants saw this as a vindication that suicide bombing was religiously

The current Palestinian-Israeli truce—certified by the meeting between Israeli foreign minister Shimon Peres and Palestinian Authority (PA) chairman Yasir Arafat at Rafah Airport on November 26—has a greater chance of taking hold than any of the five previous ceasefire agreements announced since the outbreak of the intifada exactly one year

At the direct and repeated behest of the Bush administration, Israeli foreign minister Shimon Peres and Palestinian Authority chairman Yasir Arafat met yesterday at the Gaza Airport—their first meeting since June. Given the extraordinary circumstances of the September 11 attacks and the U.S. desire to fashion an international coalition against

In the aftermath of the attacks of September 11, Central Asia has emerged as a key frontline region in the war against Osama bin Laden's terrorism network and his state-sponsor in Afghanistan. Afghanistan's Northern Tier Three Central Asian states -- Tajikistan, Uzbekistan, and Turkmenistan -- are geographically positioned just north

At a meeting over the weekend in the Saudi port city of Jeddah, foreign ministers of the conservative Arab states of the Persian Gulf pledged "total cooperation" for international efforts to bring those responsible for the terror attacks in New York and Washington to justice. But the nuances in attitudes

Testimony before the House Committee on International Relations The horrific attack on America is a defining moment not just for us, but also for the world. It was an attack on civilization. It was an attack on humanity. It requires a change in our mindset. We are no longer countering

On September 12, in the media haze of the September 11 terrorist outrages, the State Department delivered to Congress the semi-annual report assessing PLO and Palestinian Authority (PA) compliance with their "peace process" commitments. On the plus side, this document—the first covering a period on the watch of the Bush

In his September 21st speech to Congress, President George W. Bush mentioned two terrorist groups in addition to Osama bin Laden's Al-Qaedah: the Egyptian Islamic Jihad and the Islamic Movement of Uzbekistan. Both groups are fighting the regimes of their homelands but serve the interests of global Jihad as well

British foreign secretary Jack Straw arrives in Tehran today to "build alliances with every country that we can." In fact, Iran is the acid test of U.S. resolve to fulfill the goal set by President George Bush in his speech to Congress, namely, "From this day forward, any nation that

On September 13, 2001, Robert Satloff and Dennis Ross addressed a special Washington Institute briefing on the September 11 terrorist attacks.

The visit to Washington this week by Saudi foreign minister Prince Saud Al Faisal is an early test of Saudi Arabia's ability and willingness to work with U.S. authorities in meeting the threat of terrorism led by Saudi dissident Osama bin Laden. Although the United States is the kingdom's strongest

On September 13, 2001, Robert Satloff and Dennis Ross addressed a special Washington Institute briefing on the September 11 terrorist attacks.

Almost two weeks after the horrific bombings of the World Trade Center and the Pentagon, a peculiar intellectual practice is emerging in America's salons and seminars. Across the nation, the heirs of the 1960s peace movement, and some of its survivors, are once more staging sit-ins and marches. The airwaves