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Confrontational U.S. policy has tried to create a “New Middle East,” but by ignoring the realities of the region, the United States has exacerbated existing conflicts and created additional problems. To restore its credibility and promote positive transformation, the United States needs to abandon the illusion that it can reshape the region to suit its interests.
The Middle East peace process will fail unless Palestinian political institutions are rebuilt. The rebuilding of viable political structures to represent and serve the Palestinians is the only way to move beyond the current political stalemate and the failed effort to build a Palestinian state.
Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice’s ambitious reorganization of U.S. foreign assistance efforts in 2007 was deeply, perhaps irredeemably flawed, but did produce some positive results.
The growing influence of Sunni Islamists in Lebanon is fueled by rising anti-American and sectarian sentiments resulting from the U.S.-led occupation of Iraq, Lebanon’s ongoing political stalemate, the assassination of former prime minister Rafiq al-Hariri, and the summer 2006 war in which Israel devastated large parts of Lebanon.
India would be six times better off under a multilateral trade agreement in the WTO’s Doha Round than from individual free trade agreements with the EU, United States, or China. However, by lifting agricultural tariffs under a Doha agreement, India could lose more than it gained if prices of key commodities such as rice and wheat continue to swing sharply as they have in the past.
The vast array of reforms implemented by Arab governments over the last two decades have been superficial and designed to present a façade of reform while maintaining the concentration of power among authoritarian rulers.
The United States must shift its counterterrorism policy towards Pakistan away from a reciprocal approach—requiring Islamabad to perform desirable actions to receive support—towards one encouraging Pakistan to enact effective counterterrorism policies, not for an immediate payoff, but to strengthen institutionalized trust with the U.S. over time.
The production of a political platform by Egypt's Muslim Brotherhood is a sign that real developments—some encouraging, some worrying—are occurring in Egyptian politics. While the Muslim Brotherhood is prevented by the government from forming a political party,the release of a platform signaled what sort of party they would found if allowed to do so.
The Carnegie Endowment for International Peace announced January 17, 2008 that leading poverty and development expert Eduardo Zepeda has joined its Trade, Equity, and Development Program as a senior associate.
China’s growth and inflation risks are not trade-related but are instead driven by domestic forces. This more accurate picture supports the Treasury Department’s recent stance, once again declining to cite China as a currency manipulator, reflecting continued doubt by U.S. government experts that China’s currency is a major factor behind global commercial imbalances.
The Carnegie Corporation of New York invested $3 million in the Carnegie China Program in Washington and Beijing.
Despite passing considerable economic and social reforms Arab regimes continue to avoid substantive political reforms that would jeopardize their own power. Reformers in ruling establishments recognize the need for change to increase economic competitiveness, but the preferred process of “managed reform” is leading to further political stagnation.
Failure to contain endemic corruption among Chinese officials poses one of the most serious threats to the nation’s future economic and political stability.