Policy Analysis

Despite Iraq's surface stability, Saddam Hussein is struggling under the weight of the international sanctions regime, as evidenced by recent threats by Iraqi leaders of possible retaliatory attacks against the West unless the UN approves a clear procedure for lifting the sanctions. In addition to challenges from the northern Kurds

Tariq Aziz's efforts this week to persuade the UN to quicken the pace of weapons-monitoring procedures come amid a reassessment of Iraqi strategy in response to the international sanctions regime. In the three years since the end of the Gulf War, Iraq has managed to rebuild most of its damaged

The Cairo agreement initialed yesterday by Chairman Arafat and Foreign Minister Peres is an important step toward the implementation of the Oslo accords, though hard negotiations remain ahead before any Israeli troop withdrawal can begin. This agreement, however, will not put to rest the wonderment, impatience, anger, and especially exasperation

On February 3, 1994, Asher Susser, director of Tel Aviv University's Dayan Center for Middle Eastern and African Studies, and Martin Kramer, associate director of the Dayan Center, addressed The Washington Institute's Policy Forum on the long-term potential for peace in the Middle East. The following is a rapporteur's summary

On January 13, 1994, Dr. Joseph Sisco, undersecretary of state for political affairs in the Nixon and Ford administrations; Dr. William Quandt, member of the National Security Council staff during the Nixon and Carter administrations; and Dr. Richard Haass, senior director for Near East and South Asian affairs at the

On January 25, 1994, His Excellency Sheikh bin Jassim bin Jabr al-Thani, foreign minister of Qatar, addressed an off the record session of The Washington Institute's Policy Forum on regional security in the Persian Gulf. The following is a rapporteur's summary of his remarks. Security Arrangements in the Gulf and

Even as the historic signing of the Israel-PLO Declaration of Principles on September 13, 1993 has raised hopes for an end to conflict, it has also created new challenges and opportunities for actually implementing peace in the Middle East. All the parties acknowledge that the political success of the peace

The hand-wringing that accompanied Boris Yeltsin's crushing of the neo-fascist uprising in Moscow last month deflected attention from an issue that really should keep U.S. policy-makers awake nights: Russia's attempt to resurrect an exclusive sphere of influence across the former Soviet Union. Like so many dominoes, the former Soviet republics

Keynote address by Warren Christopher. With Uri Savir, Hasan Abdel Rahman, and others.

The change that took place in Oslo is of historic dimensions. This process is irreversible; the Middle East will never be the same.ÿ The spirit of the accord was summarized in its preamble. In that preamble, the two parties agree that it is time to put an end to decades

Today, one can observe four major structural changes in our conflict with the Palestinians—a conflict that is moving towards resolution—and in the region as a whole. The first is that Palestinians and Israelis, through the breakthrough, are moving away from ideology and towards pragmatism in their relationship. This chiefly happened

The Peace Process: The First Nine Months It was with great personal satisfaction that I witnessed the signing of the Israeli-Palestinian Declaration of Principles last month. That moment, captured indelibly by a handshake between old adversaries, showed us that the impossible is within our reach -- that the bright promise

The late President Anwar al-Sadat appeared to have lost much respect in the eyes of Egyptians and in the Arab world by the time of his assassination in 1981. Only in the past three years has the Arab world revised its negative image of Sadat and realized the foresight and

The collapse of the Soviet Union in 1991 dealt Middle East rejectionists a crippling blow. For four decades, Moscow supplied "rogue" regimes throughout the region with massive quantities of arms with which to pursue their goals: fighting Israel, sponsoring terrorism, and attacking Western interests. Usually, these weapons were provided on

After the landmark agreements between Israel, the Palestinians and Jordan, all eyes turn toward Syria. Will President Hafez Assad also make Israel a peace offer it can't refuse? Or will he continue his double game of negotiating with one hand while supporting terror with the other? Consider this curious --

The promotion of democracy abroad, long a major tenet of U.S. foreign policy, has taken on newfound importance in the wake of the Soviet Union's collapse. President Clinton has promised to make the promotion of democracy a key element of his foreign policy. The Middle East, a region where autocratic

Despite its crushing defeat during the Gulf War, Iraq remains a potential regional power and the foremost long-term threat to U.S. interests in the Middle East. President Saddam Hussein remains committed to acquiring nuclear weapons, despite serious international sanctions and UN weapons inspections in Iraq. As a first step toward

The Clinton administration inherited a flawed Iraq policy from the Bush administration, but, in formulating a new policy, it has failed to accurately define those flaws. Its emphasis on "depersonalizing" the conflict with Iraq by shifting the focus from Saddam Hussein to Baghdad's compliance with relevant UN resolutions may mean

The challenge posed to the United States by the radical regimes in the Middle East -- Libya, Iraq, Iran, and Syria -- is one of the most important foreign policy issues facing Washington today. These regimes, although weakened by the demise of the USSR, have by no means been disabled