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By Barry Rubin
March 12, 2010
Iâm not going to bash or rant about a Newsweek article about Turkey by Owen Matthews--shocking and dangerous as it is--but rather talk about what is wrong and inaccurate about it. That article is part of a new wave of defeatism...
Keywords: Turkey
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By Barry Rubin
March 10, 2010
Last September, President Barack Obama said before a large audience at the UN that within two months there would be intensive, direct, final status talks between Israel and the Palestinians. Sort of a Camp David III...
Keywords: Israel-Palestinian Issues, U.S. Policy on the Middle East, Understanding the Middle East
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By Barry Rubin
March 9, 2010
Here's today's evidence that we are now living in Middle East 2.0 instead of the old version. First, a definition: Middle East 1.0: Characterized by Arab nationalist domination...
Keywords: Saudi Arabia, Understanding the Middle East
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By Barry Rubin
March 8, 2010
The story of the U.S. engagement with Syria and the sanctions issue regarding Iran's nuclear program are fascinating. Each day there's some new development showing how the Obama Administration is acting like a deer standing in the middle of a busy highway...
Keywords: Iran, Syria, U.S. Policy on the Middle East
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By Jonathan Spyer
March 7, 2010
In Damascus last week, the full array of leaders of the so-called "resistance bloc" came together in a series of meetings. Presidents Ahmedinejad of Iran and Assad of Syria were there...
Keywords: Iran, Radical Groups, Syria, U.S. Policy on the Middle East
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By Barry Rubin
March 5, 2010
There has been a huge international controversy about the assassination of Mahmoud al-Mabhouh, a leading Hamas terrorist, in Dubai on January 19. I have no idea who did it but have some points to make on the subject...
Keywords: Europe, Gulf, Israel, Media Coverage of the Middle East, Radical Groups
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By Barry Rubin
March 3, 2010
International relations isn't a popularity contest. But public opinion polls can be useful in countering myths and examining the impact of policymaker, elite, and media campaigns on the masses. Which brings us to Gallup's latest poll measuring how Americans feel...
Keywords: Israel, U.S. Policy on the Middle East
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By Barry Rubin
March 1, 2010
Hussain Abdul Hussain gets it. Heâs one of the most interesting Arab journalists and he also writes in English. His latest article--published in the "Huffington Post"--entitled "Lonely Obama vs. Popular Iran...
Keywords: Iran, Iraq, Syria, U.S. Policy on the Middle East, Understanding the Middle East
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By Jonathan Spyer
February 28, 2010
The war of words is continuing. The latest salvoes were fired last week by Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmedinejad, and his Lebanese ally and client Hassan Nasrallah. Ahmedinejad reportedly told Nasrallah that if Israel attacks Hizballah...
Keywords: Iran, Radical Movements
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By Barry Rubin
February 24, 2010
After more than 30 years of watching people write dumb things about the Middle East, I believe that in the last month I've seen more nonsense than at any previous time. The problem arises from ignorance...
Keywords: Iran, Israel-Palestinian Issues, Media Coverage of the Middle East, Radical Movements, U.S. Policy on the Middle East, Understanding the Middle East