ISRAEL AND THE PALESTINIAN AUTHORITY
November 20, 2008
"Iran, Israel, Syria and Hezbollah—Here Comes More Conflict"
Op-Ed, Ohio Jewish Chronicle
By Joshua Gleis, Former Associate, International Security Program, 2008-2009; Former Research Fellow, International Security Program, 2006-2008
"As Americans inch closer to a new administration, President-elect Obama and his staff will have more critical foreign policy decisions to make than any of his recent predecessors. Hezbollah is rearming at an ever-increasing rate. Iraq is backpedalling on its promises to allow US forces to remain in the country and fight Al Qaeda. Syria is talking peace with the west and Israel while continuing to support Hezbollah in Lebanon and Al Qaeda elements in Iraq. Afghanistan is barely holding on while the Taliban grows fiercer. The puppet master in all these cases is Iran, and there is no consensus on how to deal with it...."
AP Photo
November 17, 2008
"Real Conflicts and Imaginary Ideologies"
Op-Ed, Agence Global
By Rami Khouri, Senior Fellow, Middle East Initiative
"We must sort out the real causes of conflict from the manufactured stresses and imagined threats of the many ideological warriors on both sides who still plague and hamper us all."
AP Photo
November 11, 2008
"A Parting Word of Thanks"
Op-Ed, The Jerusalem Post
By Chuck Freilich, Senior Fellow, International Security Program
"Today we know that Saddam Hussein did not have WMD, but to those of us in the US and Israeli governments at the time, who were sincerely convinced that he retained a residual program, it was an analytical reality. We were very wrong, but we were not irresponsible, nor malevolent. Israel, in case you have forgotten, took the threat very seriously and distributed gas masks, deployed forces and asked the US for antimissile defenses."
AP Photo
November 6, 2008
"Syria Will Stick with Iran"
Op-Ed, PostGlobal, A Conversation on Global Issues with David Ignatius and Fareed Zakaria
By Kayhan Barzegar, Former Associate, Project on Managing the Atom/International Security Program, 2010–2011; Former Research Fellow, Project on Managing the Atom/international Security Program, 2007–2010
"A possible deal between Syria and Israel will neither change Iran's current posture in the region, nor lead Syria to put aside easily its alliance with Iran. Beyond tackling the U.S. and Israel military threat in this particular time of insecurity, especially in post-invasion Iraq, the Iran-Syria alliance in post-invasion Iraq is aimed at achieving a more strategic goal: making a new coalition of friendly states and political factions, a way out of the current political-security status-quo in the Persian Gulf and the Levant in which the two states can secure their national interests. As long as this need exists, the Iran-Syria alliance will continue...."
AP Photo
November 2008
"The United States, Israel, and Iran: Defusing an 'Existential' Threat"
Magazine or Newspaper Article, Arms Control Today
By Chuck Freilich, Senior Fellow, International Security Program
"Iran is an existential threat to Israel. This apocalyptic warning call has become a mantra continually repeated by virtually all Israeli leaders and defense officials and has been adopted by much of the U.S. national security establishment. President George W. Bush even warned that Iran’s declared intention of destroying Israel could lead to World War III.
There is no doubt that Iran poses a severe threat to Israel, not only in the nuclear field, but what kind of danger does its nuclear program constitute? Is Israel’s future in imminent danger if Iran goes nuclear? The answer is probably not. Although somewhat reassuring, this response is less than satisfying...."
AP
October 29, 2008
"Six for Six"
Op-Ed, Agence Global
By Rami Khouri, Senior Fellow, Middle East Initiative
"Somalia seems to offer more intriguing evidence about how governments often must come to terms with militias, insurgent forces and other such informal armed groups in countries around the Arab-Asian region -- and the roles these entities play where formal governments appears unable to deliver the basic requirements of statehood."
October 27, 2008
"Israeli Words or Actions?"
Op-Ed, Agence Global
By Rami Khouri, Senior Fellow, Middle East Initiative
"The Israeli expressions of interest in the Arab peace plan are hard to fathom in terms of their seriousness, motivation or intent."
October 20, 2008
"Waiting for the Election"
Op-Ed, Agence Global
By Rami Khouri, Senior Fellow, Middle East Initiative
Rami Khouri writes, "As this presidential election reconfirms, candidates stumble over each other in a frenzied dash to show how much they support and love Israel -- with barely a word about the rights of Palestinians or the relevance of international law or UN resolutions. "
AP Photo
October 15, 2008
"The Notable Leadership of Salam Fayyad"
Op-Ed, Agence Global
By Rami Khouri, Senior Fellow, Middle East Initiative
Palestinian Prime Minister Salam Fayyad is doing some remarkable things despite having one of the most difficult jobs in the world.
October 1, 2008
"The Strange Failures of 'The Global War on Terror'"
Op-Ed, Agence Global
By Rami Khouri, Senior Fellow, Middle East Initiative
"Something is very wrong if the United States and allies are spending hundreds of billions of dollars on a global war on terror, but the main terror group targeted continues to operate, spawns many imitators and allies, and in most parts of the world is seen either to be holding its own against the United States or maintaining considerable public support or sympathy."
