... Studies Network . Copyright 2008 by Mediterranean Affairs, Inc. 2008 An Agenda for the Next American President Vassilis K. Fouskas and Bülent Gökay One of America’s fundamental pillars for achieving primacy in the non- communist world from 1944 to 1971 was laid down...

...Norman Bowen Nicholas Sarkozy.s campaign documents and speeches reveal more continuity than rupture with past French foreign policy. The US will welcome his support for missile defense and possible unilateral action outside of the UN. However, like previous French presidents, Sarkozy extolled...

...Nikolaos A. Stavrou The author places American politics in historical and philosophical context, reflecting on the significance of the election of the first African American as president of the United States. He raises fundamental questions about the dearth of historical change and the ability...

...Robert J. Pranger A new American president will now confront the extraordinary complexity of his country's foreign policy. Presidents, even without foreign affairs backgrounds, have already formed ideas about basic directions that the nation's international policies should take...

...Mohamed A. El-Khawas The author examines the steps taken by the new administration to resolve the decades-old Israeli-Palestinian conflict. The search for a solution requires dealing with many players with conflicting interests and contradictory agendas. President Obama's relaunch of the Middle...

... the unrest must be located within an understanding of the dynamic between the Islamists and the state under President Habib Bourguiba and, later, President Zine El Abidine Ben Ali. The essay revisits the terms revolutionary and revolution within the Tunisian context and reflects on the application...

...William H. Lewis; Burton M. Sapin The failures of process and judgment that help explain the war in Iraq are varied. Established patterns of policy making were overshadowed by mechanisms operating outside the formal system, notably by Vice President Richard Chaney. Also, an arrogant defense...

...Mohamed A. El-Khawas Tunisians were the first in the region to oust a long-time dictator, one who had ruled the country for twenty-three years. It was a genuine popular revolution, started without a leader, and was nonpolitical, nonideological, and nonreligious. After toppling President Zine El...

... of the Republic of Cyprus. Moreover, since President Barack Obama’s worldview is widely, and properly, perceived to exhibit pragmatic idealism, it should follow that Washington’s own Cyprus policy should be refashioned along such principled lines. Costas Melakopides is associate professor of international...

...Anna Borshchevskaya A superficial look at Russia’s current problems with terrorism and Muslim extremism may lead to the conclusion that the United States and Russia have similar views on this issue, which would therefore make them obvious partners in addressing the problems. Russian president...

...Kadir Ustun; Kilic Bugra Kanat US-Turkish relations are in the best shape of recent memory. President Barack Obama’s first official overseas visit (in 2009) was meant to start a new type of relationship with Turkey, dubbed the “model partnership,” but the bilateral relations received particular...

...Alon Ben-Meir There are many who doubt that the current Israeli-Palestinian negotiations will lead to a solution, in spite of US secretary of state John Kerry’s efforts and the presumed commitment to peace of Israeli prime minister Benjamin Netanyahu and Palestinian president Mahmoud Abbas. What...

...Anthony M. Eames The year 1982 emerged as pivotal in the Atlantic Alliance and the relationship between President Ronald Reagan and Prime Minister Margaret Thatcher. On 6 June 1982, Israeli Defense Forces breached the Lebanese border in a maneuvre to eradicate the Palestinian Liberation...

...Tozun Bahcheli Turkey achieved major gains through its military intervention in Cyprus following the Greek junta’s coup against Cypriot president Archbishop Makarios in July 1974. Yet Turkey has been repeatedly frustrated by its inability to capitalize on its military accomplishment and to achieve...

...Gregory Brew From January 1957 to August 1958, US policy in the Middle East was guided by the Eisenhower Doctrine. A key facet of the doctrine was the creation of a coalition of conservative Arab states to oppose the influence of Egyptian president Gamel Abdul Nasser. The region's major...

...Olusegun Obasanjo This essay by Olusegun Obasanjo, former president of Nigeria, examines the challenges (AIDS, poverty, and governance) and opportunities (receptive investment climate, increasing democratization process, and a new framework for development) that African countries must deal...

...Mohamed El-Khawas Egypt’s revolution has produced odd results. President Hosni Mubarak was replaced in 2011 by the military, which plans to stay in office until 2013. The interim government has been trying to reconcile the differing demands of young revolutionaries and emerging political parties...

...Efstathios T. Fakiolas; Tassos Fakiolas Since the disintegration of the Soviet Union, the United States has been presented with a unique structural opportunity to establish world.scale hegemony. But it was not until after the 11 September terrorist attacks that an American president explicitly set...

...Richard L. Jackson The inauguration of President Barack Obama offers a historic opportunity to reshape America's interface with the world at large and to undo errors of commission, omission, and neglect of the past decade. US assets undervalued and underused in recent years will be rediscovered...

...Prodromos Yannas The Ecumenical Patriarchate is considered first among equals of all the Orthodox churches and presides over 200 million Christians. The ecumenical mission of the patriarchate is seriously contested by the official stance of the Turkish government and by ultranationalists who fear...