Current Analysis Middle East Reform: Right Idea, Wrong Plan Democratic reforms in the Middle East and North Africa are both warranted and wanted—not only among the leaders who gathered earlier this month on Sea Island for the G8 Summit but also by the majority of the region’s citizens. While there is little agreement on what form change should take, the mos Maren Milligan, Jillian Schwedler • 3 min read
Current Analysis The Imperial Lament Niall Ferguson, Colossus: The Price of America’s Empire (New York: Penguin Press, 2004). There is something refreshing about British historian Niall Ferguson’s argument “not merely that the United States is an empire, but that it has always been an empire.” For a certain kind of American liberal, t Joel Beinin • 18 min read
Current Analysis Turkey's Tentative Opening to Kurdishness In December 2003, Osman Baydemir was finishing his first semester of English-language instruction in San Francisco when he received a phone call suggesting it might be an opportune time for him to return to Diyarbakir, the largest city in Turkey's mostly Kurdish southeastern region. Somewhat reluctant to abandon Nicole F. Watts • 7 min read
Current Analysis In Rafah, History Hangs Heavy in the Air Early in the morning on May 21, on a road into the neighborhood of Tal al-Sultan in the Gazan town of Rafah, 71 year-old Muhammad Salama swung his walking stick at a blade of grass. Some 100 yards ahead of him an Israeli army bulldozer rumbled along, apparently clearing the Omar Karmi • 9 min read
Current Analysis Torture and the Future There is a popular belief that Western history constitutes a progressive move from more to less torture. Iron maidens and racks are now museum exhibits, crucifixions are sectarian iconography and scientific experimentation on twins is History Channel infotainment. This narrative of progress deftly b Lisa Hajjar • 24 min read
Current Analysis An Ironic Result in Cyprus The April 24, 2004 referendum on a plan to reunite Cyprus marks a turning point in the island's history. While 65 percent of Turkish Cypriots voted in favor of the plan, Greek Cypriots rejected it by a resounding majority of 76 percent. European observers were shocked by the Rebecca Bryant • 14 min read
Current Analysis Kerry on Israel: Me Too In a May 3 address to the Anti-Defamation League's National Leadership Conference, presumptive Democratic presidential nominee John Kerry reiterated his steadfast support for Israel and assured attendees that, if elected, he would never force Israel to negotiate without a “credible partner.” Statem Catherine Cook • 4 min read
Current Analysis False Resolution Looms in EU-Israeli Settlement Trade Dispute George W. Bush's ever more one-sided interventions in the Israeli-Palestinian conflict, most recently his uncritical backing for Israeli Prime Minister Ariel Sharon's desired "disengagement" from the Gaza Strip, elicit thinly veiled declarations of dissent from the chanceries of the European Union. "No number Peter Lagerquist • 11 min read
Current Analysis Military Families Feel Betrayed by Administration For everyone except George W. Bush and his entourage, the recent siege of Falluja and the standoff with the militia of Shiite cleric Muqtada al-Sadr gave occasion to rethink the conventional wisdom about the US-led occupation of Iraq. Chris Toensing • 4 min read
Current Analysis Lost in Our Own Little World Two days after a lethal car bomb exploded outside the Mount Lebanon Hotel in downtown Baghdad last month, I sat down for tea with an Iraqi poet near the capital’s famous open-air book market. In between jokes delivered with a mock Egyptian accent, he laid out his theory of the hotel bombing: the US Chris Toensing • 4 min read
Current Analysis Mystery Surrounds Tashkent Explosions Four days of mysterious explosions in Uzbekistan, from March 28 to April 1, have once again belied the country's desired image as an island of stability among the post-Soviet republics of Central Asia. For some years, in fact, Uzbekistan has been one of the least stable and secure Alisher Ilkhamov • 11 min read
Current Analysis Sharon's Sights on Strategic Objective Many critics of Israeli Prime Minister Ariel Sharon depict him as an adroit tactician who has a ready answer for every immediate problem, but entirely lacks a long-term strategy. Ari Shavit, a columnist for the liberal Israeli daily Haaretz, recently characterized the present Sharon government as ha Peretz Kidron • 9 min read
