Current Analysis Hurting Peace, Not Hamas As President George W. Bush said in his second inaugural address, and as Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice said last summer at the American University in Cairo: “America will not impose our style of government on the unwilling. Our goal instead is to help others find their own voice, to attain the Michelle Woodward • 3 min read
Current Analysis Respect Democracy? Engage Hamas The Bush administration is caught in a trap of its own making. Having championed democratic elections in the Middle East, Washington now confronts a politically unpalatable outcome—a Palestinian Authority led by Hamas, the radical Islamic group. The choices for the US are stark, but clear. Presiden Richard Falk • 3 min read
Current Analysis Why Hamas Won and Why Negotiations Must Resume Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice has admitted that her staff was caught off guard by Hamas’ victory in the Jan. 25 Palestinian Legislative Council elections. “I’ve asked why nobody saw it coming,” she said. “It does say something about us not having a good enough pulse.” While the State Departme Joel Beinin • 3 min read
MER Article From the Editor (Winter 2005) Here we go again. A Baathist dictatorship is widely suspected and pointedly accused of an indefensible act. The United States, backed strongly by a European ally on the UN Security Council, is pressing the “international community” to penalize and isolate that regime until it makes “a strategic decision to fundamentally The Editors • 8 min read
Current Analysis West Bank Road vs. Peace Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice's brokering of an Israeli-Palestinian agreement on border crossings into the Gaza Strip is a good step for the economic development of Gaza and a positive sign of American engagement in the peace process. But the real test for the U.S. administration’s commitment Stephanie Koury • 3 min read
Current Analysis Forecasting Mass Destruction, from Gulf to Gulf While internally displaced Americans were piled into an unequipped New Orleans sports stadium, the question on everyone’s lips was: where were the Louisiana National Guard and its high-water trucks when Hurricane Katrina struck? One answer, obviously, was that at least a third of the Guard’s human a Sheila Carapico • 9 min read
MER Article Reading Culture, Identity and Space in US Foreign Policy Inundated by “theories” about the putative role of Islamic and Arab culture in shaping Middle East politics, one might ask: what role does American culture play in US foreign policy? In recent years, some of the most innovative contributions to the study of US relations with the Middle East have com Waleed Hazbun • 9 min read
MER Article From the Editors (Fall 2005) Mere months ago, devotees of President George W. Bush's Iraq adventure were positively giddy. Not only were they convinced that Iraq was on the fast track to peace, prosperity and perpetual friendliness with Washington, they believed that countries across the Greater Middle East were following close behind. Neo-conservative The Editors • 6 min read
MER Article Europe, the US and the Strategic Triangle Oil is by its very nature a finite commodity. The question has always been not whether it would run out, but when it would. The doomsday scenarios that some predict --mass blackouts and the imminent demise of suburbia -- may be far-fetched, but the era of “peak oil” is here. Saad Rahim • 13 min read
MER Article From the Editors (Summer 2005) There is one cliché about the killing field that is US-occupied Iraq that rings true. There is no “good option,” no magic wand that will make the violence bedeviling the country disappear. The question ought to be which of the bad options offers the best hope for achieving a sovereign Iraq with a mi The Editors • 3 min read
Current Analysis US Stays with Egyptian Dictator “America will stand with the allies of freedom to support democratic movements in the Middle East and beyond, with the ultimate goal of ending tyranny in our world.” With these soaring words in the 2005 State of the Union Address, President George W. Bush swore to overturn the long-standing US polic Chris Toensing • 3 min read
Current Analysis For Arab World Peace, More Voices Need Attention Pundits on the right have been quick to say the Bush administration deserves credit for sparking democratic rumblings across the Middle East. They note the popular protests against Syrian influence in Lebanon and Egyptian President Husni Mubarak ’s pledge to allow multiple candidates to run in the p Waleed Hazbun, Michelle Woodward • 2 min read
