Middle East Quarterly articles from June 2005

Middle East Quarterly archives from June 2005

Defeat of terror, not roadmap diplomacy, will bring peace.(political conditions, Israeli-Palestinian relations)
June 22, 2005... Many observers hold that the death of former Palestinian leader Yasir Arafat and the subsequent election of Mahmoud Abbas to lead the Palestinian Authority have created a window of opportunity for the U.S. government to set a course for a...

Arab Bank funds terror.(financing for Hamas, Al-Qaida)(Brief Article)
June 22, 2005... The New York branch of the Arab Bank was instrumental in financing Hamas, Al-Qaida, and dozens of other terrorist groups... Arab Bank funneled more than $20 million to and from terrorist groups and charities affiliated with terrorist...

Egyptian singer cries for Hariri, clears Syria.(Shaaban Abdul Rehim's song on Rafik Hariri's assassination)
June 22, 2005... CAIRO--Famed Egyptian singer Shaaban Abdul Rehim has hit the charts with a new song where he laments the assassination of former Lebanese premier Rafik Hariri while exonerating Syria of all responsibility for his death. "I hate terrorism...

Winning the propaganda war in Iraq.(Reconstructing Iraq)
June 22, 2005... The coalition's campaign in Iraq has become as much a psychological as a military war. Psychological warfare applies a series of messages and actions to persuade an audience to adopt particular policies. Not only formal allies, but also...

Bringing Iraq's economy back online.(Reconstructing Iraq)
June 22, 2005... Before the war in Iraq began, many policymakers and oil industry experts believed that Iraq's oil industry, with the second-largest proven reserves of light crude in the world, would recover and provide most of the funds needed for Iraq's...

Bashar al-Assad's Lebanon gamble.(Syrian involvement in Lebanon)
June 22, 2005... After almost three decades of occupation, Syrian troops exited Lebanon in April 2005. International pressure for Syrian withdrawal resulted from a cascading series of Syrian miscalculations. Syrian president Bashar al-Assad's August 2004...

Palestinians won't leave Lebanon.(foreign relations)(Brief Article)
June 22, 2005... On a lonely wind-swept plateau high above Lebanon's eastern Bekaa Valley, a commander in a militant Palestinian faction defiantly rejects disarming his men and dismantling the outposts scattered along the remote mountainous border with...

Washington and Cairo--near the breaking point?(United States and Egypt foreign relations)
June 22, 2005... Where goes the U.S.-Egyptian alliance? Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice's decision to bypass Cairo in her recent travels to Europe and the Middle East has highlighted official Washington's annoyance with Egyptian president Hosni Mubarak's...

How Chechnya became a breeding ground for terror.(political aspects)
June 22, 2005... On September 1, 2004, a group of Chechen terrorists took hostage and two days later murdered at least 335 schoolchildren and parents in Beslan, a town in the Russian republic of North Ossetia. The atrocity focused world attention on Chechnya....

Fundraising for Jihad.(Babar Ahmed's case of extradition)(Brief Article)
June 22, 2005... LONDON--A London judge ruled today that a British computer programmer could be extradited to face trial in the United States where he is accused of using websites to raise funds for the Taliban and other terrorists. The British man, Babar...

Muslims, democracy, and the American experience.(religious reform)
June 22, 2005... The subject of Islamic reform is old, even as it has emerged in recent years as one of urgency. Since 9-11, the subject has become even more pressing. It would be more proper, however, to speak about the reform of Muslims. For whatever is Islam...

Saudi religious scholars condemn Arab pop idol.(Hisham Abdulrahman)(Brief Article)
June 22, 2005... RIYADH--Saudi religious scholars have condemned an Arab television "Star Academy" competition as a crime against Islam and urged the Saudi Arabian pop singer who triumphed last month to repent. More than 60 sheikhs rounded on the...

Neila Charchour Hachicha: "Tunisia's Election was undemocratic at all levels.".(Tunisia's Parti Liberal Mediterraneen's founder)(Interview)
June 22, 2005... Neila Charchour Hachicha is the founder of Tunisia's Parti Liberal Mediterraneen. (1) Born in Tunis in 1955 and trained as an architect, Hachicha is the daughter of the late Mahmoud Charchour, a prominent Tunisian diplomat and key figure in the...

Lost in translation.(Federal Bureau of Investigation's Foreign Language Program )
June 22, 2005... In July 2000, the National Commission on Terrorism (the "Bremer commission") recognized that a shortage of trained linguists undercut U.S. security. In its final report, the commission stated, "All U.S. government agencies face a drastic...

FBI: Jews need not apply for Arabic linguist jobs.(Federal Bureau of Investigation )
June 22, 2005... Despite shortage, loyalty issues, bureau snubbed 90 N.Y. applicants Despite a shortage of Arabic translators, the FBI turned down applications for linguist jobs from nearly 100 Arabic-speaking Jews in New York following the World Trade...

Among the "Others": Encounters with the Forgotten Turkmen of Iraq.(Book Review)
June 22, 2005... Among the "Others": Encounters with the Forgotten Turkmen of Iraq. By Scott Taylor. Ottawa: Esprit de Corps, 2004. 208 pp. $21.99 (Cdn). The Turkmen are Iraq's third-largest ethnic group, following on the Arabs and Kurds. Canadian...

The Case for Democracy: The Power of Freedom to Overcome Tyranny and Terror.(Book Review)
June 22, 2005... The Case for Democracy. The Power of Freedom to Overcome Tyranny and Terror. By Natan Sharansky, with Ron Dermer. New York: Public Affairs, 2004. 303 pp. $26.95. "Sharansky's book confirmed... what I believe," President George W. Bush...

Civil Democratic Islam: Partners, Resources, and Strategies.(Book Review)
June 22, 2005... Civil Democratic Islam: Partners, Resources, and Strategies. By Cheryl Benard. Santa Monica, Arlington, Pittsburgh: RAND Corporation, 2003. 72 pp. $20, paper. In this extremely short work, Benard seeks to structure a design that will allow...

Cradle of Islam: The Hijaz and the Quest for an Arabian Identity.(Book Review)
June 22, 2005... Cradle of Islam. The Hijaz and the Quest for an Arabian Identity. By Mai Yamani. London: I.B. Tauris, 2004. 226 pp. 29.50 [pounds sterling]. The Saudi challenge remains one of Washington's greatest. While nominally a U.S. ally, Saudi...

The Crisis: The President, the Prophet, and the Shah--1979 and the Coming of Militant Islam.(Book Review)
June 22, 2005... The Crisis: The President, the Prophet, and the Shah--1979 and the Coming of Militant Islam. By David Harris. New York: Little, Brown, and Company, 2004. 470 pp. $26.95. There is a natural fascination with what may be happening behind the...

Hell is Over: Voices of the Kurds after Saddam.(Book Review)
June 22, 2005... Hell Is Over. Voices of the Kurds after Saddam. By Mike Tucker. Guilford, Ct.: The Lyons Press, 2004. 181 pp. $22.95. Since the end of the United States-led war to liberate Iraq, journalists and authors have descended into Iraqi Kurdistan...

In the Red Zone: A Journey into the Soul of Iraq.(Book Review)
June 22, 2005... In the Red Zone: A Journey into the Soul of Iraq. By Steven Vincent. Dallas: Spence Publishing Company, 2004. 247 pp. $27.95. Freelance journalist Vincent first visited Iraq in September 2003. While other reporters sheltered in insulated...

Mullahs, Merchants, and Militants: The Economic Collapse of the Arab World.(Book Review)
June 22, 2005... Mullahs, Merchants, and Militants: The Economic Collapse of the Arab World. By Stephen Glain. New York: St. Martin's Press, 2004. 350 pp. $25.95. The poor performance of Arab economies has been well documented, including in the much-cited...

Tariq Ramadan devoile.(Book Review)
June 22, 2005... Tariq Ramadan devoile. By Lionel Favrot. Lyon, France: Lyon Mag' Hors Serie, 2004. 297 pp. 10 [euro]. Tariq Ramadan, a prominent Swiss Islamist and grandson of the founder of the Muslim Brotherhood, has developed a strategy for spreading...

Iranian president denies handshake with Israeli.(Mohammad Khatamin, Moshe Katsav )(Brief Article)
June 22, 2005... TEHRAN, Iran--Iranian president Mohammad Khatami strongly denied shaking hands and chatting with Israeli president Moshe Katsav at Pope John Paul II's funeral, state-run media reported Saturday. Following the pope's funeral on Friday,...

Dissident watch: Ayman Nour.(political activity and political reform)
June 22, 2005... On January 29, 2005, just a day before Iraq's first free elections in a half-century, the Egyptian government moved to shut down its own fledgling opposition, arresting 40-year-old Ayman Nour, chairman of the upstart Ghad (Tomorrow) party. ...