Submitted by Brodsky on Wed, 11/18/2009 - 20:42
An Interview with Dr. Asher Susser
By: Matt Gordner
Egypt’s failure to broker an effective reconciliation between Hamas and Fatah makes it a strong probability that the January elections will be considered illegitimate by the Palestinian people – that is, if they happen at all. Abu Mazen (Mahmoud Abbas) recently declared that the elections will be postponed pending more suitable national conditions. This, of course, renders the possibility of a virtual three state arrangement a viable reality for Israelis and Palestinians in the near future.
For a number of reasons, the speeches delivered this summer by Obama, Netanyahu, and Fayyad promised to bear fruit. Instead, they withered on the vine.
Iran and the United States: Foreign Policy during the Khomeini Years
Civil war erupted in full force in Lebanon in April of 1975. The constant armed clashes among Lebanon’s diverse internal factions, exacerbated by Palestinian involvement, Syrian intervention, the meddling of other regional states, and maneuvering by the superpowers, transformed the civil war into an all out regional conflict. The volatility inherent in Lebanon’s political structure was further aggravated by an internal contest over the country’s identity and regional position. The Muslims who at the time constituted the majority of the population sought to change the political system and identify with pan-Arabism and Islam. This was strongly resisted by the Christians and Maronites specifically because it came as a direct threat to their own societal status and to Lebanon’s viability as a West-leaning independent state.