Democracy & Reform

During last month's elections in Jordan, the Islamists suffered an unprecedented defeat. Previously, the Islamic Action Front (IAF) -- Jordan's largest political party -- controlled an impressive bloc of 17 of 110 seats. But the IAF ran only twenty-two candidates in the latest contest and won just six seats. This

As the end of the Lebanese presidential term neared and then passed on November 23, domestic and international forces have ratcheted up their involvement in electing the country's new president. But the political focus of the presidential elections has shifted from democratic and constitutional ideals to concerns about preventing civil

On October 31, Saad Hariri, leader of the "March 14" majority bloc in the Lebanese parliament, met with opposition leader Michel Aoun, head of the Hizballah-allied Free Patriotic Movement (FPM), the largest Maronite Christian party in Lebanon. Discussions focused on the September 25-November 25 presidential elections, which will decide whether

On October 3, 2007, Robert Satloff, Kenneth Wollack, Lorne Craner, and Michael Mandelbaum addressed a Policy Forum at The Washington Institute. Dr. Satloff is executive director of the Institute. Mr. Wollack is president of the National Democratic Institute for International Affairs and chairman of the board for the U.S. Committee

On October 20, 2007, Jared Cohen, Shaha Ali Riza, and Tulin Daloglu addressed The Washington Institute's Weinberg Founders Conference. Mr. Cohen is a member of the State Department Policy Planning Staff, responsible for public diplomacy, and the author of Children of Jihad: Journeys into the Hearts and Minds of Middle

On October 3, 2007, J. Scott Carpenter addressed a Policy Forum at The Washington Institute marking the launch of Project Fikra, a new Washington Institute program focused on empowering Arab moderates and liberals in their struggles against extremism. Mr. Carpenter is a Keston Family fellow at the Institute and former

This week, Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad again darkens the doorstep of America to address the United Nations. There he is likely to express outrage that New York refused his request to visit Ground Zero. Like that visit would have been, his speech will be designed to divert attention from what

It seems a very long time ago that President George W. Bush gave his second inaugural address. In January 2005, he proclaimed that "the best hope for peace in our world is the expansion of freedom in all the world." With this soaring idea, deeply rooted in America's Wilsonian political

Yesterday, the U.S. Treasury Department designated as a terrorist organization one of the largest Hamas charities in Gaza, the al-Salah Society, along with its director, Ahmed al-Kurd, a well-known Hamas activist. The organization was outlawed by Israel in 2002 and temporarily shut down by Palestinian security services in 2003. The