Middle East Policy articles from June 2008

Middle East Policy archives from June 2008

Editor's note.(Editorial)
June 22, 2008... A significant milestone was passed this month: the sixtieth anniversary of the Jewish triumph and the Palestinian catastrophe. In most years, only the birth of Israel is noted in the American media, except by fringe periodicals like this one....

Hamas and the two-state solution: villain, victim or missing ingredient?(Broadcast transcript)
June 22, 2008... The following is an edited transcript of the fifty-second in a series of Capitol Hill conferences convened by the Middle East Policy Council. The meeting was held on Friday, April 11, 2008, in the Gold Room of the Rayburn House Office Building...

Interview: Fatma Khafagy.(Interview)
June 22, 2008... Dr. Khafagy is a women's rights activist in Egypt, where she currently works as a policy expert for the German Cooperation Agency. Prior to that she was a legal/policy expert for the European Commission Project on the Economic Role of Women in...

Afghanistan's security: political process, state-building and narcotics.
June 22, 2008... Interest in the security of Afghanistan is largely dominated by fear that the country's instability will trigger conflicts in neighboring regions from Kashmir to Chechnya. It is often argued that the key to providing security is to fortify the...

Shiism and ethnic politics in Iraq.
June 22, 2008... Iraq is a country in which ethnicity plays a crucial role in politics. The two predominant sects of Islam, the Shiite and the Sunni, and the two major ethnic groups, the Arabs and the Kurds, have always been part of Iraq's national composition....

Lubricated with oil: Iran-China relations in a changing world.
June 22, 2008... China and Iran are emerging powers with increasingly significant political and economic relations that have regional and global dimensions. In this article, we set out to explore the historical roots, evolution and development of this...

The Caspian Sea: rivalry and cooperation.
June 22, 2008... The Caspian Sea is estimated to be the world's third largest reservoir of oil and natural gas after the Persian Gulf and Russia. But, since the disintegration of the USSR in 1991, its rich resources have generated disagreement among the...

The gulf sovereign wealth funds: myths and reality.
June 22, 2008... The financial world is abuzz with the issue of Sovereign Wealth Funds (SWFs), especially those that have become swollen by oil revenues in the Arabian/Persian Gulf. There are estimates from highly respected banks and consultants that put the...

Combating extremism: a brief overview of Saudi Arabia' s approach.
June 22, 2008... Saudi Arabia is one of the few countries where the fight against terrorism and extremism has yielded real success. This success cannot be explained only by the effectiveness of its security measures, but also by its softer approach in tackling...

Dubai: the security dimensions of the region's premier free port.
June 22, 2008... Dubai is a remarkable success story. From its origins as a small fishing and pearling community, the emirate has gone from strength to strength, having established itself as the premier trading entrepot of the Arabian Gulf and, in more recent...

The Israel Lobby and U.S. Foreign Policy.(Book review)
June 22, 2008... The Israel Lobby and U.S. Foreign Policy, by John L. Mearsheimer and Stephen M. Walt. Farrar, Straus and Giroux, 2007. 484 pages. $26.00, hardcover. The Israel Lobby and U.S. Foreign Policy is one of the most important books written during...

Bitter Friends, Bosom Enemies: Iran, the U.S., and the Twisted Path to Confrontation.(Book review)
June 22, 2008... Bitter Friends, Bosom Enemies: Iran, the U.S., and the Twisted Path to Confrontation, by Barbara Slavin. St. Martin's Press, 2007.258 pages. $24.95, hardcover. Barbara Slavin has written a thoughtful book based in large part on her...

Power and Succession in Arab Monarchies: A Reference Guide.(Book review)
June 22, 2008... Power and Succession in Arab Monarchies: A Reference Guide, by Joseph A. Kechichian. Lynn Reiner Publishers, 2008. 555 pages. $76.00, hardcover. It is difficult to tell how much of the misinformation published about government and politics...

Beyond the Facade: Political Reform in the Arab World.(Book review)
June 22, 2008... Beyond the Facade: Political Reform in the Arab World, edited by Marina Ottaway and Julia Choucair-Vizoso. Carnegie Endowment for International Peace, 2008. 295 pages. $22.95. Few topics engage academics, policy makers and development...

Democratization and Development: New Political Strategies for the Middle East.(Book review)
June 22, 2008... Democratization and Development: New Political Strategies for the Middle East, by Dietrich Jung, ed. Palgrave Macmillan, 2006. 208 pages, $69.55, hardcover. In the lively debate on democratization in the Arab Middle East, orientalists and...

Worlds at War: The 2,500-Year Struggle between East and West.(Book review)
June 22, 2008... Worlds at War: The 2,500-Year Struggle between East and West, by Anthony Pagden. Random House, 2008. 575 pages. $35.00, hardcover. Samuel Huntington's theory of a clash of civilizations pitting Islam against Christianity was much criticized...