There is a tragic, pitiful quality to British Prime Minister Tony Blair’s current tour around the Middle East. He says the trip is an effort to resurrect the Arab-Israeli peace process, but it seems much more obviously designed to salvage Blair’s fading reputation. It is unlikely to succeed on either count, for the prime minister …

The kidnappings in Gaza and Lebanon that led to Israel’s war against Hezbollah last July have unveiled a seismic shift in the region, a situation made possible by the war in Iraq and the dismantlement of its army. Wars have bequeathed to Iran a shattered Iraq – open to Iranian investment in and profit from …

The distinct layers of Middle East conflict – Israel-Arab, the future of the Lebanese state, the disintegration of Iraq, the Iranian nuclear program as well as the burden of socio-economic and political transformation for Arab countries (rich in oil, but lacking natural resources) – are not only interlinked, but also have a regional and even …

The Lebanon war of 2006 changed the political environment in the Arab Middle East at two levels. The first was temporary and receded after the 34-day war had ended. The second, however, was structural and rooted in the reality of Arab societies, where the practices of ruling elites and opposition movements reveal the fragility of …

There is a dictum in the Babylonian heritage about the virtues of compromise that goes like this: “Where there is complete truth, there is no peace. And where there is peace, there is no complete truth. What the ancient sages were trying to say was that seeking perfect justice for one’s community or cause might …

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 Americans since the occupation of Iraq …

Listen carefully these days to the Israelis and South Koreans. What they are hinting at is no less than a tectonic shift in the international system: the shift from a unipolar to a multi-polar world. Israelis are rediscovering Europe. They intuitively sense that they can no longer rely only on the absolute security guarantee represented …

The distinct layers of Middle East conflict – Israel-Arab, the future of the Lebanese state, the disintegration of Iraq, the Iranian nuclear program as well as the burden of socio-economic and political transformation for Arab countries (rich in oil, but lacking natural resources) – are not only interlinked, but also have a regional and even …

What positions would Syria take if it entered a dialogue with the United States about Iraq and other Middle East issues? I put that question Thursday to Walid Moallem, Syria’s foreign minister, and he offered surprisingly strong support for the recommendations made last week in the Baker-Hamilton report. “We are not against the US, Moallem …

It is easy to get so entangled in the day-to-day dynamics of events in Lebanon that one loses sight of the truly new and potentially historic developments that are taking place before our eyes. I think we can already note five distinct political dynamics that have occurred in Lebanon in the past two years or …

Last week witnessed a dramatic escalation of events between students affiliated with the Muslim Brotherhood (MB) and the security apparatus in Egypt. The week started with an irresponsible and isolated move by a handful of Al Azhar students affiliated with the MB, who protested to denounce the unjust dismissal of eight of their colleagues. The …

German Chancellor Angela Merkel has made addressing climate change a high priority on Germany’s agenda for its European Union and Group of Eight presidencies that begin in January. Here is a specific proposal, one general enough for world leaders to consider and accept, and clear enough for other governments and businesses to grasp: simply set …

Shiite and Sunni Islamist candidates dominated Bahrain’s late November parliamentary elections–winning a combined total of 29 out of 40 seats–leading some observers to warn of a polarized Parliament where civility and legislative action would fall victim to sectarian mudslinging. Others predicted a tenuous detente, where the two sides would avoid divisive issues such as anti-Shiite …

What connects Iran’s nuclear ambitions and Holocaust denial? With equal fervor, Iran’s president, Mahmoud Ahmadinejad, defends his country’s right to develop its nuclear capacity (though denying that his country seeks nuclear weapons) and challenges decades of Holocaust research. How should Ahmadinejad’s denial that Iran intends to pursue nuclear arms be judged in light of his …

The recently released Iraq Study Group report enthralled people from all sides of the political spectrum in the Arab and Islamic world. One might even say the report set a precedent by meeting with the approval of almost everyone in the region–a rare and unique instance indeed. Of course, each party used and read the …

Is there a rational, sensible middle ground between those who question or deny the Holocaust against the Jews and threaten to wipe out Israel, and those who maintain that Israel can do no wrong and must receive perpetual American support? That middle ground has been thin in recent years. In the United States, in particular, …

The Lebanese not so long ago liked to refer to their gaudy capital as “the Paris of the Orient. But on Sunday afternoon, with more than a half-million pro-Hezbollah demonstrators chanting “Death to America! and “Death to Israel! in the heart of downtown, the Lebanese capital seemed more like a vision of Tehran. The very …

For the sixth time this year, Human Rights Watch is questioning Jordan’s commitment to abolishing provisions in its penal code used solely to silence opposition figures. In November, Adnan Abu Odeh, a former head of the Royal Court was investigated for allegedly insulting the king and inciting sectarian strife during televised remarks. By voicing the …

What will Group of Eight summit meetings have American President Hillary Clinton and French President Segolene Royal join German Chancellor Angela Merkel in a formidable triangle of women’s power? The scenario is not altogether unlikely. Indeed, in the United States and France, there are even alternative female candidates for the presidency (Condoleezza Rice in the …

Lebanon’s current crisis is a reminder of the country’s enduring political polarization along political and confessional fault lines. It represents a struggle between two fundamentally different visions for the country that also involve foreign powers, in which local leaders exercise little influence over final decision-making. Luckily, there is a chance to reverse this. Lebanon’s fragile …

With the United States Congress stamp of approval this month on India’s nuclear pursuits, it may behoove world’s leaders to retire the near-defunct Nuclear Non-Proliferation Treaty (NPT) and start configuring a new regulatory framework. The NPT is on its last breath for two reasons: Firstly, countries like Iran and North Korea, both signatories to the …

When the Soviet Union collapsed, many predicted the end of the North Atlantic Treaty Organization. Yet a few weeks ago, NATO held its summit meeting in the Latvian capital of Riga, formerly part of the USSR. NATO was created in 1949 as an alliance to contain Soviet power. Its focus was on Western Europe, and, …

Following the Democratic victory in the mid-term congressional elections and the Baker-Hamilton Commission recommendations, the Bush administration is under pressure to change its Iraq policy. Among those most alarmed by the prospect of change, especially if it involves a premature US withdrawal, are the Iraqi Kurds. Unlike any other group in Iraq, the Kurds bet …

Let’s start with the obvious. The report of the Iraq Study Group wasn’t much about Britain. Fair enough. But unfortunately, it wasn’t about Iraq either. It was simply, top to bottom, about America. Its principal conclusion, as far I could see from London, was that America is being badly damaged by its involvement in Iraq …

The Iraq Study Group’s report achieved the goal of any blue-ribbon commission: It stated the obvious, emphatically. “The situation in Iraq is grave and deteriorating.” Of various proposals for fixing Iraq, “all have flaws.” A “precipitate” withdrawal would be a mistake, but so would a big increase in US troops. America should set “milestones” for …

Andrew Natsios, America’s special envoy to Sudan, has warned that the Bush administration will resort to an unspecified “Plan B if the Sudanese government does not agree to an expanded international peacekeeping force for Darfur by January 1, 2007. Natsios and other US officials have refused to say what Plan B is. The whisper in …

Beyond the current Palestinian-Israeli ceasefire there may lie nothing at all: no peace process, not even an interim process or agreement. If that is the case, then the ceasefire itself will not last long. On the Palestinian side, President Mahmoud Abbas appears to have given up on the project of forming a unity government and …

An old saying in politics in Moscow is that relations between the United States and Russia are always better when a Republican rules in the White House. We are statesmen, and the Republicans are statesmen. Because we both believe in power, it is easy for the two of us to understand each other. The problem …

The recent intensification of violence between Israel and the Palestinians is disturbing in many ways. Most disturbing of all are the signs that new weapons technologies and tactics are being transferred to the Palestinian territories, particularly to the Gaza Strip. Tunnels under the Philadelphi corridor along the Egyptian border with Gaza are among the vehicles …

You can physically get away from Lebanon and its turbulent politics for a few days, but you can never move around in this region without the symbols, causes and consequences of Lebanon’s current confrontations following you like a shadow in every discussion. I discovered that this week in Dubai while participating in Dubai in the …