Policy Analysis

With Syrian-Israeli peace talks underway in Shepherdstown, W.Va., media attention has focused on the shape of a possible peace agreement and the potential for U.S. financial assistance to the parties. Virtually no attention, however, has been paid to the principal legal obstacle in the way of U.S. aid to one

The millennial year opened on a high note for U.S. diplomacy, with Syria-Israel peace talks convening yesterday in Shepherdstown, W.Va. Unlike the other two participants, however, Washington has so far not indicated what it wants from these negotiations or what it is willing to pay to get it. Although Washington

A landmark study that offers clear and understandable answers to fundamental questions about the most complex facets of the Iranian regime, probing the lines between hardliners and reformers, revolutionary and national interests, theocracy and electoral politics, and more.

Although Saudi Arabia is popularly perceived as the most religious of Arab countries, the question of who in the kingdom determines its dominant Islamic discourse has been the subject of controversy since the state's founding. The formation of Saudi Arabia in the early twentieth century involved the unique harnessing of

After a half-decade in which the Balkans, Central Africa, and East Asia were the hottest spots on the globe, the Middle East--including North Africa--is likely to assert itself over the next five years as a zone of turbulence. Some of the turmoil will be fueled by the irredentism left over

Syrian foreign minister Faruq al-Shara's recent announcement that Damascus and Beirut will sign peace treaties with Israel together is not surprising, considering Syria's hegemony in Lebanon. But while Israel, Syria, and the United States have expressed guarded optimism about the latest resumption of peace talks, Lebanon has been more reserved

On December 22, Sudanese president Umar Hasan Ahmad al-Bashir met Egyptian president Hosni Mubarak in Cairo on Bashir's first visit there in six years. The day before, he met the leaders of four other Sudanese neighbors (Libya, Eritrea, Uganda, and the Democratic Republic of Congo) in Tripoli, Libya. These visits

Iran--Syria's closest ally since the fall of the Soviet Union--has perhaps the most to fear from the prospect of Syria-Israel peace. Indeed, Tehran seems to have been caught off guard by Syrian president Hafiz al-Asad's decision to reenter negotiations, and Tehran is accordingly viewing with great concern Syria's apparent readiness

In the past ten days, Libyan leader Mu‘ammar Qadhafi has made progress in his efforts to achieve international respectability. After fifteen years, a British ambassador, Richard Dalton, arrived in Tripoli pledging to help Libya return to the “mainstream of the international community.” And Colonel Qadhafi’s status as mediator of thorny

When Syrians, Americans, and Israelis sat down in Washington this week, they may as well have kept an empty chair for a fourth key player in this equation--Turkey. Turkish water, in particular, will likely be needed to facilitate a Syrian-Israeli deal, but history suggests that Ankara will not provide that

On December 8, 1999, Wilfried Buchta—author of the forthcoming book Who Rules Iran?, to be published by The Washington Institute in conjunction with the Konrad Adenauer Foundation—addressed the Institute’s Special Policy Forum. The following is a rapporteur’s summary of his remarks. The Iranian revolution has endured years of internal turmoil

As Syria and Israel begin negotiations in Washington today, conflict and violence again flared in southern Lebanon, where large-scale raids by Hizballah against twenty Israeli and South Lebanon Army (SLA) posts prompted Israeli retaliatory air strikes. Given that one of Israel’s chief goals in the peace talks is the pacification

The European Unions (EU) naming of Turkey as a full-fledged candidate for membership is of historic significance. The first-ever Muslim-majority candidate, Turkey differs significantly from current EU member-states not only in religion, but also in culture, history, and the wide range of regional security threats it faces. U.S. diplomacy was

U.S. president Bill Clinton and Israeli prime minister Ehud Barak will lead their respective national delegations at this week’s historic set of Syria-Israel peace talks, but Syrian president Hafiz al-Asad is sending his foreign minister in his stead. By keeping himself at one remove from the talks, Asad retains certain

THOMAS FRIEDMAN International Context: Syria's position must be viewed within the system of globalization that has replaced the previous Cold War order. The rules of the globalization system are qualitatively different from those of the Cold War and will influence the politics and economics of all states. Whereas the Cold

In the next few days, the United Nations (UN) Security Council will have to decide whether to approve a new inspections regime for Iraqs weapons of mass destruction (WMD). For six months, the Council members have been debating this matter in closed meetings. The impetus to act now comes from

Spurned two years ago, a wary Turkey again hopes to be designated a candidate for membership in the European Union (EU) when the EU summit meets in Helsinki December 10-11. That this prospect is on the brink of realization is a tribute to many factors, but perhaps most of all

On December 2, 1999, Antony Blinken, special assistant to the president and senior director for European affairs at the National Security Council, delivered The Washington Institute's Third Annual Turgut Ozal Memorial Lecture. The following are excerpts from his presentation. Read a full transcript. "What seems an obvious point today was