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Begin New Search Topic Foreign Policy Political Geography Middle East Content Type Policy Brief

171. European Neighbourhood Policy: How to Reconcile EU's Offer with Neighbour's Expectations?

Author:
Beata Wojna and Monika Arcipowska
Publication Date:
11-2011
Content Type:
Policy Brief
Institution:
The Polish Institute of International Affairs
Abstract:
Since its launch in 2004, the ENP has succeeded in bringing about a strengthening of economic relations, especially trade, between the EU and its neighbours. However, the political record of the seven-year implementation of this policy is relatively poor. The violent, unprecedented socio-political changes in North Africa and the Middle East, which started in January 2011, revealed weaknesses and problems in the European policy towards its southern neighbours as developed in the framework of the Barcelona Process and the Union for the Mediterranean. Arab spring has shown that the EU support to introduce political reforms and to build and consolidate democracy in the southern neighbouring countries has yielded very limited results. The Eastern Partnership seems to be one of the few positive manifestations of the European Neighbourhood Policy's evolution in recent years but is not free from problems. The most tell-tale sign of the Eastern Partnership's deficiencies is a palpable relapse in democratisation.
Topic:
Foreign Policy, Economics, International Trade and Finance, and Regional Cooperation
Political Geography:
Africa, Europe, and Middle East

172. Attacking Iran: Lessons from the Iran-Iraq War

Author:
Annie Tracy Samuel
Publication Date:
12-2011
Content Type:
Policy Brief
Institution:
Belfer Center for Science and International Affairs, Harvard University
Abstract:
This policy brief seeks to contribute to and inform the debate concerning a possible attack by the United States and/or Israel on Iranian nuclear and military facilities. The presumed aim of such an attack would be to weaken the Islamic Republic, particularly by hindering its ability to build a nuclear weapon. However, the history of the Iraqi invasion of Iran in September 1980 calls into question the contention that an attack will weaken the regime in Tehran. This policy brief examines Iran's reactions to the Iraqi invasion in order to shed light on Iran's possible reactions to a U.S. or Israeli attack. It will assess how the Iranian people responded to the invasion and its effects on Iranian politics and the position of the new regime. It will also explore the nature of the policies adopted by the Islamic Republic in waging the Iran-Iraq War that carried on for eight years after the Iraqi invasion.
Topic:
Foreign Policy, Islam, and War
Political Geography:
United States, Iraq, Iran, and Middle East

173. Regional Powers in Growing Dialogue: The Brazil-Turkey Strategic Partnership and its Implementation

Author:
Elena Lazarou
Publication Date:
05-2011
Content Type:
Policy Brief
Institution:
Global Political Trends Center (GPoT)
Abstract:
With a new government in Brasilia, and with Dilma Roussef appearing to distance herself somewhat from some of the most controversial aspects of Lula's foreign policy, speculation abounds regarding how Brazil will follow up on its decisive steps in the Middle East. Iran is a telling, albeit extreme, example. Already, Mrs. Roussef has shown herself to be far more critical of the regime in Teheran, and Antonio Patriota, the new Foreign Minister, has manifested his skepticism with regards to Iranian sincerity, a notable departure from Lula's stance in late 2009 when he publicly asked European leaders to show patience concerning the Iranian case. While we may well be witnessing a change in Brazil's policy towards Iran, this by no means suggests a shift of Brazilian foreign policy interests away from the Middle East. In fact, all signs seem to be suggesting that under Patriota, the Brazilian Foreign Ministry's involvement in and interaction with the region is likely to increase. And while ties with Iran may never reach the level of "warmth" that the Lula-Ahmadinejad handshake suggested, the forecast for Brazil's relations with its real key partner in the region, Turkey, is, if nothing else, promising and likely to endure well beyond the coming year.
Topic:
Foreign Policy, Bilateral Relations, Partnerships, Strategic Interests, and Dialogue
Political Geography:
Turkey, Middle East, Brazil, and South America

174. Marshall Plan Needed for Middle East

Author:
Michael Bell
Publication Date:
03-2011
Content Type:
Policy Brief
Institution:
Canadian Global Affairs Institute (CGAI)
Abstract:
The peoples of the Middle East are instituting profound changes that will affect us all. We in Canada, and in the West, must be fully involved, in our own interests, and theirs, by responding generously to viable requests for aid and assistance across a gamut of challenges: justice mentoring, education, small business, civil society and unemployment. They need to feel change in their conditions now. They need a Marshall type plan with immediate impact. If not these revolutions in the sand could turn sour fast. Everything from education in village schools, to the prospects for good governance, to peace in the region, is at stake. Well established countries with homogeneous populations such as Egypt and Tunisia stand a good chance of making it; others with little sense of national identity and little in the way of civil society, like Yemen, do not. Some, like Bahrain, are ruled by minorities with an alienated underclass. They are burdened by powerful neighbours, Saudi Arabia and Iran in this case, who see their own conflicting interests directly at stake. The Americans are not indifferent. Canada’s role is circumscribed by our politics, which rules us out from anything verging on the political or strategic. But there is still plenty to do, if the will exists.
Topic:
Foreign Policy, Foreign Aid, Governance, Strategic Interests, and Marshall Plan
Political Geography:
Middle East and Canada

175. Foreign Policy in the Election

Author:
Derek H. Burney
Publication Date:
04-2011
Content Type:
Policy Brief
Institution:
Canadian Global Affairs Institute (CGAI)
Abstract:
Foreign policy rarely plays a major role in Canadian elections and, CDFAI Senior Research Fellow, Derek Burney contends 2011 will be no exception. Differences about the purchase of new fighter aircraft to replace the aging CF-18 Hornets will surface during the campaign. The Liberals have adopted a preference for “butter” instead of “guns” and should there be a change of government, defence equipment purchases could be curtailed more generally. While other differences are evident, e.g. on Middle East issues and Climate Change, the two major parties are essentially on the same page on the key issues of war and peace – Afghanistan and now Libya. The new bilateral initiative for a security perimeter with the US has attracted little opposition to date, primarily because it is a process not a result, yielding little to attack or defend. Uncertainties about the global economy may simply reinforce public concerns about Canada’s economic prospects. The Conservatives have delivered on what they said they would do: strengthening the military to give more capacity for a global role, engaging constructively with the US and enhancing relations in our hemisphere, notably with a substantial contribution to Haiti. The Liberal alternative seems more rhetorical than prescriptive, citing grievances with the Conservative record along with nostalgic calls for a return to Pearsonian emphasis on peace-keeping and multilateralism. Regardless of who wins, and excepting the possibility of different commitments to defence, the main lines of Canadian foreign policy are unlikely to change significantly.
Topic:
Foreign Policy, Elections, Weapons, and Military
Political Geography:
Middle East, Canada, and North America

176. Biden's Israel Visit and Its Aftermath: The Importance of Maintaining Strategic Direction in U.S. Middle East Policy

Author:
Robert Satloff
Publication Date:
03-2010
Content Type:
Policy Brief
Institution:
The Washington Institute for Near East Policy
Abstract:
In less than forty-eight hours, U.S.-Israel relations went from "unbreakable," according to Vice President Joe Biden, to "perilous," as ascribed to an "unnamed senior U.S. official." This drastic mood swing risks overshadowing the great achievement of the vice president's Middle East trip -- the affirmation for Israelis (as well as those Arabs and Iranians following his words) that the Obama administration is "determined to prevent Iran from acquiring nuclear weapons."
Topic:
International Relations and Foreign Policy
Political Geography:
United States, Middle East, and Israel

177. Nuclear Proliferation and Nuclear Power in the Middle East

Author:
Daniel Poneman
Publication Date:
03-2010
Content Type:
Policy Brief
Institution:
The Washington Institute for Near East Policy
Abstract:
The president...continues to work...to tackle the energy and climate challenge, understanding that this is a global problem that demands a global solution.... Some have suggested that a United States that is focusing on new energy technologies and a low-carbon future must be at odds with the oil and gas producers of the Middle East. [However], recent discussions in the region suggest otherwise.... Tackling the energy and climate challenge presents important opportunities to broaden U.S. energy relationships in the region, and together [with regional partners] to build a sustainable energy future.
Topic:
Foreign Policy, Arms Control and Proliferation, and Treaties and Agreements
Political Geography:
United States, Iran, and Middle East

178. The Israeli Exception

Author:
John Feffer
Publication Date:
05-2010
Content Type:
Policy Brief
Institution:
Foreign Policy In Focus
Abstract:
North Korea and Israel have a lot in common. Neither is a signatory to the Nuclear Non-Proliferation Treaty (NPT), and both employ their nuclear weapons in elaborate games of peek-a-boo with the international community. Israel and North Korea are equally paranoid about outsiders conspiring to destroy their states, and this paranoia isn't without some justification. Partly as a result of these suspicions, both countries engage in reckless and destabilizing foreign policies. In recent years, Israel has launched preemptive strikes and invaded other countries, while North Korea has abducted foreign citizens and blown up South Korean targets (including, possibly, a South Korean ship in late March in the Yellow Sea).
Topic:
Security, Foreign Policy, Human Rights, and International Affairs
Political Geography:
Middle East, Israel, South Korea, and North Korea

179. The New British Government, the 'Special Relationship,' and the Middle East

Author:
Simon Henderson
Publication Date:
05-2010
Content Type:
Policy Brief
Institution:
The Washington Institute for Near East Policy
Abstract:
On May 6, Britain went to the polls to elect a new government, producing no clear result but forcing the resignation of Labor Party leader Gordon Brown. Within hours of taking over as prime minister, Conservative Party leader David Cameron had created a new body, a British national security council, whose first meeting focused on "discuss[ing] the situation in Afghanistan and Pakistan, and review[ing] the terrorist threat to the UK." Apart from Britain's economic problems, these issues and Middle East policy in general will likely dominate the new government's agenda -- and its relations with Washington.
Topic:
Foreign Policy, Politics, Terrorism, International Security, and Bilateral Relations
Political Geography:
Pakistan, Afghanistan, United States, United Kingdom, Washington, and Middle East

180. Hizballah's Coalition Partner Meets President Obama

Author:
David Schenker
Publication Date:
05-2010
Content Type:
Policy Brief
Institution:
The Washington Institute for Near East Policy
Abstract:
On Monday, Lebanese prime minister Saad Hariri will visit Washington for a meeting with President Obama. In announcing the meeting, White House press secretary Robert Gibbs called it "a symbol of the close and historic relationship between Lebanon and the United States." Indeed, between 2005 and 2009, bilateral ties were never closer or more consequential, with the Cedar Revolution ending nearly three decades of Syrian suzerainty in the country. Over the past year, however, Hariri has had to govern in coalition with Hizballah. The Iranian-Syrian backed Shiite militia will be the elephant in the Oval Office during Monday's meeting.
Topic:
Foreign Policy, Politics, and Bilateral Relations
Political Geography:
United States, Middle East, and Lebanon