Policy Analysis

In 1990, Saddam Hussein claimed that he had invaded Kuwait to help the Palestinians. He understood that he was isolated and needed to link his invasion to a cause that might appear legitimate. While his claim was absurd on its face, the United States had to fight the linkage argument

October 12 marks the first anniversary of the terrorist attack on the American warship USS Cole, an attack that killed seventeen sailors while the ship was refueling in Aden harbor, Yemen. A year later, although United States and many Yemeni officials are certain that Osama bin Laden was behind the

The current situation in the region creates an opportunity for Afghanistan and the United Front. The United Front is the only force present in Afghanistan and ready to move against Osama bin Laden and the Taliban. If there is cooperation between the forces of the United States and the United

It is looking increasingly likely that the clearest winner of the Afghan conflict could be Zahir Shah, the exiled king. At 86, he is seen by many as the most appropriate symbol of reconciliation. His politics may be diametrically opposed to those of the Taliban, but Zahir Shah is of

With attention focused on the bombings against Afghanistan, the most radical change in U.S. policy toward any other Muslim state since September 11 has been the accelerated rapprochement between the United States and Sudan, a country that hosted Osama bin Laden between 1991 and 1996. The quickly warming relations between

As U.S. and British forces readied for battle Sunday, President Bush telephoned a handful of world leaders to give them warning. Prominent among them: Israel. Why? The answer should be clear, given the democratic values we share and the common enemies we face. Based on its size and population, no

As the United States pursues its military operations, the Organization of the Islamic Conference's (OIC) foreign ministers are scheduled to meet in the Qatari capital of Doha on Wednesday. Among the important issues that are likely to be mooted are the antiterrorism coalition and the scope of its activities; the

As the world has focused on the U.S. effort against Osama bin Laden in the aftermath of September 11, friction has been building between the United States and Israel. The growing feeling in Israel has been that U.S. coalition-building with the Arabs against terrorism has involved tradeoffs which come at

They are the tallest towers in town, a pair of them in the hub of the city's financial district. And thanks to some good intelligence and smart police work, which nabbed the terrorists before they completed their mission, the buildings are still standing today. In this real-life story the city

After a three-week hiatus following the September 11 attacks on the World Trade Center and Pentagon, Tuesday saw renewed car bombings in Israel. Yet, it is not only Israel that faces a threat from radical Islamist suicide terrorists, but also many Arab states. Given this fact, it is all the

The internal Bush administration debate over the "broad coalition/narrow target versus narrow coalition/broad target" in the war against terrorism will be put to a test Monday, when the United Nations General Assembly is scheduled to vote in secret ballot on the nomination of Syria as a non-permanent member of the

This week's visit to New York and Washington by the ruler of the Persian Gulf state of Qatar is a public display of the type of relationship the United States would prefer to have with its allies in the region post-September 11: friendly, concerned, and openly cooperative. It will be

The Taliban's main concerns are domestic. They have accepted Osama bin Ladin because he is important to their ability to stay in power. They have used bin Ladin's brigade because it was the most capable brigade in countering Ahmed Shah Massoud, the former leader of the Northern Alliance. The Northern

The events of September 11 have created new urgency in finding a way to end the intifada and ensure the stability of the U.S.-led coalition against terrorism. Now, more than any time since the start of the violence last September, the United States must take strong steps to help Israel

"The idea of a Palestinian state has always been part of a vision, so long as the right of Israel to exist is respected." With those words, President Bush on Tuesday launched U.S.-Middle East diplomacy into new and uncharted waters. The idea of Palestinian statehood has not, of course, "always"

Are Middle Eastern studies in America in trouble? To judge from the numbers, the answer would appear to be "no." The Middle East Studies Association, known as MESA and founded in 1966, has more than 2,600 members. Across the country, there is an abundance of course offerings on the Middle

Note: The proceedings of the 2001 Weinberg Founders Conference were published as a monograph edited by Robert Satloff. please See that listing for a full description. Keynote addresses by Bernard Lewis, Samih Buttikhi, and Ami Ayalon. With Martin Kramer, Ibrahim Karawan, Ehud Ya'ari, Khaled Abu Toameh, Moshe Arens, Kanan Makiya

In the spring of 2000, I toured Afghanistan in an unusual way: freely. Normally, the Taliban tightly control foreign visitors. Journalists are quarantined in Kabul's former Inter-continental Hotel, forced to use government translators, and escorted by official guides. I was not. I had grown a beard and I can get

How Washington responds to the passing of Yasir Arafat depends largely on forecasts of internal Palestinian political dynamics, in both the short- and medium-term. The three concise essays in this special Policy Focus publication provide just such analyses. Each is written by a close and informed observer of the Palestinian

America has come full circle. In 1983, the idea of jihad, or Muslim holy war, was introduced in the contemporary Middle East as 241 American servicemen were killed in Beirut. The United States beat a hasty exit, and Islamic militants saw this as a vindication that suicide bombing was religiously