Hardliners, whether Israeli or Palestinian, do not desire a settlement to the Israeli-Palestinian conflict that ends in a negotiated peace, but an all-or-nothing end that justifies their ideological certainties.
The Arab Spring requires a consistent approach to the shared clarion call of freedom throughout the Middle East and North Africa.
The Middle East faces a moment of truth as country after country rises up against its authoritarian leaders. No government is secure against the people-powered protest movements sweeping the region. These dramatic events will likely be the greatest U.S. foreign policy challenge over the next decade. The regional security framework — with new roles for Egypt, Saudi Arabia, Turkey, Iran, Syria, Israel, and the likely Palestinian state (or states) — is evolving, and Washington must reexamine how it defends its regional interests in a new way.
Obama cannot continue publicly regretting the consequences to Palestinians of occupation while passing the ammunition to Israel.
Young Mauritanian girls married off to wealthy Saudis are used briefly as sex slaves and then discarded.
Although President Barack Obama’s May 19 address on U.S. Middle East policy had a number of positive elements, overall it was a major disappointment. His speech served as yet another reminder that his administration’s approach to the region differs in several important ways from that of his immediate predecessor, but he failed to consistently assert principled U.S. support for human rights, democracy, or international law.
As with Iraq beating the drums of war on Iran only requires alleging imminent acquisition of WMD.
The problem of nuclear weapons in the Middle East extends beyond just Israel and Iran. Turkey, Saudi Arabia, Egypt, Syria, the United Arab Emirates, and perhaps other countries in the region could go nuclear as well. A Weapons of Mass Destruction-Free Zone, which appears unrealistic given Israel’s refusal to even officially acknowledge its nuclear arsenal and the U.S. support for this stance, would be much better than an unfettered nuclear arms race in the region.
Are we being dragged into a war whose means violate the Geneva Conventions and whose end violates the UN resolution that protects civilians?
Pakistan seems oblivious to the threat that expanding its nuclear-weapons program poses.