Turkey-Iraq Relations Deteriorate With Accusations of Sectarianism If Turkey is to succeed in shaping the changing nature of the Middle East, writes Henri J. Barkey, it will have to increasingly interfere in the politics of its neighbors. To Turkey, Iraq's territorial unity is threatened by the Iraqi prime minister’s sectarian policies, and his backing of al-Assad ignores Syria’s complicity in the violence in Iraq. Iraq
Israel's Former Intelligence Chief Blasts Bibi's Iran Strategy Yuval Diskin launched a stunning broadside attack on Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and Defense Minister Ehud Barak Friday, saying he doesn’t trust their “messianic” leadership. He accused them of promoting a war on Iran that could accelerate, rather than set back, Iran’s acquisition of a nuclear weapon. Israel
Iranian Hard-Liners Send Positive Signals on Talks Something unusual has happened in the wake of the recent Iran nuclear talks in Istanbul: Iran hardliners have taken to the media and Friday prayers to put a positive gloss on the talks and signal interest in a compromise. Laura Rozen on reading the Tehran tea leaves. Iran
Libya's Tribal Cleansing: Why is the World Silent Now? The Western powers came and went in Libya, and now some Libyans are being targeted due to their presumed loyalty to former leader Moammar Gadhafi, writes Mustafa Fetouri, an academic and journalist. He says the National Transitional Council cannot ensure a smooth transition, and wonders what has become of an international community that vowed to protect Libyan civilians. Libya
UN Just Getting Started in Syria— Give Observer Mission a Chance The media has already declared the UN observer mission in Syria a failure. It hasn't stopped the violence and cannot protect protesters. Of course it hasn't been effective yet, writes Daniel Serwer. It hasn't really arrived. It will likely take the still-growing mission weeks, at best, to quell the violence. The Annan plan may still fail, it hasn't failed yet. Syria
Can Western Women Tame Iran’s Nuclear Negotiators? Three high-powered women are the principal negotiators for the P5+1 team in the Iran nuclear talks, which creates a novel working environment for their Iranian counterparts, because women generally can’t get top government jobs in the Islamic Republic. This raises an intriguing question: Could the presence of women across the table from the Iranians change the dynamics in the nuclear talks? Iran
Netayahu Iran Policies Rejected By Increasing Numbers in Israel Iranian-Israeli Middle East analyst Meir Javedanfar writes that Netanyahu's Iran policy is increasingly unpopular in Israel. As experts state that Iran poses no existential danger and that a pre-emptive Israeli strike this year would be “reckless and irresponsible,” Netanyahu’s rivals claim that he is using Iran to divert attention from domestic issues. Israel
Dear Mona Eltahawy,You Do Not Represent “Us” When Samia Errazzouki came across Foreign Policy’s recent issue, she couldn't believe her eyes. It really was a nude woman covered in a black body-painted niqab. As a Muslim woman, she was even more enraged at Mona Eltahawy's accompanying article, "Why They Hate Us," which portrays veiled women as helpless and in need of rescue. Pan Arab
'Why Do They Hate Us?' A Blogger's Response Mona Kareem responds to Foreign Policy Magazine's “Why do they hate us?” She is surprised by the topic — the niqab, to her mind, is not the most useful starting point for a discussion of female oppression in the Arab world — and disappointed by the article’s simplistic “Anglophone feminist” approach, which relies on stereotypes to make its points. Pan Arab
Militant Syrian 'Refugees' Test Turkey's Efforts to Stay Neutral Allegations that some Syrian opposition forces are using refugee camps in Turkey as a haven to stage cross-border attacks are putting Turkish officials in a difficult position. Tülin Daloglu writes that their refusal to stop the incursions could give Syria a pretext to retaliate. Syria
‘Containment’ Not a Dirty Word When it Comes to Managing Iran President Obama has insisted that “containing” a nuclear Iran is not an option. Anything less has come to be viewed as appeasement. But containment has been US policy toward Iran for the past 33 years and is likely to continue to be for the foreseeable future, especially if negotiations due to resume in May fail and Iran actually builds nuclear weapons. Iran
US and Iran Should Adopt Nixon's Yellow-Pad Method John Limbert writes that the precedents for US-Iran negotiations are not good, and that it's time to use former president Nixon's "yellow pad" method, which distills items for negotiation into “what we want” and “what they want.” The exercise sounds simple, but it's not, especially given years of US-Iran estrangement and mutual hostility. Turkey
Hostage Negotiator Reveals Secrets to Dealing With Iran Giandomenico Picco worked with the notorious Imad Mughniyeh to free Western hostages 20 years ago. The talks were so secretive that Picco has only just revealed that Israeli intelligence confirmed Mughniyeh's identity. As Iran nuclear talks escalate, the veteran negotiator suggests using "out of the box" solutions and showing a little respect. Israel
How Iran Talks Were Saved From Verge of Collapse New details on the Iran nuclear talks this weekend, touted as being very positive, now show the meeting, in fact, deteriorated. Laura Rozen spoke to inside sources who said Iran was "relentless" in its request to delay European sanctions and that the atmosphere had grown extremely strained and tense. Iran
Turkey Needs to Rethink Policy Toward Its Fractious Neighbors Turkey instituted a policy of “zero problems” with its neighbors a decade ago, an integrated foreign policy in which soft power is balanced with core security interests and which served Turkey well for a time. Current security, economic and political stakes in Syria and Iran, however, may require Ankara to change its philosophy. Kadir Ustun reports. Turkey
Iran Hones Asymmetric Diplomacy with Washington Outnumbered six to one, Iran deftly maneuvered this weekend to restart negotiations that could yield formal recognition of its uranium enrichment program, and postponement of more crushing economic sanctions or a military attack. But at some point, Iran’s leaders will find it more advantageous to play ball than to play games. Iran
