Policy Analysis

The results of the Algerian election suggest that about 80 percent of the Algerian people (at least those who voted) favor separating "mosque" and "state." This outcome is significant because it indicates that Algerians are successfully resisting "Islamic totalitarianism." Many Algerians have said that the vote wasn't as clean as

On June 2, after a seventeen-year closure, Syria opened its border at three points to its neighbor and long-time rival Iraq. The move, coming amidst unusual reciprocal visits of Iraqi and Syrian business delegations to each others' capitals, suggests an economic marriage of convenience. There is a possibility, however, that

Netanyahu's Victory, One Year Later: When the Labor government was in power, it was legitimate to ask whether it is adequate to have a majority which supports the peace agreements even if it does not include the majority of the Jewish population. It is important to remember that the peace

In banner headlines, newspapers across America heralded the surprise victor in Iran's May 23 presidential election - Mohammad Khatemi - as a moderate. This, in fact, marks at least the fourth attempt by the United States to find influential moderates among Iran's leadership since the revolution. In 1980, the Islamic

Iran's recent presidential elections constitute an impressive personal victory for Hojjat ol-Islam Seyed Mohammed Khatami and a significant endorsement of greater pragmatism inside Iran. They also signal considerable popular discontent with the Islamic regime. They indicate a desire for change in policy, within the framework of the Islamic system. The

On the 30th anniversary of the Six Day War, it is clear that the diplomacy designed to resolve a core element left from that conflict—the Israeli-Palestinian dispute - has reached an impasse. Not only has the security cooperation between Israel and the Palestinian Authority envisioned in the Oslo Accords broken

Today, Israel's Labor Party elects a new leader, the first time neither Shimon Peres nor the late Yitzhak Rabin will head the party since the political revolution that followed the 1973 Yom Kippur War. Candidates include former Foreign and Interior Minister Ehud Barak, former Health Minister Ephraim Sneh, former Minister

Summarizes assessments of various Middle East economic experts in order to provide an overview and forecast of regional prospects for 1998. The author focuses on issues affecting all Middle Eastern economies, including oil dependence, economic centralization, massive subsidization, and other long- and short-term factors.

Offers a chronological summary and analysis of UN reactions to Iraq's most flagrant violations of relevant UN resolutions from the end of the Gulf War through April 1997. The author shows that Security Council responses to Iraqi violations became noticeably forgiving over time -- particularly when compared with Council reactions

Two-hundred and thirty-eight Iranians submitted their candidacy for the presidency, but the Council of Guardians, a group of senior clerics appointed by the supreme spiritual leader, only approved four. The two leading contenders are Ali Akbar Nateq-Nuri, present speaker of the Majles (parliament), and Mohammad Khatami, the former minister of

The United States and Israel are two countries -- distant in geography, very different in size -- but both democracies sharing common values and ideals. In this day and age, common ideals and common values make for common strategic interests, and that is really the basis of the U.S.-Israeli relationship

Keynote addresses by Moshe Arens, Jackson Diehl, Adnan Abu Odeh, and Ehud Ya'ari. With Jeane Kirkpatrick, Joseph Lieberman, Robert Pelletreau, Mortimer Zuckerman, Ziyad Abu Amr, and Reuven Rivlin.

Last Sunday, the small Gulf state of Qatar, host to the next Middle East and North Africa (MENA) Economic Conference in November, rebuffed an attempt by Syria to postpone the event, despite the March 31st Arab League Council resolution calling for the suspension of political, economic, and cultural normalization with

In early 1995, few were inclined to try to refute the wisdom of Europe's policy of "critical dialogue" with Iran. The belief that benevolent, rational dialogue could reform Iran-even in the face of brazen aggression and unbridled political effrontery-seemed too compelling to pass up. Nevertheless, the policy was then, and

The victory of the Labour party in the British general elections on May 1 was expected although the huge majority-179 seats-that the new prime minister, Tony Blair, will enjoy did surprise most observers. His appointment of Robin Cook to the top foreign affairs slot had been predicted-Cook had been the

Biological terrorism is very much a threat that we need to worry about. However, terrorists will face a number of formidable obstacles to conducting a successful biological attack. These include acquiring the agent, cultivating it and preparing it for dissemination, developing a means of dissemination, selecting and reconnoitering the target

Last week, the Department of State released "Patterns of Global Terrorism 1996," its authoritative survey of trends and developments in international terrorism. While it remains an invaluable resource for policy makers and scholars, some of the report's analytical conclusions are deserving of intense scrutiny and debate. Most troubling in this

The April 10 German court finding that Iran's top leaders ordered the assassination of several dissidents in Berlin underscores the hollowness of Europe's policy of engagement with Iran, and presents the U.S. with a unique opportunity to make Iran's leaders pay a real economic price for their brazen disregard of

Despite the multitude of regional, bilateral, and domestic political complications frustrating efforts to build upon peace, Jordan and Israel have made substantial gains toward normalizing relations since signing their peace treaty at Wadi Araba on October 26, 1994. The treaty and more than one dozen subsequent sectoral agreements have established

As security cooperation between Israel and the Palestinian Authority remains largely suspended and relations between Israelis and Palestinians continue to worsen, a deepening polarization has come to characterize the wider political environment between Israel and the Arab world. Not only have most normalization efforts—from the Multilateral Peace Talks to the