TEL AVIV: The Parents Circle – Families Forum, consisting of bereaved Palestinian and Israeli families, is a non-profit organization supporting reconciliation and tolerance in both Israeli and Palestinian societies. The organization acts as a people-to-people advocacy group, with family members sharing painful narratives that greatly impact those exposed to their message of hope. There is …

The idea that Israel can manipulate the direction of Palestinian public opinion and Palestinian attitudes toward peace through the use of economic carrots and sticks is as old as the occupation itself. Back in 1967, Minister of Defense Moshe Dayan, supported by Shimon Peres, initiated the open door policy aimed at integrating the Palestinian and …

Islamabad – As Pakistan celebrates its 60th anniversary of independence this year, political turbulence and chronic problems such as low literacy and inadequate health services persist. But there is another untold story: Pakistan is experiencing a cultural and political reinvigoration. A genuine media revolution – with over 30 independent television channels – is projecting Pakistan …

Every week more liquidity is injected into the global banking system by the United States Federal Reserve and the European Central Bank. The average interest rate paid for overnight reserves in the US has been well below the 5.25 percent per year that the Fed still publicly says is its target. But the market for …

CAMBRIDGE, Massachusetts – The ideal way to achieve peace between Israel and its Arab neighbours is through a Madrid-like regional peace process based on the Arab League initiative (2002). The logic of such a comprehensive approach is that some of Israel s disputes with Syria, Lebanon and the Palestinians are interrelated, and a regional peace …

CAIRO: Egypt has sent a delegation to participate in the European Neighborhood Policy (ENP) meeting taking place in Brussels today in an effort to sound out participating member states on the direction of the policy to date and its future course. Under the title “Working Together – Strengthening the European Neighbourhood Policy , member states …

This summer I traveled through Thailand, Malaysia, Singapore and Australia, a part of the world that most Americans rarely see in the news or visit in person. The distance provided me with a new perspective from which to look upon my country, helping me realize that, despite a overextended sense of importance and myopic foreign …

China’s “face may be its Achilles’ Heel. As it basks in its new status as an economic superpower – the dragon that is outpacing Asia’s tigers as well as the donkeys of the West – China is mistakenly downplaying its own serious structural weaknesses. The communist leadership finds it hard to mention, let alone emphasize, …

We were both in Turkey before and after Sunday, 22 July, the day of the intensely debated parliamentary elections. Given the large-scale, contentious demonstrations and the post-modernist military intervention – via the internet – over the issue of secularism, there were hundreds of eager international observers expecting something spectacular to happen. But to their dismay, …

I have no idea where those people who talk about torture in Egypt get their information from. Egyptian authorities simply have no tolerance for the torture of any of their citizens; so how can we possibly believe what those human rights organizations claim about widespread torture in Egypt. The latest report by one of them …

Last week, Russia and China held joint military maneuvers in the presence of both Russian President Vladimir Putin and Chinese President Hu Jintao. But a new strategic alliance between the two countries is not likely, as it is China that poses the greatest strategic threat to Russia, although many in the Kremlin seem blind to …

Istanbul – With Abdullah Gül just elected as President of Turkey, the headscarf debate has yet again been brought to the forefront. Although the ban on wearing headscarves in public places took effect in 1998, the discussion has never stopped and has even gained new momentum with the possibility of a First Lady who covers …

Neo-conservatism has served as a badge of unity for those in the Bush administration advocating an aggressive foreign policy, massive military spending, disdain for international law and institutions, an assault on the welfare state, and a return to “traditional values . So, with the Bush era winding down in a tailspin of plummeting popularity and …

President Hosni Mubarak and the regime have failed, for a while now, to answer a straight-forward question that democracy activists, human rights organizations, journalists and political activists have been marveling about over the past five months: why are civilians belonging to opposition groups tried before military tribunals? Last February, the president decided to transfer 40 …

As a Middle East policy analyst who also has family ties to Lebanon, I visit quite often. I rolled out of bed one day and tried jogging along Beirut’ s famed middle-class seaside walkway called the Corniche this past weekend, only to discover that the simple concrete and metal rails overlooking the glittering Mediterranean were …

Abdullah Gül’s election as Turkey’s 11th president marks a watershed in the country’s history. In July, the ruling Justice and Development Party (AKP) – religiously conservative but economically liberal – won a landslide in parliamentary elections called after the military balked at seeing Gül become president. That victory, combined with Gül’s election, confirm the AKP’s …

It is said that mutual trust, rather than mutual interest, is what keeps human associations together. Lack of trust among members of a community resembles cracks in an aged building; they reveal its vulnerability and forecast its collapse. Civil wars, for example, do not erupt suddenly. They are preceded by extended periods of animosity, taking …

A human being will usually need someone to save him from his defeat, or help him overcome it. Hamas position today is different; it needs someone who will save it from its victory. The movement made the mistake of a military victory on June 14th in the streets of Gaza. It won against the Palestinian …

Russia is again seeking a role as a global power and is therefore flexing its muscles. Signs of change in Russian foreign policy have been mounting ever since President Vladimir Putin delivered a confrontational speech in Munich last February. Since then Russia planted its flag on the seabed below the North Pole to demonstrate its …

The United Nations Interim Force in Lebanon (Unifil) was set up in 1978 after Israel s invasion of South Lebanon in response to a Palestinian bus hijacking in Israel that ended with more than 30 civilian deaths. The US realized the occupation of South Lebanon by the Israeli army was threatening to unravel the momentum …

One of the much-debated religious issues in Indonesia as of today is that of pluralism. Its opponents, such as the Indonesian Ulama Council (MUI), believe that pluralist theology is harmful for Islamic theological foundations, as it would reject the idea that one particular religion reigns supreme and that other religions beliefs are apocryphal. The Council …

One year has passed since the end of the Second Lebanon War. It is far too early to determine the long range effects and consequences of this war on Israel. Nevertheless, one year does give us a perspective from which we can derive some initial observations regarding the results of the war from the Israeli …

Ten years after her death, Princess Diana still has star power. The media are filled with tributes and retrospectives, and all over the world, the public seems to be avidly soaking it up. Has Diana become a new kind of saint, and if so, what does that tell us? I encountered the cult of Diana …

We are at a critical juncture in the Palestinian-Israeli struggle. It is this struggle that takes precedence over the regional Arab-Israeli conflict because its acuteness and its constant festering since 1948 underlies the intractability of all the other conflicts. It becomes essential then for the new openings between Syria and Israel, for example, to be …

The Shias of South Lebanon and the Israelis should seek joint therapy for their unhealthy relationship. Their mutual resentment, distrust and geopolitics lead to new disasters every time. Hezbollah is currently celebrating what it considers its victory in the war with Israel last year at an exhibition in Beirut s southern suburbs. Families with little …

Confidence is a vital element of life, for nations and civilizations as much as for individuals. Confidence is the ingredient of hope. It allows you to project yourself into the future, to fulfill or even transcend your capabilities. It comes from within, but can be reinforced or weakened by the way others perceive you. But …

I was extremely happy with the wide coverage the Western media – especially that of the US- gave to the plight of two Israeli families who were recently forced by the Israeli army to evacuate two Palestinian homes they had occupied. CNN cameras, for one, captured the human suffering of these two families who were …

If Syrians ever had any doubt about Hezbollah s military prowess, they were pleasantly surprised by its remarkable performance during its confrontation with Israel last summer. By holding out for more than a month against Israel, the most powerful military in the Middle East, Hezbollah showed itself to be a powerhouse. Over and above the …

Life expectancy in the world’s high-income countries is now 78 years, while it is only 51 years in the least-developed countries, and as low as 40 years in some AIDS-ridden African countries. For every 1,000 children born in rich countries, seven die before their fifth birthday; for every 1,000 births in the poorest countries, 155 …

Simply stated, the peace dividend theory holds that in times of peace, budgets and resources normally allocated for defense can be used to invest internally in housing, education, and other initiatives which improve a society and bolster an economy. In other words: in the long term, peace is more profitable than war. But in the …