U.S. Policy

For the past year, senior United States Treasury officials have traveled the world, highlighting for foreign governments and the private sector the danger that Iran's illicit activities pose to the international financial system. Treasury has lobbied foreign audiences on the need to employ targeted financial measures against entities supporting Iran's

New Republic editor Franklin Foer interviewed Institute counselor and Ziegler distinguished fellow Dennis Ross about how the United States can achieve its objectives in Iran. This is a video presentation of their conversation. Dennis Ross is counselor and Ziegler distinguished fellow at the Washington Institute for Near East Policy and

Iran's seizure of 15 British sailors dominated international headlines and attention for nearly two weeks. Many wondered whether it would become a long, drawn-out affair like the American hostage crisis in 1980. Others feared that it might lead to an escalation, not just of tension with Iran, but of incidents

Introduction This week European and U.S. leaders met for a one-day EU-US summit in Washington. While disagreements remain between these key allies in several areas, particularly climate control, the parties highlighted their coordinated efforts to press Iran to suspend its uranium enrichment program as a sign of strong ties. The

On March 9, 2007, Michael Oren addressed The Washington Institute's Special Policy Forum. A historian and senior fellow at the Shalem Center in Jerusalem, Dr. Oren authored the recent bestseller Power, Faith, and Fantasy: America in the Middle East, 1776 to the Present. The following is a rapporteur's summary of

Next week, Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice will return to the Middle East, where she plans to meet Israeli prime minister Ehud Olmert and Palestinian president Mahmoud Abbas for what has become a monthly trilateral session. The question is whether Rice still believes both parties can actually agree on a

It's been two years since the assassination of former Lebanese prime minister Rafik Hariri caused the United States to withdraw its ambassador from Syria. But even as the U.S. embassy in Damascus continues to function without its senior diplomat, Syria maintains not one but two ambassadors to Washington. Officially, Syrian

On February 23, 2007, Matthew Levitt and Todd Hinnen addressed The Washington Institute's Special Policy Forum. Dr. Levitt recently rejoined the Institute as a senior fellow and director of the Michael Stein Program on Terrorism, Intelligence, and Policy. From November 2005 to January 2007, he served as deputy assistant secretary

On February 22, Egyptian blogger Abdul Karim Suleiman was sentenced to four years in prison for messages posted on his personal website. Suleiman, who blogs under the name Kareem Amer, was a student at Cairo's al-Azhar University when he posted comments deemed by Egyptian authorities as blaspheming Islam, inciting sedition