Policy Analysis

This is the concrete deal that Hamas is offering Israel: an open-ended armistice in exchange for a well-armed and independent Palestinian state; a prolonged cessation of hostilities, but no peace treaty and no resolution of the conflict's underlying issues. According to conversations with its leaders and its public statements, Hamas

In recent months, the growing controversy surrounding the Iranian nuclear program and Western suspicions about the military intentions of the Iranian regime has reached a crucial phase. A serious problem for the Western campaign to press the Islamic Republic about its nuclear program is that Iranian society has been indifferent

In his January 31 State of the Union address, President George W. Bush declared that America was "addicted to oil" and urged spending on technologies "to break [that] addiction." Noting that oil is often imported from unstable parts of the world, he set a goal of replacing more than 75

DENNIS ROSSFormer U.S. envoy to the Middle East Hamas is going to have to make choices because they're going to need the outside world if they're going to deliver for the Palestinians. No one should make it easier for them and let them off the hook. International organizations and governments

As Israelis assess the implications of Hamas's victory in January elections to the Palestinian Legislative Council, a new threat may be developing in Lebanon. Al-Qaeda-linked terrorists have been present in Lebanon for a decade, but recent statements by Ayman al-Zawahiri and Abu Musab al-Zarqawi suggest that the dual objectives of

And now, al-Qaeda. after many years during which Osama bin Laden and his disciples cursed Israel but never focused their attacks on it, they appear to have started to seriously train their sights in our direction. If, in the past, there were isolated attempts here and there to infiltrate a

Although the election of Iranian president Mahmoud Ahmadinejad came as a shock to many observers, it actually represented the final step in a gradual shift within the country's political mainstream. The conservatives now control all levers of power in the Islamic Republic, with opposing factions effectively neutralized. And while the

During my years of trying to negotiate peace between Israel and its neighbors, I was struck by how rarely the two sides were in sync. Unfortunately, that pattern is holding today. At a time when both the Israelis and Palestinians are experiencing political earthquakes, the two sides appear poised for

Since its parliamentary victory in the West Bank and Gaza last week, the militant Islamic organization Hamas seems to expect that the international community will provide it with diplomatic support and hundreds of millions of dollars in aid without requiring any change in its commitment to Israel's destruction. Hamas, or

On January 30, 2006, Robert Satloff, Dennis Ross, and Michael Herzog addressed The Washington Institute's Special Policy Forum. Dr Satloff is the Institute's executive director. Ambassador Ross is the Institute's counselor and Ziegler distinguished fellow. Michael Herzog is a brigadier general in the Israel Defense Forces (IDF) and a visiting

One year after President George W. Bush's stirring second inaugural, the United States faced a series of difficult challenges in the Middle East. Some of these concerned execution of policy, such as the speed with which trained Iraqi security forces could deploy to the field and the efficiency with which

As much as Hamas's landslide victory in the January 25 Palestinian legislative elections was a triumph for the Islamist movement, it was also a crushing defeat for the younger generation of Fatah leaders who had hoped the election would facilitate a leadership transition in the long-ruling Palestinian national liberation movement

Testimony before the House Committee on Armed Services Conclusions Efforts to deter and contain a nuclear Iran would likely encounter significant challenges. The nature of the Islamic Republic, regional politics, and Iran’s involvement in terrorism make establishing a stable deterrent relationship with a nuclear Iran risky and uncertain. The experience

The year 2005 may mark a turning point in Egyptian history. For the first time in decades, and after much internal pressure, the regime seemed to acknowledge the need for political reform. The year culminated in presidential and parliamentary elections characterized by unprecedented openness, at least on the surface. Although

On January 24, 2006, Yigit Alpogan, secretary-general of Turkey's National Security Council, addressed The Washington Institute's Special Policy Forum. Ambassador Alpogan, who assumed his current post in August 2004 as the first civilian head of the Turkish National Security Council, previously served as the Turkish ambassador to Greece and Turkmenistan

It was never meant to be like this. When the British military started planning for the invasion of Iraq, the southern provinces around the port city of Basra were expected to be a softer option than the central provinces the Americans were asked to deal with. Although Basra proved an

At a time when attention is focused on the problems democracy has brought in one part of the Middle East, such as the Palestinian territories, it has been easy to overlook how democratic processes were key to resolving a crisis in another Middle Eastern country: Kuwait. The January 15 death

On January 23, 2006, Washington Institute executive director Robert Satloff addressed the 2006 Herzliya Conference on the Balance of Israel's National Security. Excerpts from Dr. Satloff's remarks follow. "Beware the unintended consequences of sound policies. On June 24, 2002, President Bush announced a major shift in U.S. policy. No longer

On January 19, 2006, Khalil Shikaki and David Makovsky addressed The Washington Institute's Special Policy Forum. Dr. Shikaki is director of the Palestinian Center for Policy and Survey Research, an associate professor of political science at an-Najah University in Nablus, and a senior fellow at the Crown Center for Middle

On January 11, 2006, James F. Hoge Jr. and Stuart Rothenberg addressed The Washington Institute's Special Policy Forum. Mr. Hoge is the Peter G. Peterson chair at the Council on Foreign Relations and editor of its flagship journal, Foreign Affairs. Mr. Rothenberg is editor and publisher of the Rothenberg Political