Policy Analysis

Not long after the fall of the Berlin Wall, a chorus of influential opinion-makers in Washington began to sound an alarm about a new ideological threat posed to the West: the spread of "Islamism," a virulent brand of political Islam whose adherents demonized the culture, governments and even the citizens

On April 27, 2001, Israeli minister of education Limor Livnat delivered a keynote address at The Washington Institute's Sixteenth Annual Soref Symposium. The following are excerpts from her speech. Read a full transcript. The End of Oslo " . . . The political road that brought us to the crossroads

I want to thank Bob Asher for the kind introduction. I also want to thank Rob Satloff and The Washington Institute for extending the invitation to me to address this distinguished forum. I'm delighted to be here. Rob's invitation was accompanied with the request that my speech concentrate on the

I hope that I will be able to contribute a little bit to the ongoing learning process that has been taking place at this symposium. This will be a difficult task, though, because there is a great deal of misinformation here regarding what has been happening in our region and

I shall try to be as brief as possible in order to leave more time for questions and answers. Six months have gone by since the outbreak of the violence between Palestinians and Israelis, so Robert Satloff has asked me to review the conflict up to its present stage from

Robert Satloff, The Washington Institute: Let me open, Senator, by turning to you. It is, as they say, approaching the 100-day mark. How would you evaluate the direction that the Bush administration has taken so far vis-Ã -vis the Middle East? Sam Brownback: I really don't think that the Bush

I want to thank the Washington Institute for inviting me to address this distinguished forum today. This invitation was accompanied by a request that my speech concentrate on the future. I have no problem with that request, of course. I like to think of myself as a forward-thinking person who

Robert Satloff, The Washington Institute: As we have begun to do in the last few years for some of the programs in the Soref Symposium, we are dispensing with formal presentations so as to have enough time for informal remarks and give-and-take exchanges. So let me just open up with

Keynote discussion between The Honorable Lawrence S. Eagleburger and The Honorable Richard Perle; keynote address with The Honorable Limor Livnat; roundtable discussion between Senator Sam Brownback, General Brent Scowcroft, Jim Hoagland, and Dennis Ross; and discussion between Ze'ev Schiff and Ghassan Khatib.

The last two days have witnessed "The International Conference on the Palestinian Intifada" in Tehran. The conference was a major step in Iran's drive to accelerate terrorist attacks on Israel. Delegates to the conference came from thirty-four countries, including Syrian vice president Muhammad Zahir Mosahareqa, Lebanese National Assembly Speaker Nabih

A preview of Lebanese prime minister Rafiq Hariri's first visit to Washington since returning to office in September 2000.

Among the Palestinians in the West Bank and Gaza Strip, there are three perspectives as to why violent confrontations began in September: 1) The Camp David II negotiations uncovered underlying differences in Israeli and Palestinian interests that are simply unbridgeable. Recent confrontations are basically the product of these differences. In

On April 17, 2001, Mark Parris, former U.S. ambassador to Turkey, delivered The Washington Institute's Fourth Annual Turgut Ozal Memorial Lecture. The following are excerpts from his remarks. Read a full transcript. "Let me relate . . . some lessons I learned while holding down what is arguably the best

Why Negotiations Did Not Lead to AgreementPalestinian Authority (PA) chairman Yasir Arafat is responsible for the collapse of the peace process and for the extreme violence of the last seven months. In the year and a half of negotiations with the Palestinians under the leadership of former Israeli prime minister

The following report analyzes political fatalities in the Israeli-Palestinian conflict that occurred during the government of Israeli prime minister Ehud Barak (July 7, 1999–March 7, 2001). This report is an update of Washington Institute Research Note no. 8. Like the research note, its primary source for data is the Israeli

During the recent intifada, certain Palestinian security forces have been intensively involved in violent attacks on Israeli military and civilian targets. Most prominently involved have been the personal security guards of Yasir Arafat, popularly known as Force-17 and officially called Amn al-Ri'asah(Presidential Security). On March 30, Israeli forces bombarded from

Last week, President George W. Bush pointedly called upon Palestinian leader Yasir Arafat to "stop the violence," and Assistant Secretary of State Edward Walker testified that Arafat has "made no statements that would indicate that he is opposed to violence or that he even wants to see it stop." Yesterday

Over the past four years Turkish foreign policy has been experiencing a transformation. Turkey now sees itself not only as part of Europe but also as part of Asia. The Asian character of Turkey, which has been downplayed for decades, has been revitalized, making Turkish foreign policy more active in

The modern Ittihadiyah Palace in the Cairo suburb of Heliopolis has Arabesque arches, marble floors and stylish conference rooms. There is also another fixture: Palestinian Authority Chairman Yasser Arafat. Egyptian media always carries the picture of Arafat conferring with his host, Egyptian President Hosni Mubarak at the Ittihadiyah. Mubarak, who

Urgent regional matters -- such as Iraq and the Arab–Israeli peace process -- will dominate the agenda during Egyptian president Hosni Mubarak's visit to Washington this week, while Egypt's transition to a free-market economy and U.S.– Egypt trade ties will also receive attention. Egyptian domestic politics, however, will register little