In-Depth Coverage

Original Commentaries

11/13/08: The View from Gaza —Taghreed El-Khodary, New York Times journalist in Gaza and Harvard University Nieman Fellow (2005-2006). Interviewed by Middle East Bulletin.
11/04/08: Getting on the Right Track —Dalia Rabin, chairperson, Rabin Center, and daughter of the late Yitzhak Rabin. Interview with Middle East Bulletin.
10/23/08: Bottom-Up Meets Top-Down for Progress —Robert Danin, Head of Mission, Office of Quartet Representative Tony Blair and former Deputy Assistant Secretary of State for Near East Affairs. Interview with Middle East Bulletin.

Setting the Record Straight

U.S. Policy Strengthens Iran

"Simply put, without permanent bases in Iraq, a nuclear capable Islamic Republic cannot be contained."
—Michael Rubin, resident scholar, American Enterprise Institute, "Can a Nuclear Iran Be Contained or Deterred?" Middle Eastern Outlook, November 5, 2008

“[B]y attacking Iraq, we automatically made Iran a regional power. We took out their major adversary in Iraq, and we neutralized, if only temporarily, the Taliban, on the other side. And so now we see not only that they are regional powers, but clearly indications of aspirations to be perhaps a hegemon in the area, their role in Iraq, their role in Syria, in Lebanon as well. And I can tell you, and I think you’ve heard it already, that there is real fear among the GCC countries about where all of this is going. All of them have minorities, in one case it’s not a minority, it’s a majority of Shias, and as the Sheika correctly pointed out, they can’t exchange Iran for some place else.”
—General Joseph P. Hoar (USMC, Ret.), former commander of U.S. Central Command (1991-94), National Council On U.S.-Arab Relations, 17th Annual Arab-U.S. Policymakers Conference, October 30, 2008

Middle East Analysis

Iranian Strategy in Iraq: Politics and ‘Other Means’ —Joseph Felter, national security affairs fellow, Hoover Institution, Stanford University; former director, Combating Terrorism Center at West Point (CTC) & Brian Fishman, director of research, CTC
In Iraq’s Diyala Province, U.S. Forces Anticipate Exit —Scott Peterson (The Christian Science Monitor)
Oil for Soil: Toward a Grand Bargain on Iraq and the Kurds —International Crisis Group, Middle East Report N°80

Israel Moves to Further Isolate Gazans

October 29, 2007

Egyptian President Hosni Mubarak and Syrian President Bashar Assad (AP)

After declaring Gaza an "enemy entity" in September, Israel has kept Gaza’s borders sealed save for humanitarian foodstuffs and medicines. The policy has triggered dramatic inflation, shuttered businesses, and spurred demand for black- market goods smuggled through tunnels that were once used by gun runners and drug dealers. …

In the four months since Hamas has taken over, Israel has allowed almost no finished goods or produce to leave the Gaza Strip. With the onset of the winter picking season for Gaza’s strawberries and cherry tomatoes, millions of dollars’ worth of products are expected to rot. …

Up and down the coast, Israel’s policy of blocking imports has left store shelves so bare that it’s impossible to find a can of soda. The price of cigarettes has doubled, pushed up also by a tax that Hamas charges the smugglers. The price of 50-kg (110-lb.) sacks of flour rose 80 percent to 180 shekels ($45). An absence of raw materials has forced most businesses to close, or work at minimum capacity; the lack of cement has silenced 95 percent of the building projects in Gaza. According to United Nations agencies, some 70,000 people have lost their jobs in a territory where 80 percent already live in poverty. Access the full article>>