Palestinians to seek UN support
Palestinian officials are preparing to ask the United Nations to endorse their quest for an independent state after years of failed peace talks, Palestinian authorities have said. Saeb Erekat,...
Obama’s Middle East Strategy Stalls
Meredith Buel From the beginning of his administration, U.S. President Barack Obama said resolving the Israeli-Palestinian conflict would be a top foreign policy priority. After nearly 10 months of diplomacy,...
Iran: A Response to “What If the Green Movement Isn’t Ours?” (The Sequel)
Prof. Scott Lucas Again, with apologies in advance, I am reacting to an article in a US newspaper about the Green movement in Iran. I do not want...
Iran Discussion: The Bombings, Jundullah, and the US
Prof. Scott Lucas One of the immediate headline issues in yesterday’s bombings in Iran, which killed at least 42 people including six senior Revolutionary Guard commanders, was US involvement....
The US, Iran, and Missile Defense: The Inside Story
Prof. Scott Lucas The media will be buzzing for the rest of the day about an American “scrapping” of its plans to base missile defense in sites in Poland...
How to Engage Iran (If You Must)
Ilan Berman After months of dithering and delay, the Iranian government appears to have grudgingly accepted the U.S. president's diplomatic overtures. Just shy of the deadline for dialogue set by...
Oil Realism in the Middle East
Shlomo Ben-Ami No matter how important rising oil powers outside the Middle East are becoming, the region will continue to be the world’s main source of energy for years...
Iran: OK, The Cabinet’s In, Has Ahmadinejad “Won”?
Prof. Scott Lucas Today, on Iran’s “weekend”, should be a political catch-your-breath day after the culmination of Parliament’s approval of 18 of 21 proposed Ministers for the Ahmadinejad Cabinet....
Egypt’s Role Critical as Mideast Peace Mediator
Egyptian President Hosni Mubarak and U.S. President Barack Obama expressed optimism about attaining Middle East peace after their White House Meeting on Tuesday. But journalists and regional analysts are far...
Iraqi Arabs and Kurds: How Wide Is the Gulf?
Iraq’s Arab-led central government and Kurdish leaders in northern Iraq are talking, but they are still far from agreement on issues of land and oil that threaten the country’s stability....
Iran: Government Says, “Overweight? Try Prison”
Prof. Scott Lucas From Press TV, “Ahmadinejad aide says jail improves health condition”: Amid concerns over health conditions and treatment of Iran’s post-vote detainees, an aide to the Iranian...
Iran: Is the Challenge to the Regime Alive? Karroubi, Rafsanjani, and Detainees
Prof. Scott Lucas The immediate significance of Mehdi Karroubi’s letter, as it passed from Karroubi to Secretary of Parliament Ali Larijani and then, via Hashemi Rafsanjani, to the head of...
US Sanctions and Iran
Scott Lucas, Prof. Throughout the Iran crisis, we have referred to US-based efforts to manipulate the conflict for a much different objective: confronting Iran over its nuclear programme. ...
Iran: The “40th Day” Memorial and the Inauguration
Scott Lucas, Prof. The political scene in Iran is always shifting, but an hour last night brought dramatic evidence of the trends, not only in Opposition v. Government but also...
Iran Deaths: A Further Word on the Figures
Scott Lucas, Prof. Earlier this week I wrote, as part of our posts on the casualties and detentions in the post-election conflict in Iran, about a figure of 245 deaths...