No one fears instability and violence in Iraq more than the Iraqis and their neighbors. But mutual suspicions and rivalries, and a lack of US commitment to regional diplomacy, have prevented Iraq and its neighbors from turning common anxieties into a common agenda. However, an emerging regional diplomatic initiative – the focus of this week’s …

Some years ago, the Tunisian Islamist leader-in-exile, Rashid Ghannoushi, wrote a book on public rights in Islam. He pointed out that there were particular historical reasons why Europe had separated religion and state. The church had misused its powers, had stood in the way of scientific progress, and the state had made religion a tool …

For four years, violence and terror have ruled in Darfur. After many futile efforts, the European Union must get tough with the perpetrators. Darfur is a humanitarian catastrophe: more than 200,000 dead, thousands raped and tortured, and 2.6 million people displaced, owing to the Sudanese government’s war against its own people. Originally an anti-insurgency effort, …

Drums of war were beating in early June 1967 in the waning days of my internship at the American University of Beirut hospital. We were excited at the prospect of a just war that would liberate Palestine, allowing those of us who became refugees in 1948 to go back to our homes. We were also …

The Palestinians have long sought, and Israel has long resisted, the internationalization of efforts to construct a process that would lead to a durable and comprehensive peace. Independent advocates for a just peace have echoed this call out of the realization that the near monopoly of Washington on stewardship of Israeli-Palestinian diplomacy has hindered – …

Reading some of the shrill comments posted online by World Bank staffers expressing (anonymously) their loathing for Paul Wolfowitz, you can understand why the bank president feels he has been the victim of a “smear campaign. But in taking the role of wounded victim, Wolfowitz seems blind to his own mistakes, which have had ruinous …

A combination of vindication, disdain, and renewed concerns about Israeli militarism are the dominant reactions in the Arab world to the preliminary report of the Winograd Commission released Monday in Israel. The commission harshly rebuked three senior Israeli political and military leaders for their conduct during last summer’s 34-day war with Lebanon’s Hezbollah Party, leaving …

Is it true that Michel Aoun recently visited Damascus and was told he would be asked by Emile Lahoud to form a government after the president’s departure? Though Aoun earlier indicated he would not take such a step unless he were guaranteed the presidency, the version put out by the majority is that the Syrians …

We are often so obsessed with the problems and conflicts that define the relationship between the Middle East and the West today that we tend to lose sight of the constructive currents that flow beneath the surface. An unusual week of consecutive conferences and seminars in Amman and Beirut brought that point home to me …

Sometimes big developments are hidden in plain sight, and that appears to be the case with Iran and the United States. The two countries have moved over the past year from mutual isolation to the edge of serious diplomatic discussions. The Bush administration is aggressively signaling that it wants such a dialogue. But the Iranians, …

To steal a laconic phrase from Fouad Ajami, say whatever you will about the American experience in Vietnam, the war was well written. Few wrote it better than David Halberstam in his 1972 masterpiece “The Best and the Brightest. News that Halberstam had been killed in San Francisco on Monday came as the United States, …

The Arab peace initiative has been widely misunderstood, and occasionally even deliberately misconstrued. The initiative is not a road map providing a step-by-step approach to an agreement between Israel and the Palestinians, nor does it demand of Israel prior acceptance of certain Arab or Palestinian conditions. It does not provide a framework for peace negotiations …

JERUSALEM – Jerusalem is holy to three major monotheistic religions – Judaism, Christianity and Islam. Therein lies its unique glory.Therein lies its tragedy. For well over a millennium Jerusalem hasbeen a battleground, the scene of wars and terrible bloodshed inspired primarily by religious fervor, to which, in more recent times, has been added the single-minded …

As Arab presidents, emirs, and kings lined up alongside the United Nations secretary general and the Pakistani, Malaysian, and Turkish heads of state in last month’s Arab League summit in Riyadh, one key player was missing at the highest level: Iran. Its nominal head of state, Mahmoud Ahmadinejad, was not invited to the summit. Instead …

Among the many humanitarian disasters produced by the civil war now raging in Iraq is one that is almost invisible. Only rarely do scenes of massive displacement of the civilian population make it onto our television screens, because, unlike bombs and suicide attacks, displacement does not generate the blood, fire, or screams that constitutes compelling …

JAKARTA: The birth of the Prophet Mohamed is celebrated every year by Muslims around the world though there was no particular instruction by the Prophet to do so. During the festive celebration, the story of his life is retold and verses praising him are sung everywhere. A question arises: to what extent is the ummah, …

Last June 25, when Israeli Corporal Gilad Shalit was abducted by Palestinians from Israeli territory, Israelis knowledgeable about the history of prisoner exchanges between the two sides remarked that either Shalit would be returned within weeks – or the process would take years. A similar prognosis was offered immediately after the July 12, 2006 abduction …

I’m not sure if it’s mere serendipity or anything more challenging, but every time I have come to Jordan recently my trip has coincided with the visit of a senior American official. Three weeks ago I was in Amman at the same time as US Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice, and this week my fellow …

Same place, but different game? This was the question in the heads of leaders in Morocco and Algeria last week. First, there was the suicide or killing of several Islamists in Casablanca on April 10. This was followed a day later by simultaneous car bombings in Algiers that killed 33 people and posed a direct …

Three years ago this April, my predecessor first brought Darfur to the attention of the United Nations Security Council. And now this April, I too have gone before the Security Council to brief them on the ongoing tragedy of Darfur following my recent mission to the region. The cost of inaction continues to be paid …

When it comes to a prisoners exchange between the Palestinian Authority and Israel, there are still difficult negotiations lying ahead. The internal dynamics on both the Palestinian and the Israeli sides will be a hindrance. Nevertheless, one should expect that, perhaps sooner rather than later, there will a deal to exchange Palestinian political prisoners for …

Mention Asia, and most people think of the region’s fascinating, rising giants, China or India – or both. Or people think about North Korea’s nuclear program, some terrorist incident, or the humanitarian consequences of the latest earthquake or tsunami. But often overlooked – or at least underestimated – is Japan. This is odd, given that …

The three suicide bombings on April 10 in Casablanca, and two more on April 14, not only called attention to Morocco’s rising terrorism problem, but also exposed one of the big paradoxes of Morocco’s political economy. The country’s depressing shantytowns, so characteristic of modern cities in developing countries, threaten to cut back the substantial tourism …

Reuters BEIRUT: A renewed Arab offer of peace with Israel if it returns occupied land has won mild interest from Israelis and their US allies, but no commitment to revive negotiations aimed at ending the Middle Eastern conflict. The political weakness of the Israeli and Palestinian leaderships, coupled with Washington s focus on the war …

One of the prevalent trends that defines so much of what is both right and wrong about the Arab world today is the convergence between religion, nationalism, and politics. The three are used to practice unspeakably cruel violence against foes and innocent civilians alike, while simultaneously challenging unjust authority, resisting foreign military invasions and building …

The surprise in the first round of the French presidential election was that there was no surprise, except for the huge level of voter turnout. The two leaders of the right and of the left, the favorites in all the polls for a long time, came first and second. Four winners and one clear loser …

For the last five years, Russia’s role in the international search for peace in the Middle East has been realized within the framework of the Quartet. Moscow made the decision to join the international mediators for several reasons. In 2002, Russia had no great ambitions in the region. The Middle East was not high on …

BOSTON, Massachusetts: Emerson College sponsored an event last Tuesday to promote America at a Crossroads , the series of documentaries running this week on PBS analyzing the challenges the United States now encounters in the post-9/11 world. The audience – a paltry 50 or so Emerson College students, faculty and administration – viewed excerpts of …

If you were to walk along the streets of your neighborhood with your face up and an open expression, how many of those who passed you would smile, or greet you in some way? Smiling is a universal human practice, although readiness to smile at strangers varies according to culture. In Australia, where being open …

Apart from some posters and banners scattered across the streets of Damascus announcing parliamentary elections yesterday and today, there were few signs in Syria of the sort of election fever seen in some Arab countries recently. Candidate posters were no more than a photo with a slogan underneath: “Vote for the faithful son of Damascus …