Current Analysis Khatami and His "Reformist" Economic (Non-)Agenda Mohammad Khatami is widely expected to be the winner in Iran's June 8 presidential election. He will, most probably, serve a second term, despite his own reluctance to enter the race, and the disappointment of those who gave him his surprise landslide victory in the tight contest of Sohrab Behdad • 7 min read
Current Analysis The Kabyle Riots Ten days of rioting, beginning in late April, in the Algerian Berber-speaking region of Kabylia have led to the death of scores of demonstrators—all killed by the security forces' gunfire. As ever in Algeria, there are no definitive figures. The military-backed authorities put the death toll at 42, Heba Saleh • 7 min read
Current Analysis Walking into Israel's Trap? The most recent Hizballah cross-border attack in the Shebaa Farms area on April 14, and the subsequent Israeli air raid against a Syrian radar station on the Dahr al-Baidar ridge, have heightened fears of a regional conflict between Syria and Israel. These fears are probably unfounded, given the reluctance of Michael Young • 6 min read
Current Analysis Palestinians Prepare for the Worst Speaking on April 1, Palestinian Authority (PA) Minister of Information and Culture Yasser Abed Rabbo described the current Israeli-Palestinian relationship as "open warfare." While his characterization may have been premature, it was anything but an April fool's joke. During Ehud Barak's short and chaotic Mouin Rabbani • 6 min read
Current Analysis Frosty Reception for US Religious Freedom Commission in Egypt What if you had a party and no one came? On March 22, members of the United States Commission on International Religious Freedom (USCIRF)—visiting Cairo on a fact-finding tour—waited in vain for members of Egyptian political parties and civil society groups to arrive at the commission's Vickie Langohr • 7 min read
Current Analysis Violence and its Rhetoric One week after Prime Minister Ariel Sharon's warm welcome to Washington, there can be little doubt of US support for continuing Israeli aggression in the Palestinian territories. On March 28, in response to a suicide attack just inside the Israeli border, Israeli helicopter gunships bombed the Palestinian Authority Rebecca L. Stein • 6 min read
Current Analysis Assessing the Iraqi Opposition The once moribund Iraqi National Congress (INC) has apparently gained a new lease on life. After weeks of intensive talks in Washington, Ahmad Chalabi—leader of the self-appointed Iraqi opposition in exile—visited Iran to establish a base for sending roughly 100 INC operatives into northern Iraq to gather intelligence Faleh A. Jabar • 7 min read
Current Analysis Sharon's National Unity Government Ariel Sharon's governing coalition, embracing both Shimon Peres and hardline rejectionists, exposes the contradictions in the conventional left-right distinctions in Israeli politics. Over seven years after the Oslo accords, it is clear that Israeli leaders never envisioned a truly viable and sovereign Palestinian state, only a "peace& Jeff Halper • 6 min read
Current Analysis No-Fly Zones In the long years of confrontation between the US and Iraq, an almost symbiotic relationship has developed between US and Iraqi efforts to raise the political and military stakes. The latest clashes in the no-fly zones, culminating in the February 16 US-UK attack on Iraqi command and control sites north Sarah J Graham-Brown • 7 min read
Current Analysis Caught in the Middle Women will be a key constituency in Iran's upcoming May presidential election, which is widely regarded as a referendum on the "reform" movement symbolized by President Mohammad Khatami. Though women voters can be found across the Iranian political spectrum, one group—women journalists—will continue to Persheng Vaziri • 5 min read
Current Analysis Ethiopia-Eritrea Peace Process Creeps Forward Two months after Eritrea and Ethiopia signed a pact to end their two-year border war, an agreement to move ahead with its implementation has finally been ironed out. The 4,000 UN troops brought here to monitor the truce are preparing for deployment to the contested frontier. Meanwhile, hundreds of t Dan Connell • 4 min read
Current Analysis Israel Elects Sharon On February 6, Israel elected its first settler prime minister. Premier-elect Ariel Sharon, who has given his negotiators ten days to forge a "national unity" government with Labor, maintains an official residence in Old Jerusalem's Muslim Quarter. In a landslide victory, Sharon received 62.5 percent Oren Yiftachel • 6 min read
