The Obama Administration has been heavily criticized for not acting forcefully to stem human rights abuses in the Middle East. Criticism of the Administration has largely focused on Iran and Syria, where Bashar al-Assad’s government is guilty of atrocious bloodshed against its own people. In response, President Obama announced several…
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=IHwjHgpct5w&feature=youtu.be http://blog.heritage.org/2012/04/13/exclusive-video-condoleezza-rice-implores-u-s-to-leave-military-option-on-the-table-in-iran-talks/ Former United States Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice sat down with The Heritage Foundation to discuss the importance of strong U.S. leadership in promoting peace and stability…
Abstract: Russia is pursuing a Middle Eastern policy that is designed to reduce U.S. and Western influence in the Middle East, even at the risk of Islamist terrorism, which is a growing problem in Russia. It views the recent upheavals in the Middle East…
Syria’s embattled regime is likely to hold out for many more months but eventually could implode with many dangerous consequences for the surrounding region. One of the risks is that chemical weapons—and possibly radioactive materials from its nuclear program—could fall into the hands of terrorists. The U.S. needs a strategy…
Syrian President Bashar Assad’s regime, which has made war on its own citizens, has lost whatever legitimacy it once had. The United States correctly has called for Assad to step down from power. His regime has supported numerous Palestinian, Lebanese, Iraqi, and Kurdish terrorist groups in attacks on Americans and…
On January 10, Syrian President Bashar al-Assad defiantly threatened to crush the popular uprising against his brutal dictatorship with an “iron fist.” Syria has been engulfed in intensifying political violence that has claimed the lives of more than 5,000 people, most of them nonviolent protesters demanding basic human rights. Nearly…
In this week's Heritage in Focus podcast, James Phillips discusses the aftermath of the Arab Spring and escalating tensions around Israel. David Weinberger hosts. To get regular updates on Heritage in Focus podcasts, visit our RSS feed or subscribe on iTunes. To listen to more Heritage…
Jim Phillips discusses escalating tensions between Syria and Israel. …
James Carafano discusses aid to Syria. …
Abstract: Iran's nuclear weapons ambitions are ominous in light of its hostile foreign policy and longstanding support for terrorism. But Iran's repeated threats to annihilate the state of Israel while it develops the world's most dangerous weapons have created an even more explosive situation.…
The “Arab Spring” has targeted several regimes in the Middle East: Egypt’s Hosni Mubarak has stepped down, leaving the future of the country uncertain; Syria’s Bashar al-Assad and Yemen’s Ali Abdullah Saleh cling to power; Libya’s Muammar Qadhafi has vowed to fight to the death despite the United States and…
One key to stabilizing Iraq isn't even in the country, but next door in Syria. It's not just that innumerable Saddam loyalists, al Qaeda terrorists and foreign fighters have crossed the 370-mile Syrian border into Iraq over the past year. Syria also has become a safe haven for the Ba'athist Bigs pulling the strings of…
The Inter-Parliamentary Union (IPU), founded in 1888 by Frédéric Passy of France and William Randal Cremer of Great Britain, originally sought to promote peace by encouraging regular contacts between parliamentarians from established democracies. The IPU also supported free trade and arbitration, on the basis of respect for national sovereignty, between nation states. In short, the…
I have no illusions about North Korea, and we must be firm and unyielding in our commitment to a nonnuclear Korean peninsula. Barack Obama, Chosun Ilbo, February 15, 2008[1] Presidentelect Obama, during the campaign you stressed the…
Syrian President Bashar al-Assad’s ruthless regime is deservedly threatened by mounting protests organized by long-suffering Syrians fed up with its harsh repression, notorious corruption, and rigid autocratic rule. But the Obama Administration has soft-pedaled its criticism of Assad’s dictatorship, eager to “engage” the stubbornly hostile regime despite its systematic repression…
There is a popular notion that the world has changed dramatically with the election of a new American President and that the United States will not be challenged by ambitious peer competitors in the coming decades. While this is a hopeful concept, it is also inaccurate. The world remains a dangerous place, populated with countries that…
The 2009 Durban Review Conference (commonly referred to as Durban II) was the follow-up to the 2001 United Nations World Conference Against Racism, Racial Discrimination, Xenophobia and Related Intolerance held in Durban, South Africa. The 2001 conference was hijacked by nations and nongovernmental organizations (NGOs) that used…
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The U.N. Security Council finally reached an agreement on Syria yesterday. In typical U.N. form, it amounts to more talk...…
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Recently, 17 Senators expressed a concern over U.S. government trade ties to Rosoboronexport, a leading Russian arms...…
On Monday, Washington and Moscow clashed yet again in the U.N. Security Council over what to do about the bloody...…
Senator John McCain (R–AZ) yesterday called for a U.S. military intervention in Syria that would include air strikes on...…
At the annual American Israel Public Affairs Committee (AIPAC) meeting in Washington today, President Barack Obama...…
The latest round of European Union (EU) sanctions against Syria, agreed today in Brussels, proves why the EU’s “common...…
Senior Research Fellow for Middle Eastern Affairs