Syria

This is the second of a two-part examination of the meaning and implications of the Mecca accord. Read part one. The Fatah-Hamas unity agreement reached in Mecca last week has powerful implications for all regional players. The most serious challenge it poses is to U.S. diplomacy. Arab Winners and Losers

When, earlier this month, the Israeli daily Haaretz uncovered the details of secret, unofficial Syrian-Israeli peace talks, it revived a familiar menu of questions and concerns whenever Syria and Israel negotiate: Would Israel give back to Syria all of the Golan Heights? How would its water resources be shared? Can

Syrian president Bashar al-Asad is apparently proposing peace talks with Israel. His aides are knocking at Ehud Olmert's door, from a distance. They exhort him to believe that their intentions are genuine, while out of the other side of their mouths, they issue threats that they cannot wait forever, and

On January 12, 2007, Joe Klein and Martin Walker addressed The Washington Institute's Special Policy Forum. Joe Klein, the author of the bestseller Primary Colors, writes the "In the Arena" column about national and international affairs for Time magazine. Martin Walker is the editor emeritus of United Press International, and

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

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

We have had the pre-publication leaks. Now we have the report. What I’m looking for now are the post-publication leaks. Only those leaks will explain what is, on the face of it, a very strange report. So strange, in fact, that its logic and findings might complicate the position of

According to press reports, one of the principal policy recommendations of the congressionally mandated Iraq Study Group will be that Washington should engage Iraq’s neighbors—particularly Syria and Iran—in its efforts to staunch the ongoing violence in Iraq. However, both historical precedent and current conditions on the ground in Iraq suggest

With less than a week before the publication of the Iraq Study Group's report, it is speculated that the panel chaired by James Baker and Lee Hamilton will recommend diplomatic engagement of Syria and Iran. The Bush administration has been firmly against dialogue with Syria, emphasizing how Damascus has made