Middle East Policy articles from June 2002

Middle East Policy archives from June 2002

Editor note.
June 1, 2002... When last I wrote, pundits were trying to interpret what the term "axis of evil" might mean for U.S. Middle East policy. One implication was that neoconservatives were well along in their campaign to commit the Bush administration to their pet...

Is unilateral withdrawal the answer for Israel?
June 1, 2002... The following is an edited transcript of the twenty-eighth in a series of Capitol Hill conferences convened by the Middle East Policy Council. The meeting was held on March 22, 2002, in the Rayburn House Office Building with Chas. W. Freeman,...

Address to the Arab League.(Brief Article)
June 1, 2002... In the Name of God, the Most Merciful and the Most Compassionate. Praise be to God Almighty, the knower of the unseen and the unknown who revealed the following in the Holy Quran: "Dispute not one with another lest ye falter and your strength...

The Arab peace initiative.(Brief Article)
June 1, 2002... This initiative was drafted at the Arab League Summit in Beirut, Lebanon, on March 27-28, 2001. Source: the Royal Embassy of Saudi Arabia. The Council of the League of Arab States at the Summit Level, at its Fourteenth Ordinary Session,...

The Saudi Peace Plan: how serious?
June 1, 2002... The Saudi Peace Plan, or the Crown Prince Abdullah Peace Plan, is one of the more unusual, even curious documents to emerge from two decades of peace process. It is unusual in terms of its origins, the statement of its goals, and its reception....

U.N. Security Council resolutions 1397 and 1402.(Brief Article)
June 1, 2002... These resolutions were passed on March 12 and March 30, 2002, respectively. Source: http://www.un.org/docs/scres/2002/res1397e.pdf and http://www.un.org/docs/scres/2002/res1402e.pdf. RESOLUTION 1397 The Security Council, Recalling...

Arab-American perceptions of U.S. policy toward the Middle East.
June 1, 2002... The tragic events of September 11 have had a profound impact on the relationship between the United States and the Arab and Islamic worlds. The war on terrorism in Afghanistan is the first phase of a long, opaque and complex engagement that...

Education in Saudi Arabia: choices and constraints.
June 1, 2002... Since it was revealed that 15 of the 19 terrorists who attacked the United States on September 11 were from Saudi Arabia, some American editorial writers have pointed accusing fingers at the Saudi education system as having fostered an attitude...

The forgotten swamp: navigating political Islam.
June 1, 2002... We need to "drain the swamp." This expression has recurred like a leitmotif in the comments of pundits and policy officials asked to justify Washington's ever-expanding war on terrorism. But, alas, one critically important mud flat has received...

Osama Bin Laden: embedded in the Middle East crises.
June 1, 2002... Osama bin Laden has been elevated to iconic status as the avowed mastermind behind the devastating attacks against the World Trade Center and the Pentagon on September 11, 2001. That focus on his persona exaggerates his individual importance...

French foreign policy and Tunisia: do human rights matter?
June 1, 2002... The French government under President Jacques Chirac presents itself as a staunch and vocal supporter of democratization, human rights and political freedoms. In January 1999, Chirac outlined his foreign-policy agenda, which included "the...

Turkey-Iran relations, 2000-2001: the Caspian, Azerbaijan and the Kurds.
June 1, 2002... Relations between Turkey and Iran were dominated during 2000-2001 by issues relating to the Caspian Sea, Azerbaijan and the Kurds. Geostrategically, the Kurdish question was the most important for Iran. The potential for an American attack on...

Turkey's EU membership: a clash of security cultures.
June 1, 2002... Turkish identity politics are commonly explained as a clash between two forces, the modernizing state and the traditional society. According to this model, Turkish modernization has taken place because of efforts of the state against the...

The mystery of Turkish Hizballah.
June 1, 2002... What follows is an analysis of recent events in Turkey with respect to the group referred to as the "Hizballah" (the Party of God), set within the context of Turkish domestic politics. But first a little background is necessary. Any study of...

Bernard Lewis and the decline of Muslim civilization.
June 1, 2002... What Went Wrong? Bernard Lewis. New York: Oxford University Press, 2001. 192 pages. $23.00, hardcover. While the United States has yet to bring the masterminds of the September 11, 2001, suicide attacks to justice, its attorney general has...

Citizenship and the State in the Middle East: Approaches and Applications.
June 1, 2002... Nils A. Butenschon, Uri Davis and Manuel Hassassian, eds. Syracuse: Syracuse University Press, 2000. 449 pages. $24.95, paperback. This volume is at once a theoretical introduction to citizenship as a category of analysis in Middle East...