Policy Analysis

On January 17, 2007, Institute counselor and Ziegler distinguished fellow Dennis Ross testified before the U.S. Senate Committee on Foreign Relations. The following is the prepared text of his remarks. I have been asked to discuss Iraq in a regional context. I interpret the request to be less about how

On January 14, in a rare show of unity, Sunni and Shiite Arab, Turkmen, and Christian Iraqis gathered at a conference in Ankara to denounce Kurdish plans to incorporate Kirkuk, the capital of Iraq’s at-Tamim province, into the Kurdish region. This comes after recent violence in Kirkuk, including a December

In the context of debate surrounding U.S. military strategy in Iraq, Prussian military philosopher Carl von Clausewitz offers this classic directive: it is essential to understand the nature of the war you are fighting. To this end, the U.S. military in Iraq no longer faces a traditional insurgency conflict --

Beginning in September 2000, Israel was confronted with an unprecedented wave of Palestinian violence in the form of suicide bombings, rocket attacks, and numerous other hostile acts. Since then, the conflict has undergone many evolutions, with both sides continuously changing their strategies and tactics. Although Palestinian attacks continue even during

Precisely because expectations of US Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice's trips to the Middle East usually plunge lower than the Dead Sea, she seems to feel that she can quietly gauge receptivity to new approaches to the Israeli-Palestinian situation without setting off world headlines. As President George W. Bush puts

I became embroiled in a controversy with former President Jimmy Carter over the use of two maps in his recent book, "Palestine Peace Not Apartheid." While some criticized what appeared to be the misappropriation of maps I had commissioned for my book, "The Missing Peace," my concern was always different

In early September, as Kofi Annan passed through the Middle East on a farewell journey as United Nations secretary general, he made a stop in Tehran. There, in a meeting with Mahmoud Ahmadinezhad, Iran’s president, he heard something startling. As later recounted to the New York Times by an Annan

On December 29, 2006, the Financial Times published the following letter to the editor from Institute counselor and Ziegler distinguished fellow Dennis Ross. Sir, Having recently spent several days in Jerusalem and Ramallah, I am struck by the struggle that is now under way for the heart and soul of

The situation in Iraq is not only violent, it is confusing, even for those watching it closely. Dramatic events, searing images, and daily pronouncements by policymakers contribute to a sense of chaos. Nevertheless, some events are more important than others—with trends in events being especially important. Such trends, or indicators

Hafez el Assad, the father of Syrian President Bashar Assad, established Syria's primacy in the Levant and transformed a country ravaged by nearly 30 coups in 24 years into a country led by one leader for nearly 30. The elder Assad made sure that Syria manipulated events in the Middle

As he travels through his lands, Iranian President Mahmud Ahmadinejad delivers a daily speech, each time in a different city, during which he proposes reexamining the Holocaust and putting to "scientific test" the claim that 6 million Jews were annihilated by the Nazis. It is important to point out, by

For more than a decade, Iran has lavished a considerable share of its defense budget on its naval forces (which consist of both regular and Iranian Revolutionary Guard Corps units), believing that the Persian Gulf will be its front line in the event of a confrontation with the United States

On December 12, 2006, Robert Satloff, Dennis Ross, and Mehdi Khalaji addressed The Washington Institute’s Special Policy Forum. Robert Satloff is the Institute’s executive director and author of Among the Righteous: Lost Stories from the Holocaust’s Long Reach into Arab Lands. Dennis Ross, the Institute’s counselor and Ziegler distinguished fellow

Hizballah's thirty-three-day fight against the Israel Defense Forces (IDF) this summer offered a number of disturbing precedents. Political implications and strategic goals aside, the "July War" showcased Hizballah's evolution into an adaptive, skillful, cohesive fighting force capable of registering some measure of success on the battlefield against a much larger

On December 4, 2006, Jennifer Windsor, Carl Gershman, and Martin Kramer addressed The Washington Institute's Special Policy Forum. Jennifer Windsor is executive director of Freedom House and also a member of the Secretary of State's Advisory Commission. Carl Gershman is president of the National Endowment of Democracy and a member

Two years ago, during the month of Ramadan, a bus carrying 50 Iraqi soldiers heading home on leave was ambushed outside Baghdad. The soldiers were led out of the bus, lined up on the pavement, and killed -- like so many other Iraqi soldiers, policemen, and recruits trained by the

The wise men (and woman) don't know their history. In boldly suggesting that "all key issues in the Middle East are inextricably linked," the authors of the Iraq Study Group report seem stunningly indifferent to the past 25 years of Middle East politics. The basic proposition -- linkage -- is

Six weeks into the standoff between Hizballah and the government of democratically elected Lebanese prime minister Fouad Siniora, Arab League secretary-general Amr Moussa returned to Lebanon today to continue his mediation efforts. Preliminary signs suggest that an Arab League-brokered deal may be gaining traction. On December 15, at the end

President Bush and his advisers were not the only ones who were anxious about what the Iraq Study Group would recommend. So were the Saudis, which explains why they sought an urgent meeting between King Abdullah and Vice President Cheney in late November. The source of Saudi anxiety was almost

Prince Turki al-Faisal, the Saudi ambassador to the U.S., has resigned. The prince reportedly flew out of Washington after informing Condoleezza Rice, and his own staff, that he was leaving, just 15 months after arriving. The Saudi Embassy told the Associated Press that he was "going home to spend more