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Toward A New U.S.-Middle East Strategy is a joint Saban Center at Brookings – Council on Foreign Relations project staffed by Middle East experts from both policy establishments. The project has a Board of Advisors that consists of a select group of leading foreign policy generalists, including former senior government officials. Co-directed by Martin S. Indyk, director of the Saban Center at Brookings, and Gary Samore, vice president and director of studies at the Council on Foreign Relations, the strategy group is conducting in-depth research, fact-finding trips to the region, dialogue with regional officials, and consultation with American policymakers in an effort to develop a new Middle East strategy for the next president.
When the next president assumes office, he or she will be immediately confronted with multiple crises in the Middle East:
The joint Brookings-Council on Foreign Relations project will present a non-partisan policy blueprint that the next president and his/her advisors can use as the basis for their administration's Middle East strategy. A final report will be published in late 2008. The strategy group will also brief members of the incoming administration and present its recommendations for constructing a new Middle East policy framework to Congress, the media, and the public.
The project marks the first time in the history of the Brookings Institution and the Council on Foreign Relations that a group of their respective experts are partnering to develop strategic recommendations.
April 17, 2008
In February, Tamara Cofman Wittes and Isobel Coleman met with business leaders, academics, journalists, and civic activists in Riyadh and Jeddah, Saudi Arabia. Among Wittes and Coleman's key findings are that many Saudis welcomed the emergence of a more open atmosphere, pointing to King Abdullah's ascension to the throne, dynamism in neighboring Gulf states, and a new "post-post-9/11" environment as key catalysts for the change. Yet, there was frustration at the unpredictability and arbitrariness of the newly expanded social and political space. The next U.S. administration may have a new, but narrow, window of opportunity to reintroduce itself to Saudi Arabia. Many Saudis argued for the creation of a deeper, multi-dimensional relationship between both countries that engages civil society, not just the government and business sectors.
April 17, 2008
Daniel Byman traveled to Israel and Jordan in March -- a time of crisis in the Middle East. During Byman's trip, Palestinian militants in the Gaza Strip fired rockets against the Israeli cities of Sderot and Ashkelon, an attack occurred in the Mercaz Harav Yeshiva in Jerusalem, and Israel took retaliatory measures in the Gaza Strip. In both Israel and Jordan, Byman found that the predominant mood was one of frustration and gloom. Israelis felt trapped between their sense that inaction would encourage more violence and their recognition that the military and political options looked unpromising. Jordanians fretted that the Israeli reaction to the violence would strengthen the radicals politically.
April 17, 2008
Bruce Riedel traveled to India in February to meet with business leaders, government officials, and members of the media. Riedel notes that much of the conversations revolved around Iran's pursuit of nuclear capabilities and the Iran-India relationship. Some in the United States have strongly criticized India for maintaining strong economic relations with Iran and for having exchanges of low-level military delegations. Riedel notes that although India opposes a nuclear Iran, its ties with Iran will lead it to oppose use of a military option against Iran.
The David Rockefeller Studies Program is CFR’s “think tank.” Its work is integral to achieving CFR’s goal of contributing to the foreign policy debate. Fellows in the Studies Program do this by researching, writing, and commenting on the most important challenges facing the United States and the world.
The diplomatic storm over Iran's nuclear program continues to build. While experts say an Iranian bomb is years off, the program itself raises concern over the prospect of nuclear terrorism.
CFR.org tracks foreign policy, national and homeland security, immigration, and international economics in the presidential race on its Campaign 2008 site.
Hostilities between Israel and Hezbollah may have ended, but the Middle Eastern conflict continues to fester.
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