All Foreign Affairs Content

Why Palestinians Protest

The PA Leadership Is Not the Only Problem

September 20, 2012

Khaled Elgindy

Summary:

This month, protesters in the West Bank demanded the ouster of top Palestinian Authority figures. But the anger Palestinians feel toward their leaders cannot be separated from their larger frustration with the Israeli occupation and the failing peace process that created the PA in the first place.

Palestinian President Abbas and Prime Minister Fayyad pray in Ramallah last month. (Mohamad Torokman / Courtesy Reuters)

The resentment Palestinians feel toward their inept and dysfunctional government institutions cannot be separated from the now-moribund peace process that brought those institutions into existence.

Navigating the Nile

An Egypt Policy for the Next Four Years

September 20, 2012

George Joffé

Summary:

Recent protests in Egypt have unleashed a wave of verbal assaults aimed at Obama's policy toward Cairo. But such criticisms obscure the underlying reality: Obama has deftly handled Washington's response to the Egyptian revolution, and the next occupant of the White House would be well served to heed the example of the past four years.

Obama giving his June 2009 speech in Cairo, as seen on televisions in Tel Aviv. (Gil Cohen Magen / Courtesy Reuters)

The character of Egypt’s behavior toward the United States will depend largely on the diplomatic sensitivity that Washington shows Cairo.

The Sources of Salafi Conduct

Harsh Politics in the New Middle East

September 19, 2012

William McCants

Summary:

The protests engulfing the Middle East go to the heart of who gets to police public morality in post-Arab Spring states. Salafis see themselves as the rightful guardians of the public sphere, and they are trying to ensure others see them that way, too.

A protester holds empty tear gas canisters near Tahrir Square (Photo illustration by Foreign Affairs, image courtesy Reuters)

Forgetting Bin Laden

Why the Facts Don't Always Change History

September 19, 2012

James V. Wertsch

Summary:

Two new books address exactly what happened during the raid that killed Osama bin Laden. Squabbling over the details, though, misses the point. What survives in historical memory depends as much on patterns of human understanding as on the arguments churning through the news cycle.

(Photo illustration by Foreign Affairs, image courtesy Reuters.)

Bibi's Chutzpah

The Israeli Prime Minister Crosses a Red Line

September 18, 2012

Michael C. Desch

Summary:

Israeli Prime Minister Binyamin Netanyahu expressed outrage at the refusal of the Obama administration to set “red lines” for Iran’s progress on its nuclear program. But it is Americans who ought to be incensed with Netanyahu. He is demanding that Washington do far more to protect Israel’s security than it does for any of its other allies.

Netanyahu in Jerusalem earlier this month. (Courtesy Reuters)

After Qaddafi

The Surprising Success of the New Libya

September 16, 2012

Dirk Vandewalle

Summary:

In light of the killing of the U.S. ambassador, it’s tempting to be pessimistic about Libya. But just a year after the fall of a long-standing tyrant, the country is moving on and has peacefully elected a new government. As it turns out, building a functioning state from scratch can be a good thing.

Foreign Affairs Unveils New Ebook on Iran Nuclear Crisis

Fourth Ebook in Sixteen Months

September 13, 2012

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE--SEPTEMBER 13, 2012

Foreign Affairs magazine this week unveiled its newest ebook, Iran and the Bomb: Solving the Persian Puzzle, which compiles over a decade of Foreign Affairs essays on the Iranian nuclear program.

Egypt Fans the Flames

Why Morsi Exploited the Muhammad Film -- and Why that Was a Bad Move

September 13, 2012

Jytte Klausen

Summary:

Just as Mubarak played up the controversy over Danish cartoons of the Prophet Muhammad in 2006 in order to improve his domestic standing, so Egyptian President Mohammed Morsi's government has stoked popular outrage now. But the flames he has fanned will make life hotter for him as well as the United States.

Click to view an essay in photos about the attack on the U.S. consulate in Benghazi. (Esam Al-Fetori / Courtesy Reuters)

Morsi should take responsibility for rousing misplaced public anger and turning a non-event on the Internet into a real-world catastrophe.

Iran and the Bomb: Introduction

September 13, 2012

Gideon Rose

Summary:

The challenge for Iran policymaking is not picking a great course that delivers acceptable benefits at a reasonable cost and risk, but selecting a marginally less bad one with slightly fewer or less worrisome downsides than the others.

For more than three decades, the Islamic Republic of Iran has posed a problem for the world. On the one hand, the Iranian regime’s radical Islamist ideology, support for terrorism and regional subversion, and quest for an illegal nuclear weapons capability have made it a dangerous revisionist power determined to upend the existing regional and global order. On the other hand, Iran’s position atop vast energy reserves and astride critical strategic choke points has made it an essential player in the global economy.

Editor Gideon Rose on Brian Lehrer

September 12, 2012

Summary:

Gideon Rose discusses the turmoil in Libya on The Brian Lehrer Show.

White House staff are pictured after they lowered the U.S. flag to half staff in the wake of the attack on the U.S. consulate. (Jason Reed/Courtesy Reuters)

Click here to listen to Foreign Affairs Editor Gideon Rose discuss the siege on the American consulate in Libya on WNYC's Brian Lehrer Show.