In 2003, US diplomatist Peter Galbraith resigned at the end of a distinguished, 24-year government career. Over the years that followed, he worked as a contract-based adviser to leaders in Iraq's Kurdish community, while also arguing passionately in public media that...
Just two months ago, many western commentators were jubilant that Mahmoud Abbas, the U.S.-supported head of both the Palestine Liberation Organization (PLO) and the interim Ramallah-based Palestinian Authority (PA), was making a comeback and reducing the influence in...
Eight months after Barack Obama launched his presidency by promising a speedy push for Palestinian-Israeli peace, that effort has stalled badly. And there are now growing fears that the top levels of Obama's peace team are torn by internal disagreements that may...
As world leaders prepare to gather here for the all-star "general debate" at the U.N. General Assembly on Sep. 23, two of them -- U.S. Pres. Barack Obama and Israel's prime minister, Benjamin Netanyahu -- are still tussling over whether to prioritize their...
This week, two respected human rights organizations -- one Palestinian, one Israeli -- each came out with very full reports into the extent of the damage caused by the assault Israel waged against Gaza last winter. According to the Palestinian Center for Human Rights...
Political violence in Iraq killed 456 Iraqis in August, the highest monthly death toll since July 2008. And with the U.S. showing no sign it plans to reverse the troop withdrawal that is now well underway, numerous struggles for power are shaping up inside Iraq. They...
The Barack Obama administration -- perhaps the president himself -- will reportedly be launching a new round of authoritative Palestinian-Israeli peace negotiations sometime during the upcoming U.N. General Assembly session, which is scheduled to start in New York on...
Pro-Israel lobbyists won the support of 77 senators (out of 100) for a letter sent to President Barack Obama that urged him to "press Arab leaders" to consider making dramatic, upfront peace overtures to Israel. But one key Arab state, Saudi Arabia, has...
Fifty years ago, a small group of Palestinian teachers and engineers living in Kuwait founded a secretive movement aimed at liberating those portions of previously British-ruled Palestine that became the State of Israel in 1948. The group they founded, Fatah, went on...
As the political crisis that erupted after Iran's Jun. 12 elections enters its third week, it is becoming evident that this crisis will have repercussions in many parts of the Middle East -- and far beyond. The crisis may have its biggest effects inside neighboring...
