News Abroad

Why Israel's Policy Will Ultimately Pay Off

by Daniel Pipes

Yasser Arafat's decision to place six Palestinians under the control of American and British jailers in return for his personal release from captivity is getting mixed reviews on the Palestinian"street."But the Palestinian Authority's main mistake reaches deeper than tactical missteps of this sort. Far more serious, it is pursuing a failed strategy against Israel. Nor does it seem to realize the damage it is doing to its goals. This strategic error eventually will cost the Palestinia

Can You Really Make Peace with Somebody Like Arafat?

by Judith Apter Klinghoffer

Can a leopard change its spots? That is the question confronting states under attack from radical forces seeking their demise. "No" has been the traditional answer. It's either you or the leopard. "Yes" has been the novel liberal one. The trick is to give the leopard reason enough to change, a stake in your coexistence. Hence the phenomenon called a peace process. Appeasement seeks to satiate the leopard; the peace process seeks to turn him into a herbivore. In the Middle

Are We Following in the Footsteps of the British?

by Paul Janson

When a nation -- the United States -- begins to regard itself as"the sole superpower," capable of acting"with or without allies," it places itself at risk of being isolated on the world stage. The most likely result of unilateralist action is to invite lesser powers to combine to neutralize it. Therefore, the United States should consider the fate of the last world superpower: Britain. In the 19th century, Britain believed itself to be and acted as if it were the world's single great powe

Are War Crimes Trials Really a Sign of Progress?

by Peter Maguire

Now that the trial of former Yugoslav President Slobodan Milosevic has begun, some have heralded his prosecution as the dawning of"a new era of international accountability," further evidence of"the globalization of justice." During the first week of the trial, prosecutor Carla del Ponte insisted that his was not a political trial. Milosevic countered with a challenge to the International Criminal Tribunal's legal legitimacy.Bubbling beneath the surface of this dispute is a fundament

When the Axis Was Truly Evil

by Norman Markowitz

President Bush's widely publicized reference in his State of the Union address to an"axis of evil" has frightened and confused people throughout the world. To many, Bush's phrase appears to be a trial balloon for a much bigger war in the name of fighting international terrorism. If that is true, Americans must examine his intentions very carefully.The president's contention that Iran, Iraq and North Korea constitute an"axis of evil" because they are"producing weapons of mass destruct

War and Strategy in the 21st Century

by Jeremy Black

Current debates over America's place in the world often move uneasily between military and diplomatic factors. It is misleading, however, to abstract security issues from the wider context of foreign policy. Events in the twenty-first century will test the limits to American strength but not its fundamentals. These tests will underscore, however, the inability of technology to overcome all challenges and the risk that excess militarization of foreign policy would

Military: It's an Axis and It's Evil

by Mark Safranski

"The international coalition against terror is not the basis to take action against someone - least of all unilaterally. All European foreign ministers see it that way. That is why the phrase 'axis of evil' leads nowhere."-German Foreign Minister Joschka Fischer, Die Welt"Saddam is very proud of his nuclear team.... He will never give up his dream of being the first Arab leader to have a

Is War What's Needed to Bring Peace to the Middle East?

by Daniel Pipes

"We are in a war," Israel's Prime Minister Ariel Sharon said last week, referring to his country's fight with the Palestinians. The Palestinians agree:"This is war," responded Al-Fatah's commander on the West Bank, Husayn Shaykh. In fact, Israelis and Palestinians have already been at war for over a year, but their leaders finally acknowledging this fact makes it easier squarely to assess the situation. War has clearly-established patterns, and these provide insights into the Levanti

Endless Enemies

by Nikki R. Keddie

The policy of President Bush and his administration appears to be War without end. Sometimes hot, sometimes cold, the war is projected against many enemies, including both states and organizations, all termed"evil" and said to pose threats to the United States. Unlike our Cold War enemies, these"enemies" are not a group, nor do they pose a current threat to the United States, but are suddenly targeted for long-term problems that the world has been dealing with for decades -- alleged ties to

The War and the West

by James Kurth

The war that began with the terrorist attacks of 9/11 has been defined in different ways for political purposes. President Bush immediately defined the war as one against"terrorists with global reach" and"the states that harbor them," being careful not to identify the terrorists with Islam and let the war be seen as a" clash of civilizations" between Islam and the West. Osama bin Laden, in contrast, repeatedly spoke of a war between"the Islamic nation" and"the Jews

Putting Yourself in the Shoes of a 20 Year Old Palestinian

by Paul Sullivan

The Palestinian Territories are a fairly miserable place. Let us try to look at the place from the eyes of a 20 year old Palestinian:The median age in the territories is only 16. Hence, that is one of the many reasons why one sees lots of teenagers tossing rocks. About 65% of the population is under the age of 25. This is a young population, full of energy and anger, with lots of time on its hands, and locked in a tiny space. There are some 1 million Palestinians in the Gaza Strip. T

The Mouse that Roared

by Daniel Pipes

A donor conference for Afghanistan convened in Tokyo last week had every appearance of being humane, moral, and sensible. Representatives from sixty governments pledged to help rebuild Afghanistan by committing at least $1.7 billion in 2002 and $10.2 billion over the next decade. On behalf of the United States, Secretary of State Colin L. Powell pledged $297 million, approximately one-fifth of the first year's monies. This, the largest amount from any single country, is meant to help put

Manifest Destiny and Mission in the 21st Century

by Paul A. Janson

To understand the present it is necessary to understand the past. In this case the past is the history of Texas and the present is George W. Bush and the war in Afghanistan. Whether one agrees with the U.S. response to the attacks of September 11th or not, it must be admitted that there were several responses available and the military response was chosen. It is enlightening, I believe, to look at the historical roots of this president and the state of Texas. I think you will be impress

Islam Is Not the Problem, Militant Islam Is

by Daniel Pipes

Who are we fighting? Two main culprits have emerged since Sept. 11: terrorism and Islam. The truth, more subtle, lies between the two--a terroristic version of Islam. Terrorism The establishment--politicians, academics, religious leaders, journalists, along with many Muslims--says terrorism is the enemy. It is carried out by"evildoers" who have nothing to do with Islam but adhere to some murky cult of terrorism.Secretary of State Colin Powell summarized this view by decla

Afghanistan: A Just War

by Judith Apter Klinghoffer

The concept of a just war may be an oxymoron to a Quaker and irrelevant to a Hobbesian. For the rest of us, some wars are justified while others unforgivable. Religions were the first to delineate the difference between just and unjust wars. Jewish law differentiates between obligatory war in which the enemy attacks; permissible war in which the enemy is preparing to attack; and forbidden aggressive, expansionist wars. Islam permits only holy wars (Jihad) against infidels or those opposed

Invade Iraq? No

by Dr. Paul Sullivan

Are the drum beats for a war against Iraq in tune with reality? No.The drums have been beating for some time to start to focus on Iraq after the military side of the Afghan war is over. These drums have been beating loudly and often in the media. Television talk shows are often"debating" the question:"Should we attack Iraq?" Sometimes the people on these show are hardly debating the issues, but agreeing with each other in different ways. It seems that there is a group of middl

Analogies: The USS Pueblo and Paranoid Policy-Making

by Mitch Lerner

It is a trying time. A sudden and unexpected attack from abroad deals the United States a shocking blow, one that the nation's massive intelligence apparatus somehow overlooked. A stunned American nation demands vengeance. The president, a Texan who came to office under highly unusual circumstances, makes his position clear: the real culprit is not a single nation but a larger conspiracy that extends across much of the world. He warns of a long struggle and calls for patience, while work

Anniversary: Russia 10 Years After the Fall of Communism

by David S. Foglesong

It was on Christmas day ten years ago that Kremlin guards hauled down the Soviet flag for the last time and Mikhail Gorbachev calmly resigned as head of a state that had quietly ceased to exist. Since then, American thinking about Russia has swerved abruptly between three conflicting views: a heady belief that the former U.S.S.R. could quickly be remade in the image of the U.S.A.; gloomy pessimism about turning a former totalitarian enemy into a genuine democratic ally;

Invade Iraq? Yes

by Richard Perle

It was inevitable that an event like September 11 would eventually materialize. A history had developed, particularly over the last decade, of failing to respond to acts of terrorism. In 1993 Iraqi intelligence plotted the assassination of former president George H.W. Bush. That plot was foiled when we uncovered it and the response was a handful of cruise missiles aimed at an intelligence headquarters in Baghdad.The dust hadn't settled from that attack

Is Bush Pandering to Muslims?

by Daniel Pipes and Mimi Stillman

Islam has dominated American public life on two occasions, once during the period of the Iranian hostage crisis from 1979 to 1981, and more recently since the attacks against the World Trade Center and the Pentagon on September 11, 2001. In both instances, Americans responded with outrage and puzzlement to the sight of ostensibly pious individuals (Ayatollah Khomeini then, Usama bin Ladin now) sponsoring unprovoked violence against American civilians. Each time, Islam became one of the most di