Policy Analysis

This Thursday, the Organization of the Petroleum Exporting Countries (OPEC) -- the oil producers' cartel of which Iraq is a founding member -- meets in Vienna to discuss production cuts intended to maintain the current, relatively high price of oil. The United States is not expected to send a representative

With the Iraqi regime defeated and military victory near at hand, the United States and it allies are positioned to leverage greater cooperation in the war on terror from key Arab states, chief among them Saudi Arabia. For all its rhetoric, and its limited actions, Saudi Arabia remains part of

March and April 2003 will long be remembered as defining months in forging a new Middle East scene. Before addressing the now–commonly termed challenge of the “morning after,” we must look at the region as it has reacted during the war. This will be our point of departure in evaluating

On April 9, 2003, The Washington Institute released a major policy document, Winning the Peace in the Middle East: A Bipartisan Blueprint for Postwar U.S. Policy. Dennis Ross, Washington Institute director/Ziegler distinguished fellow, and Robert Satloff, the Institute's director of policy and strategic planning, discussed the principal recommendations of this

It has become de rigueur in Europe and the Arab world to proclaim that the problem in the Middle East is that the Bush administration is not "engaged" in restarting the Israeli-Palestinian peace process. Yet the United States has been engaged in important ways, and hopeful signs are now coming

WALTER STERN: Good afternoon. I'm Wally Stern, vice president and Executive Committee member of the Institute. I want to welcome you to the closing session. It is a rare opportunity to have a chance to hear directly from a national security advisor, especially in war time. It is even rarer

Peter David: Robert Satloff said he wanted a British ally to be present at this meeting. So in one sense, I owe my presence here to the work of the Seventh Armored Brigade, the British unit that captured Basra. The way the brigade captured Basra was quite unusual. They approached

Keynote addresses by Efraim Halevy and Shafeeq Ghabra. With J. Brian Atwood, William Kristol, Dennis Ross, Patrick Clawson, Peter David, Robert Gallucci, and David Makovsky.

Brian Atwood: This is a moment for celebration, but it is also a moment for cogitation about what the United States should do with the power that it has so clearly demonstrated in the Middle East. What we have done is having an impact on people's lives. But, having demonstrated

Kuwait has endured difficulties with regard to the war in Iraq. Kuwait took a unique position by supporting U.S. action to change the regime of Saddam Husayn. The Kuwaiti position reflected its belief that the people of Iraq deserve a better life. Kuwait's seven months of Iraqi occupation made its

Although military operations have passed the "tipping point" in Iraq, U.S. Central Command spokesmen continue to stress that their primary focus remains the completion of high-intensity operations against remaining pockets of resistance. Moreover, in contrast to previous statements that advocated allowing looting to burn itself out, recent statements suggest that

In light of the recent dramatic events in Baghdad, U.S. policymakers are eyeing the next phase of the war. U.S. forces will almost certainly encounter increased guerrilla fighting. Saddam Husayn's vice president, Taha Yassin Ramadan, recently stated that more than 6,000 Arab volunteer fighters are now in Iraq. With increasing

DANIEL PIPES Nowadays, Americans are likely to hear one of three replies to the question, "Who is the enemy?" The first reply -- "terrorists" -- is the Bush administration's response, which insists that there is no connection between Islam and terrorism. According to this view, Islam is a religion of

MATTHEW LEVITT The widespread notion that the war on terror cannot be pursued simultaneously with the war in Iraq is erroneous, a fact that was bolstered by the capture of al-Qaeda leader Khalid Shaykh Mohammed on the eve of Operation Iraqi Freedom. Counterterror operations continue, with wide international support from

What to do in Iraq postwar could easily become the next crisis within the Western alliance. Canada has the credibility as a close friend of the United States, a strong supporter of international institutions, and an experienced peacekeeper to play an important role in urging all sides to make the

RAY TAKEYH Iran is facing its most acute crisis since the 1979 revolution. Over the past six years, political institutions have played a key role in opening the path to reform. Yet, the success of President Muhammad Khatami's efforts to involve the Iranian people in electoral processes and political institutions

Former U.S. Mideast negotiator Dennis Ross advocates meeting head-on allegations that undue Jewish influence and a concern for Israel's defense lie behind President Bush's strategy on Iraq. Rep. James P Moran, a seven-term Democratic congressman from northern Virginia, brought a verbal firestorm upon himself by suggesting that American Jews have

The northern front was supposed to have been occupied by tens of thousands of U.S. troops who would make up the second front of a pincer movement against Baghdad. But Turkey's refusal to allow American forces and heavy armor to cross the Turkish-Iraqi frontier means that only a few thousand

The last time Syria pursued a brazen, unrestrained foreign policy, it winded up losing the Golan Heights. The lesson from the Six Day War -- the most stunning defeat ever handed to Syria in modern history -- should not be forgotten: reckless statements and provocations can have unintended, disastrous consequences

"Bloody thou art, bloody will be thy end" -- like Shakespeare's quintessential villain Richard III, Saddam Husayn is being toppled by a combination of forces he called into existence through his own evil actions. Unlike Richard, Saddam's final act will lack heroic qualities. Clearly, the regime's disintegration is accelerating; all