In-Depth Coverage

Original Commentaries

11/20/08: Pakistan: Learning the Right Lessons from Iraq —Senator Robert P. Casey, Jr. (D-PA), Senate Foreign Relations Committee. Original Commentary for Middle East Bulletin.
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.

Setting the Record Straight

Keeping Focus on Long-Term Objectives

“[W]hile we do need to have a cooperative approach that involves many of our friends and allies in meeting with the Pakistanis, … as we work out with them a rough division of labor, the U.S., I believe, ought to be taking the lead in addressing the issues in the Federally Administered Tribal Areas. And given the difficulty of doing so, I suspect that we will not have a great deal of difficulty in convincing them to allow us to take the lead there. But as we all know, there is a real tension between our short-term tactical aims in trying to capture or kill terrorists across the border and militants in the Federally Administered Tribal Areas and our longer- term counterinsurgency pacification goals. We very much need to be focusing on the end state. What is it that we want this area to look like? ... In that context we need to have a common agenda with the Pakistani government and very much to include the military on counterinsurgency in that area. There needs to be, therefore, a focus on combining military efforts with economic, development and political development in those areas.”
—Robert L. Grenier, managing director and chairman for Global Security Consulting, Kroll, event, “Partnership for Progress: Advancing a New Strategy for Prosperity and Stability in Pakistan and the Region,” Center for American Progress, November 17, 2008

Middle East Analysis

Partnership for Progress —Caroline Wadhams, Brian Katulis, Lawrence J. Korb & Colin Cookman, Center for American Progress
Dealing With Pakistan Is Risky Business —Lee H. Hamilton, president, Woodrow Wilson International Center for Scholars, former chairman, House Foreign Affairs Committee
How Not to Lose Afghanistan (and Pakistan) —Peter Bergen, senior fellow, New America Foundation

Regional Collaboration in the Middle East to Deal with H5N1 Avian Flu

February 29, 2008

Although we do not know exactly how avian flu spread in these countries [Israel, Jordan, the Palestinian Authority and Egypt], all outbreaks were caused by the same H5N1 virus strain. It has been speculated that the disease was spread between flocks in Israel … Jordan … and the Palestinian Authority … In three of the outbreak foci, the 3 km protection zone (in which all birds were culled) crossed borders and included areas in Israel and the Palestinian Authority. These culling operations required close collaboration between veterinary and public health services within each country, and also between countries. …

We believe that the cooperation, mutual reporting, and assistance described here had an important effect during these outbreaks of avian flu. The opportunity to compare and synchronize preparedness plans before the event helped prevent the spread of the disease in these countries. The cooperation resulted in tangible help, such as training technicians locally and supplying equipment for culling birds. …

Such collaboration also helped build the confidence needed to manage pandemic flu or any health related crisis that crosses borders. The countries continued to collaborate on infectious diseases of common interest (ad hoc and at a low profile) even during the outbreak of violence in the Middle East during the summer of 2006. Access the full article>>