July 14, 2008
"Fourth Inning of the Iran-US Game"
Op-Ed, Agence Global
By Rami Khouri, Senior Fellow, Middle East Initiative
In the past four weeks I have been in Washington, I have heard people speak more of Iran than of the local Nationals baseball team, because the Nationals are not playing well and the Iranians are.
July 7, 2008
"Militance and Defiance in the Middle East"
Op-Ed, Agence Global
By Rami Khouri, Senior Fellow, Middle East Initiative
Large numbers of Arabs, Iranians and Turks -- hundreds of millions of people -- have shed their legacy of passive acquiescence in their own suffering, weakness, marginalization and victimization.
July 1, 2008
"The Winds of Diplomacy"
Op-Ed, Agence Global
By Rami Khouri, Senior Fellow, Middle East Initiative
For the United States or Israel to attack Iran now seems unlikely given the blossoming diplomacy with Israel on several fronts, and the likely downshift of the US occupation of Iraq. A cost-benefit analysis favors diplomacy.
June 30, 2008
"Pretzels and Policies with Mohammad Khatami"
Op-Ed, Agence Global
By Rami Khouri, Senior Fellow, Middle East Initiative
A conversation with former Iranian President Mohammad Khatami shows, perhaps, a popular sentiment among Iranians for peaceful dialogue -- coming to equitable terms with the West and with other Middle East nations.
June 24, 2008
"The US War of Ideas at Home"
Op-Ed, Agence Global
By Rami Khouri, Senior Fellow, Middle East Initiative
The American political process of self-criticism is one reason millions want to emigrate to the United States -- and why we have few reports of young men or entire families trying to sneak into, say, Egypt, Sudan, Syria, Tunisia, Iran or Algeria.
June 23, 2008
"Israel's New Diplomacy Needs Palestinians' New Unity"
Op-Ed, Agence Global
By Rami Khouri, Senior Fellow, Middle East Initiative
There is good news in the simultaneous Israeli negotiations with Syria, Hamas, Hizbullah, and with the Palestinian Authority - not to mention Israel's offer to negotiate directly with Lebanon. But beware simplistic or extreme interpretations.
Department of Defense
June 18, 2008
"Washington's Grim Performance in the Middle East"
Op-Ed, Agence Global
By Rami Khouri, Senior Fellow, Middle East Initiative
In virtually every area (except two and half) Washington's Mideast policies have failed to achieve their goals, or have backfired and made things worse for US interests and allies -- and the failures are rather spectacular.
June 16, 2008
"How To Fight Terrorists"
Op-Ed, Agence Global
By Rami Khouri, Senior Fellow, Middle East Initiative
Unless Western leaders enhance their understanding, change their tactics, and address the reasons individuals in the Arab world and Asia lose themselves to despair and terror, the latter will continue to be a global growth industry.
June 10, 2008
"A Neocon Curtain Call"
Op-Ed, Agence Global
By Rami Khouri, Senior Fellow, Middle East Initiative
The AIPAC speech of Elizabeth Cheney last week was an out-of-power reprise of the neocon philosophy that has these past years damaged the Middle East and devastated the status and honor of the United States in the eyes of the world.
AP Photo
June 9, 2008
"A View From the Arab World"
Op-Ed, Agence Global
By Rami Khouri, Senior Fellow, Middle East Initiative
The United States is not a foreign actor in the Middle East, but a leading local player. It has toppled two regimes along with their entire political orders and state structures in Afghanistan and Iraq. It has sanctioned several others in Iran, Syria, Sudan, and the Hamas-led part of Palestine. And it has made clear that it plans to stay, and throw its weight around, for many years. Its strategic aims go well beyond the traditional ones of protecting Arab allies, preserving Israel's dominance over everyone else in the region, and ensuring the free flow of oil.
