MER Article Controllable Democracy in Uzbekistan Few doubt that the prolongation of the presidential term in Uzbekistan’s January referendum paves the way for presidency for life for Islam Karimov. The Uzbek regime is building a controllable democracy, combining the expansion of democratic-looking institutions with restricted civil liberties and h Alisher Ilkhamov • 6 min read
MER Article From the Editors (Spring 2002) Outside the Pentagon, the smoking rubble left when one wing of the Defense Department wasdestroyed by a hijacked airliner last September 11 is long since cleared. A scoreboard-sized digital clock counts down the days and hours until this coming September 11, when the Pentagon expects to have fully repaired the The Editors • 6 min read
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
MER Article From the Editors (Winter 2001) The hijackings and mass murders of September 11 were horrible and momentous, but the world did not suddenly change on that crystal-clear morning. Existing cracks in the US-led world order widened and deepened, and lurking insecurities strode forth from the shadows. Chris Toensing, Elliott Colla • 9 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
MER Article The Decline (But Not Fall) of US Hegemony in the Middle East Americans who voted for “compassionate conservatism” in the November 2000 presidential election have been disappointed. George W. Bush has proven to be much more radical than his moderate campaign rhetoric implied. In the area of environmental policy, Bush’s moves to lift regulations on pollutants, promote the use of nuclear Fareed Mohamedi, Yahya Sadowski • 32 min read
MER Article From the Editor (Fall 2001) Upon its installment in the White House, the second Bush administration was universally expected to be the loyal handmaiden of Big Oil. The US oil and gas industry lavished $1,387,975 upon the hastily assembled committee which planned the inaugural festivities for George W. Bush and Dick Cheney. BP- The Editors • 3 min read
Current Analysis Smart Sanctions Heated debate in the UN Security Council on June 26 previewed the coming showdown over the US-British "smart sanctions" initiative, designed to "re-energize" the international consensus on sanctions against Iraq. Faced with declining international support for and compliance with the current sanctions, the United States and Marc Lynch • 6 min read
MER Article The Joint Strike Fighter in the Middle East The Middle East dominates the world arms buying market, spending $82.5 billion on weapons from 1992-1999, virtually half the value of weapons bought worldwide during that period. [1] The United States, the region's largest arms supplier for decades, supplied 51 percent of that total, or $41 billion. Erik Floden, Luke Warren • 7 min read
Current Analysis Sudan's Opposition and the US Secretary of State Colin Powell's recent four-nation trip to Africa produced a flurry of press coverage on renewed US interest in ending the 18-year Sudanese civil war. Despite Bush's nomination of a special envoy to spearhead a new peace initiative, the Bush administration's policy Dan Connell • 7 min read
Current Analysis The Mitchell Report On May 29, Israeli and Palestinian security officials held their first publicly acknowledged meeting since April. The encounter, conducted under CIA supervision, was arranged by William Burns, recently appointed US Assistant Secretary of State for Near Eastern Affairs, after a series of discussions with Palestinian leader Yasser Arafat and Israeli Mouin Rabbani • 7 min read
