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Iran: Rafsanjani’s official website blocked — another stage in his exclusion from politics

The official website of Ayatollah Ali Akbar Hashemi Rafsanjani was blocked by the Iranian authorities last weekend… Continue reading

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Why Is an Anti-American Islamist Obama’s Favorite Middle East Leader?

For the first time in forty years, Israel is not the American president’s favorite Middle Eastern ally… Continue reading

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Sunni versus Shia: The Middle East’s New Strategic Conflict

Conflicts between Sunni and Shia Muslims are not at all new, but… Continue reading

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Tactical Allies and Strategic Rivals: Turkey’s Changing Relations with Iran

General Amir Ali Hajizadeh, a senior commander in Iran’s Revolutionary Guard, declared that, if Iran came under attack from the U.S. or Israel… Continue reading

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Has Erdogan Reached His “Democratic Limits”?

Internal and external dynamics no longer compel Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdoğan to transcend his democratic limits… Continue reading

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Syria: The Forgotten–Including by the Obama Administration–Revolution

I feel guilty every day that I don’t write about Syria’s revolution… Continue reading

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Coming War Threat: Terrorists Developing a Safe Haven in Egypt to Attack Israel

Do policymakers, and “experts” care what happens in the Middle East? War? Bloodshed? Repression… Continue reading

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What Drives Turkish Foreign Policy?

Turkey’s growing international profile has been controversial… Continue reading

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U.S. Policy and Iran: Why Obama’s Bargain has Failed

This notion of choice is the basis for Obama Administration policy toward Iran… Continue reading

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Newt Gingrich and the “Invented” Palestinian People

Everyone from the PLO to a Mitt Romney spokesman jumped on Gingrich for this assertion… Continue reading

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Obama Gives a Preview of How He’ll Campaign on Foreign Policy

I think Obama genuinely believes what he’s saying… Continue reading

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Obama Foreign Policy in A Brief: The President as Turkey

How can U.S. government officials believe such silly and wrong things about the Middle East… Continue reading

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Egypt: Forget Denial, The Totalitarians Won, Get Used to It

The Brotherhood will laugh last… Continue reading

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The Majdalani Effect, the Zawahiri Strategy and the Middle East Curse

In a rare glimpse behind the curtain, a Palestinian scandal sheds a lot of light on the Palestinian Authority, Arab politics, and Western illusions… Continue reading

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Egypt: We’ve Heard What the Majority Thinks

Let’s figure out what the voting in Egypt means in concrete terms… Continue reading

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Obama’s Middle East Policy: A Unified Field Theory

Here’s an effort to bring together all of Obama’s regional policy into a single analysis and explaining everything… Continue reading

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Turkey Falls Out with Russia: Another Sign of a Foreign Policy in Crisis

Wherever one looks, Turkey’s “zero problems with neighbors” policy is fading… Continue reading

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Hope and Change in Egypt; Naiveté and Wishful Thinking in the West

There are three arguments supporting this policy that are worth discussing in large part because… Continue reading

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Turkey and Syria: from Friendship to War?

The inability of the Baath regime in Damascus to bring the situation in the country under control has compelled Turkey to… Continue reading

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Egyptian Election Outcome is Worse Than Expected

Since last February I have predicted that the Muslim Brotherhood would win elections in Egypt… Continue reading

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WikiLeaks: Syria Defends “Peaceful Objectives” against Israeli “Threats”

Syrian FM Muallim separately briefed Arab and European ambassadors on… Continue reading

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Egyptian Moderates Throw Themselves to the Wolves

On the eve of the Egyptian election, I’m really disgusted with the collapse of the moderate forces… Continue reading

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What Do Totalitarians Do When They Gain Power Democratically?

These politicians know precisely what they want to do… Continue reading

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Europe and the Palestinians: What’s the Difference Between Ordinary Insanity and Middle East Policy Insanity?

What is the definition of Middle East policy insanity?… Continue reading

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Who is Obama’s Favorite Middle East Leader? An Anti-American Radical Who Loathes America and Israel

There is a man who Obama loves to deal with, if not every day at least as often as possible… Continue reading