In 2009, Benyamin Netanyahu regained the Israeli Prime Ministry, a position he had held previously from 1996–99. His party, Likud, took 27 seats out of the Knesset’s 120. Kadima, a centrist party started by Ariel Sharon, had won 28 seats, but Israeli President Shimon Peres determined that Likud stood the greatest chance to form a […]
Freedom House has recently noted that the Turkish press has entered into the not free category and that there has been a gradual decline in freedom of the press within the Turkish republic. Erdogan and his government are outraged, yet offer no counter proof. Hurriyet Daily News reported this week that Turkish Prime Minister Recep […]
The [Persian] Gulf Cooperation Council (GCC) is comprised of the United Arab Emirates (UAE), the Kingdom of Bahrain, the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia, the Sultanate of Oman, Qatar and Kuwait. According to the GCC’s Charter, what unites these countries are their “special relations, common characteristics and similar systems founded on the creed of Islam.” “Their […]
At a Washington Institute for Near East Policy conference on Thursday, May 8, U.S. Special Envoy to the Middle East Martin Indyk delivered his most recent account of what derailed the Israeli-Palestinian peace talks. “One problem that revealed itself in these past nine months is that the parties, although showing some flexibility in the negotiations, […]
While the world focuses on the calls for partition by pro-Russian citizens in the south and east of Ukraine, similar calls from a small African nation are drawing less attention — despite horrific human rights abuses occurring on its territory. In what the U.N. human rights body and Amnesty International have called “ethnic-religious cleansing” between the […]
As Israelis celebrate sixty-six years of independence, they recall that they still have not managed to make peace with the Muslim world. However, despite the difficult situation, they continue to seek peace with their Muslim neighbors. Israelis are celebrating sixty-six years of being an independent country. As a state, they have thrived economically, scientifically, educationally, […]
Developments in the Palestinian-Israeli arena over the past few weeks have moved dazzlingly fast. Almost every 24 hour period saw a different story in the headlines: Kerry’s apartheid (the “A-word”) comments, the Fatah-Hamas unity deal, Abbas’s public condemnation of the Holocaust, ‘price tag’ attacks against Israeli-Arabs inside Israel, and of course the breakdown of negotiations. […]
I was recently reading on the history of the Persian Empire and was drawn to the history before Alexander the Great, where the Persian Empire conquered ancient Babylon. The Persian Empire was likely the first multicultural empire that allowed different groups to preserve many of the cultures within its dominion. Part of the history discussed […]
Algeria just re-elected its longest-serving president for a fourth term, in what many describe as a fraught campaign punctuated by violence and citizen apathy. While the April 17 vote yielded no surprise, it unleashed a pertinent debate about the future of Algeria’s seemingly impermeable regime. In an awkwardly short ceremony, Abdelaziz Bouteflika was sworn in on […]
Holocaust denial and even the praise of the slaughter of six million Jews during WWII are widespread within Palestinian society. However, there are indications that this phenomenon is beginning to change, although some critics remain skeptical. Holocaust denial and even the praise of the slaughter of six million Jews during World War II are widespread […]
The end of April marked the passing of United States Secretary of State John Kerry’s set deadline for negotiating an extension of peace talks between Israelis and Palestinians. Kerry told reporters during a press conference in Addis Ababa that for now the peace process is on pause and he hopes both sides will come back […]
Kenneth Pollack is a former CIA intelligence analyst and currently a senior fellow in the Saban Center for Middle East Policy at the Brookings Institution. Dr. Pollack’s expertise is on Middle East politics and military affairs with particular emphasis on Iran, Iraq, Saudi Arabia and Gulf States of the Persian Gulf region. He previously served […]
Western claims that Abu Mazen was a peace partner for Israel have turned out to be a delusion, in the wake of the recent Fatah-Hamas reconciliation agreement. When it comes to Israel, Fatah and Hamas see eye-to-eye. Israel presently has no peace partner. The official peace negotiations between Israelis and Palestinians have officially collapsed, as […]
“What we have done for ourselves alone dies with us; what we have done for others and the world remains and is immortal.” ― Albert Pike A few years ago, while wearing a different hat, I was invited to speak at an event hosted by U.N. Millennium Development Goals guru Jeffrey Sachs and Columbia […]
On Wednesday, April 23, the Palestinians announced that rival political factions Hamas and the Palestinian Liberation Organization reached a reconciliation deal and are discussing plans for a unified government. The proposed deal would unite Hamas, the Gaza-based radical political group that both the United States and Israel call a terrorist organization, with the moderate leaning […]