Current Analysis The Fake Moderation of America's Moderate Middle East Allies As the Mubarak regime turns to violence in a vain attempt to repress the peaceful protests that have swept Egypt’s streets for over ten days, the risks associated with current US strategy for Egypt and the wider region continue to grow. In its response to the events, the Obama administration has sub Aziz Rana, Aslı Bâli • 6 min read
Current Analysis The Push for Petro in the Twenty-First Century With another interminable presidential campaign approaching, Americans grit their teeth as the aspirants to the White House take turns deploring the country’s dependence on foreign (particularly “Middle Eastern”) oil. It is a theme as old as disco and the pet rock -- vapid and dull, yet forever capa Chris Toensing • 5 min read
Current Analysis Getting It Wrong in Guantánamo I was at Guantánamo Bay prison on Halloween. In a ghoulishly fitting coincidence, that was the same day a former child solider was convicted for war crimes for the first time since the end of World War II. Eight years and one day after Omar Khadr arrived at Guantánamo, his military commission case c Lisa Hajjar • 2 min read
Current Analysis Palestine at the UN: An Alternative Strategy As Israeli-Palestinian negotiations lurch from crisis to crisis, Palestinian Authority (PA) leaders have been suggesting they may go to the United Nations to seek resolutions confirming the illegality of Israel’s settlements in the Occupied Territories and recognizing a reality of Palestinian stateh Mouin Rabbani • 3 min read
Current Analysis Rebranding the Iraq War The war in Iraq is over. Or so the government and most media outlets will claim on September 1, by which time thousands of US troops will have departed the land of two rivers for other assignments. With this phase of the drawdown, says President Barack Obama, "America's combat mission will end." The Chris Toensing • 2 min read
Current Analysis Ethno-Sectarian Approach Likely to Have Lasting Consequences Which American has done the most harm to Iraq in the twenty-first century? The competition is stiff, with George W. Bush, Dick Cheney, Paul Wolfowitz and L. Paul Bremer, among others, to choose from. But, given his game efforts to grab the spotlight, it seems churlish not to state the case for Vice Chris Toensing • 3 min read
Current Analysis It's Time for Israel to Lift the Gaza Siege Why would the Israeli navy commandeer boats carrying collapsible wheelchairs and bags of cement to the Gaza Strip? Israel says that the aid convoys are trying to "break the blockade" of the densely populated Palestinian enclave. But why is there a blockade in the first place? Sen. Chuck Schumer, an Bayann Hamid • 3 min read
Current Analysis Sects and the City I had almost forgotten I’d sent in an application when the e-mail message appeared, like Mr. Big, out of nowhere. “Hi, Moustafa,” it began, as if we were old friends. “Thank you for e-mailing us regarding your interest in working on ‘Sex and the City 2.’ ” Moustafa Bayoumi • 3 min read
Current Analysis A Web Smaller Than a Divide At first glance, there’s a clear need for expanding the Web beyond the Latin alphabet, including in the Arabic-speaking world. According to the Madar Research Group, about 56 million Arabs, or 17 percent of the Arab world, use the Internet, and those numbers are expected to grow 50 percent over the Sinan Antoon • 2 min read
Current Analysis A New Conversation Peace Iyad Allawi, the not terribly popular interim premier of post-Saddam Iraq, is in a position to form a government again because he won over the Sunni Arabs residing north and west of Baghdad in the March 7 elections. The vote, while it did not “shove political sectarianism in Iraq toward the grave,” Chris Toensing • 3 min read
Current Analysis Washington Must Pressure Israel to Stop Illegal Settlements “Insulting” is how Secretary of State Hillary Clinton described Israel’s treatment of Vice President Joe Biden during his recent trip to Israel, to support peace negotiations between Israelis and Palestinians. It’s hard to dispute that assessment. After meeting with Israeli officials and declaring Bayann Hamid • 2 min read
Current Analysis Arming Yemen Against Al-Qaeda Americans got a crash course on Yemen for Christmas. That’s because we’ve wanted to know more about the little-known, dirt-poor country in southwestern Arabia where the “underwear bomber” who tried to blow up a plane -- bound for Detroit from Nigeria on Christmas Day -- says he was trained. Preside Sheila Carapico • 2 min read
