The bombings in Riyadh that shook Saudi Arabia in early November are unlikely to be the last such attacks, for extremist Islamist groups which are prepared to perpetrate acts of violence have more supporters in the kingdom than the government has been prepared to admit to itself or to others....

Within the next few years, if not over the next few decades, the Middle East will become the focus of international geopolitics and thereby largely determine relations between Europe and America. The US administration has embraced the cause of bringing a 'new order' to the region and has...

Since the end of June 2004, the Iraqi Interim Government has been trying to use the sovereign powers restored to it to rebuild a credible state. It has three main priorities: first and foremost, security needs to be restored. This has become by far the most important concern to Iraqis, which...

Egyptian President Hosni Mubarak's reelection on 7 September 2005 came as absolutely no surprise. The only open question was exactly how the vote would split between the president and his strongest opponent, populist liberal opposition leader Ayman Nour. The comfortable official result of 88.6...

In December 2003, Israel's prime minister, Ariel Sharon, announced his intention of unilaterally disengaging from the Palestinians. Meanwhile Sharon has elaborated that the disengagement will not only include the construction of a separation barrier in the West Bank, but also the withdrawal from...

On November 27 and 28, 2005 the tenth anniversary of the Euro-Mediterranean Partnership (EMP) was to be celebrated with a summit of heads of state and government in Barcelona. The high-level meeting was supposed to demonstrate Europe's closeness to and solidarity with its largely Muslim...

Following its unexpected landslide victory in the elections on January 25, 2006, Hamas will hold an absolute majority in the Palestinian Legislative Council (74 of 132 seats). After the result was announced, Hamas - which contested the election as a party under the name of 'Change and Reform' -...

In reaction to the kidnapping of an Israeli soldier by Palestinian extremists in June 2006 and two Israeli soldiers by the Lebanese Hezbollah in mid July, Israel has launched massive military operations in the Gaza Strip and Lebanon. These have targeted not only the facilities of the militants...

In mid-June 2007, the »Islamic Resistance Movement« Hamas gained the upper hand in the Gaza Strip after a series of bloody conflicts. After seizing control of security facilities, Hamas and announced the beginning of »Islamic rule« in the Strip. Palestinian President and Fatah leader,...

It is encouraging that - after some seven years of violence and unilateral steps - parties to the Middle East conflict have started to talk to each other again. Results of these talks, however, have so far been sobering, and prospects for conflict settlement in the Middle East are bleak. It is...