Middle East Policy

USIP Briefing: A Critical Triangle: Iraq, Iran and the United States September 2005 A weak, transitional government and continuing insurgency have left Iraq vulnerable to sectarian tensions and external influence. This has led to a closer relationship between Iraq and Iran, posing new challenges to U.S. relations with both countries. To examine these emerging dynamics, the U.S. Institute of Peace convened a meeting of the Iraq Working Group and Muslim World Initiative on September 14, 2005 to discuss, "A Critical Triangle: Iran, Iraq and the United States." Moderated by Daniel Serwer, Vice President and Director of Peace and Stability Operations at the Institute, the panel included Daniel Brumberg, Special Advisor to the Institute of Peace's Muslim World Initiative; Geoffrey Kemp, Director of Regional Strategic Programs at the Nixon Center; Kenneth Pollack, Director of Research at the Saban Center for Middle East Policy and Senior Fellow at the Brooking Institution; and B

USIP Briefing: The Iraqi Constitution Progress, But Problems Ahead The U.S. Institute of Peace September 2005 While the proposed Iraqi constitution presented to the Transitional National Assembly on August 28, and slightly revised since, represents a marked achievement, pitfalls lie ahead. With an insurgency still raging in the Sunni-majority parts of Iraq as well as in Baghdad, Iraq experts spoke at an August 23 U.S. Institute of Peace meeting on Iraq's constitutional process. Speakers included Rend Rahim Francke, executive director of The Iraq Foundation; Neil Kritz, director of the Rule of Law program at the Institute of Peace; Jonathan Morrow, program officer in the Rule of Law Program at the Institute of Peace (participating by telephone from Baghdad); and Paul Williams, professor at American University. Daniel Serwer, vice president for Peace and Stability Operations at the Institute of Peace, moderated the discussion. Sunni Reject a Shia/Kurdish Pact The draft constitution i

Article: Strategy, Strategy Everywhere… …but not a drop of memory. By Victor Davis Hanson The National Review Online September 23, 2005 In widespread public exasperation, everyone now has the answer for Iraq, but also a strange amnesia about why we are doing what we are doing. Trisection The trisectionists are again making their case. They urge the creation of three separate de facto countries — Kurdish, Shiite, and Sunni. The apparently logical and appealing argument is that a friendly Kurdistan and more or less neutral Shiite south could better protect themselves from an angry anti-American, pro-terrorist Sunni Triangle. We could back one, come to terms with a second, and consider the third an overt enemy along the lines of a Syria. But the existing problem in the Middle East stems from too much sectarian tribalism, not an excess of nationhood. How critical Iraqi resources would be split up, or how the peace would be kept by simply repackaging the problem, is never explained. Would B

U.S. Policy on Sudan Outlined for Lawmakers Deputy secretary of state testifies before Senate committee September 28 U.S. Deputy Secretary of State Robert Zoellick explained U.S. policy toward Sudan in testimony September 28 before the Senate Foreign Relations Committee in Washington. (See related article .) In his remarks, Zoellick referred to an outline that lists U.S. Sudan policy goals and then provides background and context. A "unified, peaceful Sudan that contributes to regional development and cooperates on counter-terrorism" is the first U.S. goal in the country, according to the outline. Following is the text of the outline, released in Washington September 29: U.S. Department of State U.S. Policy Toward Sudan Robert B. Zoellick, Deputy Secretary of State Testimony before the Senate Foreign Relations Committee Washington, DCSeptember 28, 2005 Goals of U.S. Policy -- Unified, peaceful Sudan that contributes to regional development and cooperates on counter-terrorism.

State's Hughes Visits Egypt, Saudi Arabia, Turkey Under secretary opens new dialogue to address "generational struggle of ideas" Under Secretary of State for Public Diplomacy Karen Hughes is visiting Egypt, Saudi Arabia and Turkey to begin what she calls a new dialogue in public diplomacy intended to address “a generational struggle of ideas.” “I view this trip as the beginning of a new dialogue that is very much people-driven -- public diplomacy is people-driven and it's policy-driven because our policies affect people's lives,” Hughes told reporters en route to Cairo, Egypt, September 25. She said her trip to the three predominately Muslim countries with close ties to the United States takes place within the context of a long-term struggle of ideas that, over time, will lead to a shift in overseas attitudes toward U.S. policies. Hughes predicted a change in attitude toward the United States will occur as the United States works to create “greater freedom” and “

A Transatlantic Front: United Against Iranian Nukes International Herald Tribune, September 15, 2005 Philip H. Gordon , Director, Center on the U.S. and Europe Charles Grant, Director, Center for European Reform Last February, a group of European and American foreign policy experts issued the " Compact Between the United States and Europe ," a detailed proposal for trans-Atlantic cooperation on the key foreign policy issues of the day ( IHT Feb. 17, 2005 ). The premise of the compact was that the split that had emerged between the two sides of the Atlantic in recent years was deeply damaging to the interests of both sides, and that agreements on common policy challenges were both necessary and possible. In that light, we were deeply disappointed by Iran's rejection of the offer in August by Britain, France and Germany to provide Iran with support for a civilian nuclear energy program, as well as far-reaching political and economic incentives, in exchange for Tehran's

Palestinian Governance Key to Mideast Peace, State's Welch Says United States concerned about security problems in Gaza By David Shelby Washington File Staff Writer Washington -- Much of the future progress in the Middle East peace process hinges on the ability of the Palestinian Authority to establish effective, accountable governance over the area that Israeli settlers and security forces recently have evacuated in the Gaza Strip, according to Assistant Secretary of State for Near Eastern Affairs David Welch. Welch told members of the House of Representatives International Relations Subcommittee on the Middle East and Central Asia September 21 that the Palestinians must govern in a way that earns the confidence of the Israelis, the international community and the Palestinians themselves. “Now that Israel is out of Gaza, we have the first substantial test in decades of the proposition that the institutions of the state can be constructed in a responsible way by the Palestinians th

Document: Quartet Statement on Middle East Peace Text released by the United Nations New York City 20 September 2005 Representatives of the Quartet -- U.N. Secretary General Kofi Annan, Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov, U.S. Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice, U.K. Foreign Secretary Jack Straw, High Representative for European Common Foreign and Security Policy Javier Solana, and European Commissioner for External Relations Benita Ferrero-Waldner -- met today in New York to discuss the Gaza disengagement and the prospects for movement towards peace in the Middle East. The Quartet recognizes and welcomes the successful conclusion of the Israeli withdrawal from Gaza and parts of the northern West Bank and the moment of opportunity that it brings to renew efforts on the Roadmap. The Quartet reiterates its belief that this brave and historic decision should open a new chapter on the path to peace in the region. It paid tribute to the political courage of Prime Minister Sharon and co

It's Not Israel That's Driving Tehran to Nukes Author: Ray Takeyh August 27, 2005 International Herald Tribune It is by now a Washington ritual, with delegations of visiting Israeli officials armed with intelligence analyses and satellite imagery insisting to their American counterparts that Iran's nuclear program represents an existential threat to their beleaguered state. The persistence of such claims has essentially transformed Israeli assertions into a self-evident verity, a proposition that requires no further reproach. The only problem with this assessment is that it's not true. However objectionable Israel maybe to Iran's clerical oligarchs, it does not motivate their nuclear weapons program. As part of a project that surveyed Iran's discourse on nuclear weapons, including official pronouncements, sermons, speeches and media commentaries, I was stuck by how seldom Israel actually features into these deliberations. To be sure, for a generation of Iranian

The West Should Push Mubarak on Reform By Amr Hamzawy The Daily Star, September 13, 2005 As expected, Hosni Mubarak won Egypt's presidential election on September 7. However, with a voter turnout as low as 20 percent according to independent estimates and massive irregularities reported at the polls, the regime's claim that Mubarak was confirmed democratically and by a majority of Egyptians does not have much substance. Egypt's election day represented a step forward on the road to the opening up of a persistently authoritarian regime. It revitalized the political scene and partially minimized citizens' apathy toward politics. But to describe having nine opposition contenders against Mubarak as a historical breakthrough ignores the fact that the election was not competitive and that the election rules were clearly undemocratic. From the start the amendment of Article 76 of the Constitution, which opened the door for candidates of opposition parties, excluded independen