By Seyed Safavi and H Safavi

International Peace Studies Centre (IPSC)
peace-ipsc.org

 
The Brooking Institution’s 2010 poll on Arab public opinion offers important insights. Perhaps one of the most important aspects of this poll is that it sheds light on the relation between the American government and Muslim nations. The major problem in the American government’s construction of its Middle East policy is that it either does not see the wide gap between Muslim nations and their governments, or it has decided to ignore it. The US does have allies in …

By Ibrahim Kazerooni
 
 
Since 2002 when the Bush government and the US media found a new bone of contention with Iran and its nuclear program, attacking Iran has been on the table by both Bush and Obama administrations as well as various Israeli governments. Lately the surge of articles in an assortment of US papers asking Obama to give the green light to Israel to attack Iran not to mention the introduction of House Resolution 1553, has given this issue an added urgency that must …

Militarism as a Form of Dialog in the Foreign Policy of Persian Gulf Littoral States
 
Nabiullah Ibrahimi
International Peace Studies Centre
peace-ipsc.org

ABSTRACT
The present article aims at analyzing militarism as a form of dialog among southern littoral states of the Persian Gulf. Following the second Persian Gulf War, Persian Gulf Cooperation Council (PGCC) member states dramatically increased their military expenses in order to boost their combat readiness against possible threats posed by Iran and Iraq.  This militarism dialog has been the main paradigm …

The Aftermath of the Lebanese-Israeli Clashes
 
Patrick Galey
Special to the IPSC
Peace-ipsc.org
 
TYRE, South Lebanon: The clashes between Israeli and Lebanese armies along the Blue Line last week represented a shifting dynamic between two warring states. Since 2006, Israel has operated with importunity, safe in the knowledge that retaliation for strident rhetoric and menacing military drills would come only from Hizbullah; the Lebanese army would never counter its vast military superiority. Last Tuesday’s incident showed that this has changed.
While the fighting’s precipitating factors continue to emerge, it has left the future murkier than …

A Synoptic Analysis of Recent Regional Developments (Part I):
Israel’s Military Clash with the Lebanese Army
 
Seyed Safavi and Hanan Nasser
International Peace Studies Centre (IPSC)
www.peace-ipsc.org
 
The recent developments in the Middle East indicate a mounting pressure on the “axis of resistance” comprised of Iran, Syria, Hezbollah and Hamas. The key developments are constituted of the recent UN sanctions against Iran, in addition to the unilateral sanctions of the European Union and the United States of America; the information that the Special Tribunal for Lebanon (STL) is planning to …

A Tense Lebanon Awaits Outcome of Regional Diplomacy

Seyed Safavi and Hanan Nasser
International Peace Studies Centre (IPSC)
www.peace-ipsc.org

Lebanon is witnessing a flurry of regional diplomatic activity amid political tensions triggered by information that the Special Tribunal for Lebanon is planning to indict members of Hezbollah in the 2005 assassination of former Prime Minister Rafik Hariri.
The Lebanese As Safir daily reported on July 28 that a Lebanese-Saudi-Syrian summit will take place on Friday in Lebanon between Saudi King Abdullah, Syrian President Bashar Assad and Lebanese President Michel Suleiman. The summit in Lebanon …

UNIFIL, Lebanese army and Hezbollah: A delicate relationship

Hanan Nasser
International Peace Studies Centre (IPSC)
peace-ipsc.org
In recent weeks the Lebanese state, United Nations Interim Force in Lebanon (UNIFIL) and Hezbollah worked to ease tensions following tensions between the peacekeeping mission and southerners with the three sides stressing on commitment to Resolution 1701 which called for a ceasefire to the July 2006 war between Lebanon and Israel.
On July 3, residents of the southern village of Qabrikha blocked a UNIFIL patrol belonging to the French contingent throwing stones at it, commandeering a soldier’s weapons and …

Upcoming Legislative and Presidential Elections in Egypt

Hanan Nasser
International Peace Studies Centre (IPSC)
peace-ipsc.org

Upcoming legislative and presidential elections, the changing scene in the Middle East and speculation over President Hosni Mubarak’s successor have raised questions on the future of Egypt domestic and foreign policies, amid new emerging powers in the Middle East and increasing demands for political reform in the country.
Mubarak has yet to announce whether or not he will be seeking another term in the September 2011 presidential election, as …

Two-State Solution?
 
Hanan Nasser
International Peace Studies Centre (IPSC)
Peace-ipsc.org

Last month, Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas said that the Palestinian public’s faith in a two-state solution was “eroding”, in the absence of tangible progress in the peace process, continued siege on the Gaza Strip and settlement expansion. There is growing skepticism that a two-state solution is still possible at a time when Israel controls 60% of the West Bank, has not agreed to completely halt settlement construction there, turning the land into Palestinian enclaves and is …

The Yemeni Crisis in the Context of Regional Security
 
Dr. Talal Atrissi
Lebanese University
© International Peace Studies Centre
peace-ipsc.org

 
Abstract

The article reviews Yemen’s status and strategic significance because the impact that its position has on the conflict in and around Yemen cannot be ignored, especially on the security of the entire Persian Gulf area. As Al-Qaeda’s activity escalates from Yemen and from neighboring Somalia, international attention to what is happening in Yemen has increased, knowing that this attention is not new and dates back to the 19th century.

Therefore, it was only …

The Active Role of the Iranian Geo-strategy
The Persian Gulf as a ground for Hot Debate

 
Mahmoud Haidar
Director of the Delta Center for In-Depth Research – Beirut
Editor-in-chief of “Madarat Gharbiya” magazine – Beirut/Paris
©International Peace Studies Centre (IPSC)
peace-ipsc.org

 
Any talk on and about Iran, 30 years after the Iranian Revolution, assumes raising the level of discussion to the status that this country occupies a heavy and influential place in international strategies.
This assumption will lead us to work on the Iranian geography considering that it is a vital field in and …

The Changing Nature of US-Israel Ties
 
By Hanan Nasser
International Peace Studies Centre (IPSC)

peace-ipsc.org
 
The US policy toward Israel has been placed in the limelight once again following a barrage of international criticism of a deadly Israel attack on a humanitarian flotilla headed to the besieged Gaza Strip. The United States found itself compelled to take a different approach to Israel in order to succeed in regaining its role as the main sponsor of the peace process and to keep the fragile Israeli-Palestinian indirect talks from falling apart. Such change, which has …

Freedom Flotilla: A call for an International and Israeli change of policy
 
By Seyed Safavi & Hanan Nasser
 
International Peace Studies Centre (IPSC)

peace-ipsc.org
 
The Freedom Flotilla, which headed for the besieged Gaza Strip from Cyprus on Sunday with the aim of breaking the Israeli blockade and delivering 10,000 tonnes of much needed humanitarian aid, was stopped by the killing of at least nine civilian activists on board the Turkish passenger ship, Mavi Marmara, by Israeli Naval Commandos. The Israeli military’s operation, which was conducted in international waters, received the “full …

Analysis of the Effect of Oil Income on Militarism in the Persian Gulf

 
Ata Bahrami

International Peace Studies Centre (IPSC)
www.peace-ipsc.org

Abstract

Statistical analyses indicate that there is no meaningful correlation between increased oil revenues and militarism among the Arab littoral states of the Persian Gulf. There is actually no correlation between oil prices and militarism in the Persian Gulf. The six southern littoral states of the Persian Gulf usually spend a percentage of their Gross Domestic Product (GDP) …

Ontological Security and Militarism in the Persian Gulf Cooperation Council (PGCC) Foreign Policy
By Elham Rasouli Sani Abadi
International Peace Studies Centre (IPSC)
www.peace-ipsc.org

Abstract
The present article focuses on reasons conducive to militarism and arms race among Persian Gulf Cooperation Council (PGCC) member states by firstly studying the rivalry theories presented by different theoreticians and secondly zooming in on the theory of maintaining the region’s ontological security, concluding that these countries resort to rivalry routines to preserve their identities rather …