Middle East

The Hon. William J. Burns, the current Under Secretary of State for Political Affairs and former U.S. Ambassador to Russia, gave the keynote address at

A full transcript of the first panel from New America's April 27 conference on U.S.-Saudi relations, is available below.

* * *

Steve Clemons: Thank you very much for joining us. My name is Steve Clemons. I direct the American Strategy Program at an institution called the New America Foundation.

We will need to remind ourselves often in the next few years that the situation in Afghanistan and Pakistan is not the Obama administration's fault. It inherited from George W. Bush a crisis so deep and so horribly complex that dealing with it would tax the powers of St Peter, let alone a US government with many other things on its mind and on its grossly overstrained budget. Improving the situation is the best that we can hope for. Finding a "solution" to the Afghan war… more

As states large and small struggle to cope with and find a way out of the current economic crisis, it is not too early to begin thinking about how the "Great Recession" will alter the world's politics. Countries that have the economic fundamentals and resilience to emerge relatively early from the crisis -- China, some Gulf states, Brazil, and India -- are also likely to emerge stronger politically.

But as Lawrence Wilkerson, former chief of staff to Colin Powell, and others have explained, Israel's leaders in fact repeatedly warned against an attack on Saddam, fearing it would distract from, and embolden, what it regarded as the real threat, ...

Dubai must feel a little like Mark Twain, these days. Upon reading his own obituary in the newspaper, Twain wrote: "The report of my death was an exaggeration."

Dubai has had its share of obituaries as it suffers from a property bust and contagion from the global credit crisis. Headlines from Cairo to London to New York, laced with schadenfreude, proclaim its demise. Newsweek said simply: "Goodbye, Dubai."

Washington, DC -- On March 5th, the New America Foundation hosted an event featuring Congressmen Keith Ellison (D-MN) and Brian Baird (D-WA), who called for the immediate opening of the crossings into Gaza.Showcasing a video of conversations they had with Gazan civilians, the lawmakers emphasized opening the crossings was necessary for both security purposes (Gazan and Israeli) and desperate humanitarian conditions that need to be addressed forthwith.

...  Daniel Levy, former adviser in the office of Israeli in the office of Israeli Prime Minister Ehud Barak, shows clearly where the wrong choices were made: withdrawing from Gaza without co-ordinating the "what next" with the Palestinians; hermetically sealing off Hamas and besieging Gaza after the 2006 elections instead of testing Hamas's capacity to govern responsibly; instead of building on the ceasefire, Israel was the first to break it on 4 November. In short, there were other alternatives....

On March 5th, the New America Foundation hosted an event featuring Congressmen Keith Ellison (D-MN) and Brian Baird (D-WA), who discussed their recent trip to Gaza.

Amjad Atallah, an analyst at the New America Foundation think tank, said Obama's broad approach to the region is better than that of former president George W. Bush who dealt with one issue at a time and created a "disaster" with each.