Current Analysis Toward Submission or War in Palestine? For the last few days one topic has dominated conversation in the West Bank town of Ramallah: will tonight be the night? A general consensus holds that it is only a matter of time before Israeli tanks and troops take over the city completely, imposing a curfew that confines residents to their homes, Adam Hanieh • 7 min read
Current Analysis Turkey's Ecevit When Turkish Prime Minister Bulent Ecevit arrives in Washington, DC this week to meet with President George W. Bush he will come bearing a symbolic gift: a replica of a 16th century Koran, beautifully embroidered and written with real gold lettering. The original of this Koran comes from the Topkapi Ertugrul Kurkcu • 7 min read
Current Analysis Algeria: Flooding and Muddied State-Society Relations On November 10, 2001, heavy rains flooded many parts of Algeria, causing hundreds of deaths and damaging thousands of houses and businesses, mostly in the neighborhoods of Bab el-Oued, Frais Vallon and Beaux Fraisier in western Algiers, capital of the country. The torrential downpour, which ironically followed a national prayer Azzedine Layachi • 6 min read
Current Analysis Solutions Not Imminent for Afghan Displaced and Refugees The collapse of the Taliban in northern and western Afghanistan in November was good news for aid workers seeking to get food and other necessities to war- and drought-affected Afghans. Expectations of greater security, of an end to US bombing in many areas and the opening of new supply routes from Hiram Ruiz • 6 min read
Current Analysis Iraq: Rolling Over Sanctions, Raising the Stakes Late in the evening of November 27, the US and Russia appear to have reached an agreement to once again roll over existing sanctions on Iraq for six months, by which time Secretary of State Colin Powell hopes the two powers will have agreed on a version of his proposed "smart sanctions." The Decembe Sarah J Graham-Brown • 7 min read
Current Analysis Pakistan, "Pro-Taliban Elements" and Sectarian Strife In Western media coverage of Pakistan, political Islam and its jihadi offshoots—the "pro-Taliban elements" who pop up in reporting—have become regrettably synonymous with Islam and Pakistani Muslims in general. Pakistani Islamists, like their compatriots elsewhere, do advocate for an Islamic state, and jihadi groups in Pakistan Yunas Samad • 7 min read
Current Analysis Desperately but Deliberately, Turkey Joins Bush's War On November 1 the Turkish government, relying on an October 10 parliamentary decision "to deploy troops in other countries and host foreign troops in Turkey," lent a flesh and bone dimension to its rhetorical support for the US-led war in Afghanistan. Ankara's decision to send " Ertugrul Kurkcu • 6 min read
Current Analysis Intifada in the Aftermath By now, accepted wisdom says that an unexpected outcome of the September 11 attacks in the US may well be the Palestinian Authority's salvation from extinction at the hands of Ariel Sharon. But the more optimistic scenario, that the sudden reordering of US strategic priorities in the region Rema Hammami • 9 min read
Current Analysis Understanding Political Dissent in Saudi Arabia The weeks following September 11 brought to the surface the tense undercurrents in the relationship between the United States and Saudi Arabia. In the aftermath of the horrific attacks in New York and Washington, word spread that many of the hijackers were from the Asir, the mountainous southwest province of Gwenn Okruhlik • 8 min read
Current Analysis Trying to Try Sharon The concept of universal jurisdiction in international law is undergoing a historic test in Belgium. On November 28, a Belgian court will decide whether Israeli Prime Minister Ariel Sharon can be tried for his alleged role in the slaughter by Lebanese militiamen of untold numbers of Palestinian and Lebanese civilians Linda A. Malone • 7 min read
Current Analysis Aid Drops in Afghanistan In the wake of the military offensive against Afghanistan that began October 7, the United States is settling in for what appears to be a long-term campaign. As the Bush administration selects its next military targets, some five million people inside Afghanistan who depend on international food aid for survival Jeff Drumtra, Margaret Emery, Hiram Ruiz • 6 min read
Current Analysis Afghanistan's Refugee Crisis Over the last two weeks, an estimated 15,000 Afghan refugees have fled to Pakistan, and hundreds of thousands more are reportedly on the move within Afghanistan. This latest flight of Afghans from their homes deepens a humanitarian crisis that has troubled the region for more than 20 years. Already, Margaret Emery, Hiram Ruiz • 7 min read
