U.S. Policy

On March 31, Washington took its first step toward engagement with Tehran through a diplomatic encounter with the Iranian government at the Afghanistan conference in the Hague. Even though the initial contact was awkward, it was clearly a step forward for the Obama administration, and both countries agreed that the

On April 7, 2009, the U.S. Treasury Department designated as a proliferator Li Fangwei, the commercial manager for the Chinese company Limmt, for providing support for Iran's missile program. Treasury also blacklisted eight aliases of Limmt, which was originally designated in 2006, in addition to six other Iranian entities. The

U.S. and European observers believe that Israel's new government will seek peace with Damascus in an attempt to pry the Syrian regime away from Tehran. Pursuing the Syrian track would also give the Obama administration an outlet for its peacemaking energies, given the ongoing dysfunction of Palestinian politics. Syrian president

In the last week, Egypt has moved against Iran and its allies in the Arab world. Cairo arrested a Hizballah cell that was preparing terrorist operations on Egyptian soil, organized a campaign against Hamas weapons and money smugglers in the Sinai Peninsula, and stepped up efforts to displace Qatar --

If U.S. President Barack Obama were using Google Earth to zoom into various geographic locations mentioned during his daily morning briefings on the state of world affairs, he is probably not zeroing into villages in Iraq's Anbar province. Until recently considered to be the center of the geostrategic earth, Washington's

President Obama's April 6 speech to the Turkish parliament in Ankara has addressed Washington's concerns over Turkey's turn from the West. In his speech, Obama tackled the erosion of Turkey's liberal democratic values. He also took up Turkey's recent foreign policy differences with the United States. Lately, a civilizational view

PolicyWatch #1504 is second in a two-part series on the legal issues associated with Israel's recent war in the Gaza Strip. PolicyWatch #1497, " Examining the Conduct of IDF Operations in Gaza," dealt with how the Israeli military fought the war (Jus In Bello). This piece addresses questions surrounding the

On April 9, Algerians go to the polls to elect a head of state. A constitutional amendment engineered by two-term President Abdulaziz Bouteflika in November 2008 allows the septuagenarian to vie for a third term. Running with no credible opponents -- and unopposed by the military and security services (DRS)

On March 27, the official Saudi Press Agency issued a brief, surprise statement announcing that Interior Minister Prince Nayef had been appointed second deputy prime minister. This intriguing development has prompted widespread speculation that the conservative Prince Nayef will become crown prince when the incumbent -- the ailing Prince Sultan