All eyes are on what it will take to prevent Iran from getting its hands on a nuclear weapon. If sanctions and diplomacy prove incapable of containing Tehran’s nuclear ambitions – and soon – a military strike to destroy or at the very least delay its program is seen as the least bad option More »
When U.S. Secretary of State John Kerry visited Moscow recently to discuss the deepening crisis in Syria, he brought with him the hope that the severity of events in the Middle East would finally be sufficient to spur Russia to reconsider its rigid support for Bashar al-Assad’s regime, and plans for a new multilateral More »
The month of April marked the tenth anniversary of the fall of Baghdad, the third provincial election of the post-Saddam era – the country’s first without the presence of U.S. troops – and seven years since a relatively unknown Nouri al-Maliki emerged as the prime minister of Iraq. Nevertheless, after a period of relatively More »
In what the Turkish press is building up to be a “historic” trip, Turkey’s Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan will be visiting Washington next week. Much has changed since he was last here in December 2009. In particular, Turkey’s position in the region has, despite its strong economic performance and rising diplomatic stature, deteriorated More »
The United States is not known for subtlety. This is perhaps unsurprising for a nation buffered by oceans and in possession of the world’s largest military and economy. That kind of power carries weight, and that kind of weight does not always allow the United States to be light on its feet. At the More »
Extraordinary contributions to mankind and professional excellence were recognized this week in Washington, D.C., at the 15th annual Kahlil Gibran Spirit of Humanity Awards Gala, sponsored by the Arab American Institute (AAI). Kahlil Gibran, a Lebanese-American poet, painter and philosopher, in whose honor the award is named, lived and wrote in the United States in More »
As the conflict in Syria continues to escalate, there are increasing calls for the international community to step up its involvement. Ambassador Frederic Hof, a senior fellow at the Atlantic Council’s Rafik Hariri Center for the Middle East and the Obama administration’s special advisor for the Syrian transition in 2012, spoke with VOA’s Carol More »
The main news story of President Obama’s Middle East trip was his intensive focus on engineering an emotional reset with both the leadership and people of Israel. His two prepared texts (the speech to Israeli youths at the Jerusalem Convention Center and his toast to President Shimon Peres upon receiving Israel’s Medal of Distinction) More »
Last week in Rome Secretary of State John Kerry turned a page in U.S. policy on Syria by announcing food and medical assistance to elements of Syria’s armed opposition. While critics of administration policy bemoaned the absence of night vision goggles and body armor from the inventory of non-lethal assistance to be provided, Kerry’s More »
The new U.S. secretary of state, John Kerry, has openly affirmed his commitment to achieving peace between the Israelis and Palestinians. Iran and the Syrian crisis may be topping the agenda his current visit to the region, but most analysts believe he will use his first trip as America’s top diplomat to signal his More »
Sanctions against Iran were imposed with the aim of bringing Tehran to the negotiating table. That they have on some occasions, but have they helped broker an actual agreement? Unfortunately, the sides today are as far apart as they have ever been, and continued negotiations without progress will at best maintain the status quo, More »
Israel did not bomb Iran last year. Why should it happen this year? Because it did not happen last year. The Iranians are proceeding apace with their nuclear program. The Americans are determined to stop them. Sanctions are biting, but the diplomatic process produced nothing visible in 2012. Knowledgeable observers believe there is no “zone More »
The United States has officially recognized the National Coalition for Syrian Revolutionary and Opposition Forces as the legitimate representative of the Syrian people. It has also designated al-Qaida in Iraq-affiliated Jabhat al-Nusra, which often leads the fighting effort in Syria, as a terrorist organization, thus making it illegal for anyone to buy it even More »
Nearly two years after the resignation of President Hosni Mubarak, here we are once again with protesters back in the Egyptian streets, facing army tanks and tear gas, and this time with human rights defenders openly expressing concerns about the possibility of civil war. There’s only one way out of this: Egypt has to build More »
Washington’s relations with Bahrain are under strain after royal comments at a regional strategy conference in the island’s capital. The incident, described by the Associated Press as a “diplomatic flap” and a “public slap against Washington,” reopens the debate about the progress of reforms as street violence continues between Shi’ite protesters and security forces More »
In light of continuing pressure from abroad and mounting economic and political problems at home, Ayatollah Ali Khamenei is preparing for the possibility of a generous compromise offer from President Barack Obama that would allow Iran to end the risk of military strikes on its nuclear facilities. The Supreme Leader seems to have realized More »
Asia specialists will not openly admit it, but they hate the Middle East. To them, the Middle East is the great distraction that keeps people from focusing on what’s really important – their own area in the Western Pacific. The media are primarily to blame, according to this narrative. The media love sudden drama, even More »
The conventional wisdom is that American presidents who win a second term are less bound by domestic electoral considerations that may impose constraints on their foreign policy. But in his second term, President Barack Obama is unlikely to take any bold initiatives in the Middle East. Indeed, he is far more likely not only More »
With President Barack Obama’s re-election, many people across the Middle East are contemplating what this region might expect from his second term. Over the next four years, Obama will likely continue the policy directions set in his first term: by completing the U.S. withdrawal from Afghanistan, for example, and reaching out to global players like More »
“All of us share this world for but a brief moment in time. The question is whether we spend that time focused on what pushes us apart, or whether we commit ourselves to an effort – a sustained effort – to find common ground, to focus on the future we seek for our children, More »
