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392. As Mitzna Chooses, Labor's Prospects Recede
- Author:
- David Makovsky
- Publication Date:
- 01-2003
- Content Type:
- Policy Brief
- Institution:
- The Washington Institute for Near East Policy
- Abstract:
- Earlier this week, Israel's Labor Party leader Amram Mitzna announced that he would not look to resume a broad coalition government with the Likud Party following the country's upcoming January 28 election, a crucial decision that dropped Labor from 24 to 20 seats (according to today's Yediot Aharonot poll) and that may have sealed the election for Likud. Mitzna's decision halted Prime Minister Ariel Sharon's slide of the last several weeks in the wake of a vote-buying scandal that imperiled his electoral bloc's grip on a Knesset majority.
- Topic:
- Conflict Resolution
- Political Geography:
- United States, Middle East, and Arab Countries
393. In Israeli Right-Left Divide, Center May Hold the Balance of Power
- Author:
- David Makovsky
- Publication Date:
- 01-2003
- Content Type:
- Policy Brief
- Institution:
- The Washington Institute for Near East Policy
- Abstract:
- The slide in the polls of Ariel Sharon's Likud Party over the last six weeks has been rather dramatic, transforming the character of the campaign from an expected Sharon landslide into a closer contest. In Thursday's Yediot Ahronot-Dahaf poll, Likud dropped from 40 to 28 seats in the 120-member Knesset, while Amram Mitzna's Labor Party edged up to 24 seats from 22. Sharon's losses stem directly from the swirl of Likud election corruption allegations, beginning with low-level charges of vote buying — illegal activity that may have helped catapult Sharon's son Omri onto the parliamentary list. The latest charges, denied by Sharon, surround a $1.5 million loan that the prime minister borrowed from a South African businessman friend, Cyril Kern, to pay back illegal campaign contributions in 1999. Sharon still clings to the hope that his denials will halt his party's slide downward, while Mitzna is finding new hope in the prospect that a drop in support for Likud will lead voters to take a second look at his candidacy.
- Topic:
- Conflict Resolution
- Political Geography:
- United States, Middle East, Israel, and Arab Countries
394. A Cooperative Structure for Israeli-Palestinian relations
- Author:
- Bjørn Møller
- Publication Date:
- 11-2002
- Content Type:
- Working Paper
- Institution:
- Centre for European Policy Studies
- Abstract:
- In the present paper, a sketch is offered of a possible resolution of the Israeli-Palestinian conflict with a special view to how the European Union might help bring this about. Consideration is also given to the larger framework of a lasting peace between Israel and its Arab neighbours.
- Topic:
- Conflict Resolution and Peace Studies
- Political Geography:
- Middle East, Israel, Palestine, and Arabia
395. Europe and the Middle East: Towards A Substantive Role in the Peace Process?
- Author:
- Roland Dannreuther
- Publication Date:
- 08-2002
- Content Type:
- Working Paper
- Institution:
- The Geneva Centre for Security Policy
- Abstract:
- The Middle East is the region where Europeans have, arguably, most strongly felt their loss of great power status. During the nineteenth century, European powers encroached upon, occupied and annexed various territories in the Middle East. With the disintegration of the Ottoman Empire after World War 1, Britain, and to a lesser degree France, became the undisputed external actors in the region and in large part created the modern Middle Eastern state system. Although a certain degree of power was devolved to local leaders, Britain and France ensured their prerogatives over foreign and defence issues and assumed responsibility for regional stability. Other powers, such as the Soviet Union and the United States, were not absent from the region but did not essentially challenge the European hegemony. The Soviet Union's power projection had been greatly reduced in the aftermath of revolution, civil war and internal consolidation; the United States deliberately abstained from assuming a political role, with all its tainted colonial connotations, and only demanded an 'open doors' policy in relation to its trade and commercial interests. In this relatively unchallenged strategic environment, Britain had a remarkable freedom to act as the principal regional security actor. In practice, the period of British dominance was to be relatively brief, being characterised by one historian as 'Britain's moment' in the Middle East, and was also increasingly to be frustrated by the growing inter-ethnic conflict in Palestine.
- Topic:
- Conflict Resolution and Peace Studies
- Political Geography:
- Britain, Europe, Middle East, France, and Soviet Union
396. Different Concepts, Different Approaches, Prospects for Building a Common Language
- Author:
- Roberto Aliboni
- Publication Date:
- 06-2002
- Content Type:
- Working Paper
- Institution:
- Istituto Affari Internazionali
- Abstract:
- What prevails in Europe today is a culture of peace and co-operation. This state of affairs is relatively new in its history. It is the product, first, of the objective conditions for peace and co-operation that emerged after the Second World War and, second, of the Western victory at the end of the Cold War. The killings and destruction of the Second World War made European nationalism collapse. The overwhelming threat from the Soviet Union was key in triggering European integration and establishing an intra- European state of democratic peace. Finally, the victorious end of the Cold War is now allowing for integration and democratic peace to be strengthened and enlarged by the inclusion of the European East in that process.
- Topic:
- Conflict Resolution and International Cooperation
- Political Geography:
- Europe, Middle East, and North Africa
397. Nonviolent Voices in Israel and Palestine
- Author:
- Mohammed Abu-Nimer
- Publication Date:
- 06-2002
- Content Type:
- Policy Brief
- Institution:
- Kroc Institute for International Peace Studies, University of Notre Dame
- Abstract:
- In addition to supporting an immediate cease-fire, moderates on both sides of the Middle East conflict should develop joint initiatives that acknowledge a shared sense of humanity. Cross-ethnic projects to provide aid to all victims of violence and interfaith efforts to acknowledge the loss of human lives on both sides would reduce complacency in the face of continued violence. Further, a popular, nonviolent campaign to promote compliance with human rights standards would strengthen civil and political participation and marginalize the radicals.
- Topic:
- Conflict Resolution, Security, and Human Rights
- Political Geography:
- Middle East, Israel, and Palestine
398. For a State of Peace: Conflict and the Future of Democracy in Sudan
- Author:
- Abdelwahab El-Affendi
- Publication Date:
- 01-2002
- Content Type:
- Working Paper
- Institution:
- Centre for the Study of Democracy, University of Westminster
- Abstract:
- Sudan – Africa's largest country (area: 2.5 million square kilometres; population: 36 million) – has been described as a microcosm of the continent, as it embodies the continent's characteristic ethnic and religious diversity. The majority of its inhabitants (70 per cent) are Muslim. The rest adhere to traditional African beliefs (25 per cent) or various Christian denominations (5 per cent). The majority of Muslims are Arabic speaking (though not all are ethnically Arab), and Arabic is both the official language and the lingua franca. However, over 500 ethnic groups live in Sudan, and some 75 languages are spoken in the country. The bulk of the Arabic-speaking Muslims live in the north, while the south is inhabited by a predominantly non-Arab and non-Muslim population.
- Topic:
- Conflict Resolution, Democratization, and Religion
- Political Geography:
- Sudan, Middle East, and Arabia
399. Japan's Future Policies Towards the Middle East Peace Process: Recommendations
- Publication Date:
- 07-2002
- Content Type:
- Working Paper
- Abstract:
- The prospects for Middle East peace remain very dim. The Palestinians feel a growing sense of despair at the continuing occupation and the poor prospects for peace, while the Israelis are extremely uneasy about the escalation of terrorism and the ultimate destination of the Middle East peace process. A wide gap separates the two groups' views on the objectives of peace, and bridging this gap is a central issue in today's peace process. The trust that the parties managed to cultivate from the early 1990s has vanished like mist, and there is significant mutual distrust between Chairman Arafat and Prime Minister Sharon.
- Topic:
- Conflict Resolution and Peace Studies
- Political Geography:
- Middle East and Asia
400. Through Street or Cul-de-Sac? Assessing the Latest Quartet Roadmap
- Author:
- Dennis Ross
- Publication Date:
- 12-2002
- Content Type:
- Policy Brief
- Institution:
- The Washington Institute for Near East Policy
- Abstract:
- On December 20, 2002, the Quartet convened at the White House to discuss the Middle East when President George W. Bush met with UN secretary-general Kofi Annan, Russian foreign minister Igor Ivanov, and three ministerial representatives of the European Union (Stig Moeller, Javier Solana, and Chris Patten). The purpose of this meeting was to secure the president's blessing for the Quartet's "roadmap" to Israeli-Palestinian peace, developed in order to fulfill the vision laid out in Bush's June 24, 2002, speech on the Middle East.
- Topic:
- Conflict Resolution
- Political Geography:
- United States, Middle East, and Arab Countries