العراق

In the run-up to today's fifth anniversary of the Gulf War, the United States took an important step toward re-defining its Iraq policy when Secretary of Defense William Perry, speaking in Amman on January 7, openly endorsed King Hussein's ambitious ideas for a post-Saddam regime of reconciliation and national unity

One year ago last week, Iraq's military buildup near its border with Kuwait triggered the deployment of nearly 30,000 solders, sailors, and airmen to the Persian Gulf. This robust reaction to threatened Iraqi aggression underscored the high degree of commitment, flexibility and readiness that characterizes U.S. defense policy in the

In recent weeks, President Clinton has taken unilateral action against Iran (imposing a ban on U.S. private investment and trade) and has attempted bilateral diplomacy (with Russia) to curtail Tehran's efforts to acquire nuclear power and technology. Because neither of these two initiatives can by themselves succeed in "containing" Iran

On February 8, 1995, David Litt, country director for Northern Gulf Affairs at the State Department, addressed a session of The Washington Institute's Policy Forum concerning the situation in northern Iraq and the prospects for peace and cooperation among the Kurdish factions there. The following is a rapporteur's summary of

The crisis along the Iraq-Kuwait border underscores Saddam Hussein's ability to reconstruct a formidable military force despite Iraq's crushing military defeat in Desert Storm and four years of sanctions. Nevertheless, Iraq's military is much smaller and less powerful than the force the U.S. faced in 1991. Iraqi capabilities Today, Iraq

Last week's "friendly fire" incident over northern Iraq occurred in an environ-ment of steadily increasing tensions, created by Saddam Hussein, that may have contributed to the accident. How far Saddam intends to take this round is unclear. Recent incidents testify to his extreme frustration at his inability to get sanctions

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 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

Of the many strategic interests that United States and its allies have in the Middle East, surely one of the most crucial is securing energy supplies from the region. The Gulf War of 1991 demonstrated the importance of Middle East oil in the international community’s strategic calculus. Since the oil