Policy Analysis

Radio Free Iraq was established through legislation last October and operates in conjunction with Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty (RFE/RL) as a nongovernmental organization funded wholly by the U.S. government. The goal of Radio Free Iraq is to broadcast accurate and balanced information focusing on human rights, democratization, free expression, and

This week's coup d'tat in Pakistan against the elected government of Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif has returned the Pakistani military to power just as neighboring India was installing a new government after national elections. While much attention is being focused on the immediate risk of a diplomatic confrontation between the

On September 30, 1999, Rima Khalaf-Hunaidi, Jordan's deputy prime minister and minister of planning and the highest female official in the Arab world, addressed The Washington Institute's Special Policy Forum. The following is a rapporteur's summary of her remarks. Read a full transcript. High Expectations, Disappointing Outcomes When Jordan and

The 1996 Khobar Towers bombing, in which nineteen U.S. airmen were killed and hundreds injured, continues to cast a shadow over U.S.-Iran relations. The decision last week by the United States to turn over bombing suspect Hani al-Sayegh to Saudi Arabia for trial, and the revelation this week by State

King Abdullah of Jordan arrives in Washington for a private visit this weekend after having implemented his boldest initiative to date--the closure of Hamas offices in Amman and the subsequent arrest of senior Hamas leaders Khalid Mishal, Musa Abu Marzuk, and Ibrahim Ghawsheh. Background: In 1993, Hamas and King Hussein

King Fahd returned to Saudi Arabia last week after spending more than two months at his palace in southern Spain on what was described as a vacation. Because he is quite old and in poor health, Fahd is no longer the sole top decision maker of the world’s largest oil

On September 28, 1999, Bulent Ecevit, prime minister of the Republic of Turkey, addressed The Washington Institute's Special Policy Forum. The following are excerpts from his remarks during the question-and-answer session that followed his speech. Read a full transcript of the speech itself. On Discussions with President Bill Clinton concerning

Compiled from a Washington Institute database, this statistical analysis examines trends in Israeli and Palestinian deaths related to political violence from the beginning of the intifada in December 1987 through the end of Binyamin Netanyahu's premiership in July 1999. The study analyzes the incidents and resulting fatalities by their total

Last week's meeting of the Organization of Petroleum Exporting Countries (OPEC) revealed at once the new power of the organization to manage world oil prices, as well as the fault lines that could undermine the group's current consensus. Maintaining Discipline Keeps Prices High By maintaining the production cuts that the

On September 28, 1999, Bulent Ecevit, prime minister of the Republic of Turkey, addressed The Washington Institute's Special Policy Forum. Following is the full text of his speech, as delivered. Read a summary of his remarks during the question-and-answer session that followed his speech. Executive director, Mr. Robert Satloff, I

Turkish prime minister Bulent Ecevit's meeting with U.S. president Bill Clinton tomorrow will produce warm atmospherics but no major earthquake-related aid. Washington had planned to make loan guarantees the centerpiece of both its relief package and Ecevit's trip. Reportedly unhappy with what it considered a low figure, however, Ankara indicated

Three years ago, after a series of horrific bombings in Israel, President Clinton invited an array of world leaders to an anti-terrorism summit in the Red Sea resort of Sharm el-Sheikh. Clinton's goal was to save the Israeli-PLO peace process and, with it, Shimon Peres's Labor-led government. The process survived

For the last two weeks, the major Iranian newspapers have been full of reports about official contacts between the U.S. and Iranian governments. These reported contacts include a U.S. request that Tehran hand over individuals now in Iran whom the U.S. government believes are responsible for the deaths of nineteen

MOUAFAC HARB Israel has no territorial claims over Lebanon, and the two countries agreed to recognize and accept United Nations Security Council Resolution 425, which calls for an unconditional Israeli troop withdrawal. Nevertheless, the Lebanese-Israeli peace track remains challenging, primarily because--after twenty years of civil war--Lebanon lacks a strong central

Secretary of State Madeleine Albright's meeting today with leaders of the Iraqi opposition is part of a vigorous diplomatic confrontation between Saddam's regime and the United States, tied to maneuverings at the UN. For the next several weeks, the arguments of Baghdad and Washington are going to be deployed and

What if they waged a war and no one noticed? In 1999, American and British pilots have bombed Iraq three times a week, hitting 360 targets with 1,100 bombs during more than 10,000 sorties. Yet the Anglo-American war over Iraq does not often make the front pages of even the

The U.S. State Departments Office of International Religious Freedom will release an Annual Report on International Religious Freedom on September 7, 1999 -- the first since it was required to do so by the International Religious Freedom Act of 1998 (IRFA). The Report will offer "an assessment and description of

The nuclear status quo that has prevailed in the Middle East since the 1960s is eroding. Israel remains the sole (undeclared) nuclear-weapons state. But Iraq, having defied the United Nations for nearly a decade, retains its nuclear know-how, and has broken out of its IAEA and UNSCOM cage. And there

During the Cold War, the Soviet Union was the number one arms supplier to the Middle East. Moscow's arms transfers during this period were motivated primarily by geostrategic and ideological considerationsin particular its competition with the United Statesand arms were often sold at bargain-basement prices. Yet, with the end of

Yesterday, Palestinian Authority (PA) chairman Yasir Arafat met with Nayef Hawatmeh, leader of the Syria-based Democratic Front for the Liberation of Palestine (DFLP). The meeting, which took place in Cairo, was the first between the estranged leaders in six years. Hawatmeh has been a waning force in Palestinian politics for