Current Analysis Peace in Sudan Doubtful With negotiations between the government of Sudan and the rebel Sudan People's Liberation Movement (SPLM) about to break off as both parties consult with their leaderships, UN and US officials express unguarded optimism that a deal can be hammered out to end the longest-running and one of Dan Connell • 8 min read
Current Analysis Don't Blink On June 26, Jordan's King Abdallah II issued a royal decree pardoning former parliamentarian Toujan Faisal, who had been sentenced on May 16 to 18 months in jail for "seditious libel" and "spreading information deemed harmful to the reputation of the state." Faisal's release "on humanitarian grounds Jillian Schwedler • 8 min read
Current Analysis Musical Chairs in Algeria At first glance, Algeria's national assembly elections might seem to have been a fiasco. Held against a backdrop of continuing violence, with both the notorious Armed Islamic Group and the Salafi Group for Preaching and Combat still pursuing their guerrilla campaigns, popular exasperation at local misgovernment repeatedly erupting Hugh Roberts • 8 min read
Current Analysis Sanctions Renewed on Iraq Concluding almost a year of diplomatic wrangling, the UN Security Council has agreed to revise UN sanctions on Iraq when the eleventh phase of the oil for food program ends on May 29. Under the oil for food program, Iraq is allowed to sell its oil on the world market Sarah J Graham-Brown • 8 min read
Current Analysis The Band Played On On May 8, a bomb blast rocked central Karachi, killing at least 14 people, including a number of French nationals. This suicide bombing comes on the heels of the brutal murder of Daniel Pearl, the Wall Street Journal reporter, allegedly by Islamist extremist groups who had recently fallen out of the Kamran Asdar Ali • 8 min read
Current Analysis Jordan's King Abdallah in Washington King Abdallah of Jordan came to his May 8 White House meeting with George W. Bush painfully aware of the pressures and contradictions threatening his regime's delicate position. After gambling more heavily than any other Arab state on peace with Israel and the liberalization of the Middle East, Marc Lynch • 7 min read
Current Analysis Bleak Horizons After Operation Defensive Wall On April 28, both Israeli Prime Minister Ariel Sharon and Palestinian leader Yasser Arafat accepted an American proposal whereby US and British security personnel will be dispatched to Jericho to supervise the imprisonment of six Palestinians besieged with Arafat in what remains of the Ramallah governorate. Barring last-minute surprises, Mouin Rabbani • 9 min read
Current Analysis Fears of a Second Front On March 30, Hizballah attacked several Israeli army outposts in the Shebaa Farms, a disputed strip of mountainous territory running along Lebanon's southeast border with the Golan Heights, in the first such attack since mid-January. Sayyid Hasan Nasrallah, Hizballah's secretary-general, reportedly authorized preparations for Nicholas Blanford • 10 min read
Current Analysis The "Do More" Chorus in Washington Secretary of State Colin Powell arrived in Israel April 11 calling on Prime Minister Ariel Sharon to immediately withdraw Israeli troops from the West Bank. As of April 15, Sharon remains defiant, insisting that his troops must stay until full victory has been achieved. In Washington, Press Secretar Charles D. Smith • 11 min read
Current Analysis Sparks of Activist Spirit in Egypt For a few days in October 2000, near the beginning of the second Palestinian intifada, it looked as though Egypt's student movement had finally found its voice again after years of quiescence. Students at Cairo University and other schools demonstrated daily and even clashed with security forces dur Paul Schemm • 7 min read
Current Analysis Eritrea-Ethiopia Verdict Due This Week The Eritrea-Ethiopia Boundary Commission set up a year and a half ago to adjudicate a border dispute that left tens of thousands dead and the entire region on edge will issue its verdict on April 13. Both countries have pledged to abide by the outcome. Dan Connell • 5 min read
Current Analysis In Ramallah, Grueling Reoccupation Grinds On He was the tallest of the Palestinian policemen. Thin, his olive drab uniform ballooning over his boots, he swayed momentarily as a helmeted Israeli soldier stood behind him and tucked the muzzle of a gun into the Palestinian's right armpit, keeping his finger on the trigger. Only then did the line Charmaine Seitz • 6 min read
