E-Notes

On June 4, 2003, President George W. Bush personally renewed the latest American quest for Arab-Israeli peace. Presiding over a summit at the Jordanian port of Aqaba, with King Abdullah of Jordan, Prime Minister Sharon of Israel, and the...

The initial military phase of Operation Iraqi Freedom has been a stunning success. In just twenty-one days the United States drove Saddam Hussein’s Ba’athist regime from power and destroyed its military and security apparatus. This is more than remarkable....

Thanks to an invitation from the American Academy in Berlin, I’m in Germany— with the air warming, the flowers blooming, and the antiwar marches humming right along like so many hives of busy bees. Yet, despite all the evidence...

As we enter spring, U.S. and coalition forces have entered Iraq. Future historians might judge this period the “Baghdad Spring,” when a new season of liberation and freedom came to Iraq. While all the elements of national and coalition...

On Wednesday evening, March 19, 2003, George W. Bush announced the beginning of operation “Iraqi Freedom.” He preceded this terse announcement two days earlier by demanding the departure of Saddam Hussein and his sons, while offering a broad justification...

Americans share two misperceptions of Iraqi politics and society. One is that ethnic conflict is endemic to Iraqi society. Another is that Iraqis lack a tradition of civil society, cultural tolerance, and political participation. Both perceptions are contradicted by...

From Beijing and Moscow, Paris and Berlin, Baghdad and other capitals, from the floor of the United Nations and the streets of American cities, and from the mouths of pundits and experts, we hear the common complaint: the United...

A great deal of antiwar activism has erupted lately, characterized most typically by street demonstrations in Western Europe and the United States. In response to this activism, a good deal of print and radio commentary has already entered the...

As the U.S.-led war on terror gains momentum and the Bush administration contemplates military operations against Iraq, Turkey gains in geostrategic importance. America’s ally and a NATO member since 1953, Turkey’s location, right in the middle of the Southern...

On August 27, 2002, when emissaries from the Bush administration met with Japanese Prime Minister Junichiro Koizumi, each had a secret to share. Koizumi informed the Americans of his impending announcement that he would visit Pyongyang in mid-September for...