Policy Analysis

The U.S. commitment to maintain Israel's qualitative military edge (QME) -- that is, the technological, tactical, and other advantages that allow it to deter numerically superior adversaries -- is a longstanding tradition that every president since Lyndon Johnson has reiterated. Today, however, Israel's relations with Arab countries are more complicated

Prior to President Bush's trip to the Middle East last week, many pundits expected him to focus little, if at all, on his longstanding "freedom agenda." Instead, he adopted a nuanced approach that managed to restate the key elements of his policy and to press, however gently, for further political

On January 15, 2008, British ambassador to the United States Sir Nigel Sheinwald addressed a Washington Institute Policy Forum. Prior to assuming his position in October 2007, he served as chief foreign and defense policy advisor to Prime Minister Tony Blair. The following are edited excerpts from his presentation; listen

The confrontation this month in the Persian Gulf between Navy warships and small boats of Iran's Revolutionary Guard may have come as a surprise to the public at large, but not to me. I witnessed a very similar event five years ago during the invasion of Iraq. It was April

At each stop on his recent Middle East tour, President Bush centered his foreign policy agenda on the growing threat from Iran. But inside the Islamic Republic, domestic policies -- and not the international issues that Bush highlighted -- are at the center of political debate. Economic Issues Top Agenda

There are no foolproof metrics by which to measure the impact of sanctions, whether related to proliferation, terrorism or other issues. On that discreet point the recent GAO report on the impact of Iran sanctions gets it right, and its recommendation that more be done to assess the impact of

The 2007 Weinberg Founders Conference explored a number of critical issues, with an eye toward the overall direction of U.S. Middle East policy as the Bush administration enters its final year in office. In keynote plenary sessions and breakout seminars, and over coffee in the hallways, a select group of

Most of President Bush's eight-day trip to the Middle East was spent in the Persian Gulf, visiting Kuwait, Bahrain, the two leading sheikhdoms of the United Arab Emirates (UAE), Abu Dhabi and Dubai, and Saudi Arabia. As long-term allies of the United States, these Gulf Arab states still look to

President Bush's recent visit to Israel and the Palestinian territories came six weeks after the Middle East peace conference in Annapolis. That parley marked the first time the United States did not mandate a purely sequential approach to the peace process. Instead, Washington now wants issues to be solved in

On January 11, 2008, Michael Barone and Peter Beinart addressed a Policy Forum at The Washington Institute. Mr. Barone, a political analyst and commentator, is a senior writer with U.S. News & World Report and author of numerous books on American politics. Mr. Beinart is a senior fellow at the

The following is an edited translation of an article that originally appeared in the January 16, 2008, edition of the Turkish daily Yeni Safak. Read the Turkish version online. The January visit of Turkish president Abdullah Gul to the United States sparked a great deal of debate and discussion in

As President Bush travelled through the Middle East this past week, his attempts to rally support for continued pressure against Iran encountered some resistance. The recently released National Intelligence Estimate on Iran's nuclear capabilities and intentions, which has been widely interpreted to indicate that Iran's nuclear programme no longer poses

From Iraq to Iran to the Arab-Israeli peace process, Britain is a major player on the European stage and a critical Middle East partner with the United States. After a decade of the Blair government's close ties with the United States, new Prime Minister Gordon Brown has promised continuity in

On January 11, 2008, a Boston federal court convicted Emadeddin Muntasser, Samir Almonla, and Muhammad Mubayid of conspiring to defraud and conceal information from the U.S. government. Prosecutors proved the defendants fraudulently used the charity they ran -- Care International -- "to solicit and obtain tax deductible donations for the

The new year 2008 is sure to be eventful in both America and the Middle East. As President George W. Bush travels across the region promoting the Annapolis peace process and building on military progress in Iraq, candidates to succeed him debate who has the claim on greater "experience" in

On Monday, January 7, Patrick Clawson and Robert Satloff addressed a Policy Forum at The Washington Institute and discussed the upcoming visit of President Bush to the Middle East. Dr. Clawson is deputy director of research at The Washington Institute and author, most recently, of Deterring the Ayatollahs: Complications in

When President George W. Bush arrives in Israel in the next few days, it is possible that Syria will be a major topic and not just the Palestinians and Iran. Damascus is one issue which Washington and Jerusalem view very differently. Those in Israel pressing for a revived Syria peace

To: President George W. Bush From: Dennis Ross Subject: This week's visit with the Israeli government and the Palestinian Authority Mr. President, no doubt you have received many briefings on this topic, but having negotiated with everybody you will be seeing this week and having just returned from the area

As he enters his final year in office, President Bush is embarking on his first visit to the Israeli-Palestinian arena in a high-profile effort to pump energy into the Annapolis peace process. In addition to a stop in Egypt, he will also travel to the Gulf, making stops in Kuwait

In the wake of the National Intelligence Estimate (NIE) on Iran, questions are being raised as to whether sanctions and financial pressure remain a viable approach to changing Tehran's decisionmaking on its nuclear program. As evidence of this strategy's demise, critics point to the foundering attempts to negotiate a third