Dr. Michael Sharnoff

As the uprisings in North Africa and the Middle East enter into their second year, how have these unprecedented events impacted Palestinian attitudes toward Israel? Will Palestinians be emboldened to mimic these revolts and collectively decide to embark on another intifada? Will they continue to pursue unilateral efforts to declare...

Casual observers of the Middle East are no doubt aware of the deeply anti-Semitic and anti- Zionist attitudes in the leadership of the Muslim Brotherhood, Hamas, Hezbollah and Iran. These groups make little attempt to conceal their desire for a world without Israel, and care not whether this goal is...

In the past decade, the Jordanian government has initiated a controversial policy of rescinding the citizenship of thousands of Palestinians. On April 12, Jordan announced it will also invalidate the passports of Palestinians affiliated with the Palestinian Authority and Palestine Liberation Organization. This harsh action has...

As I have mentioned in previous articles, in the absence of a political settlement, Palestinians will undertake unilateral measures to pressure Israel for concessions and recognition. On March 30, the Global March to Jerusalem (GMJ), a nongovernmental organization comprised primarily of Palestinian, Arab and Muslim supporters...

On February 23, Arab League chief Nabil ElAraby urged the United Nations Security Council to issue a ceasefire in Syria. This appeal comes 11 months after Bashar Assad began his brutal crackdown, which has taken the lives of more than 7,500 civilians.

What...

In his 1999 book, The Dream Palace of the Arabs, Middle East scholar Fouad Ajami examines how Arab nationalism -- a secular concept which advocates Arab unity via language and culture -- not religion -- went into decline following the 1967 War, the 1973 War and the 1982 Israeli invasion...

Jordan's struggle with its political identity is not something new, but the social media, the Arab Spring and stalled Israeli-Palestinian negotiations has revived concerns about Jordan's future. Jordan ruled the West Bank -- territory which the international community now regards as Palestinian -- from 1949 to 1967. However,...

As I previously noted, a multilateral approach advocated by the Arab Peace Initiative could have the potential to prevent Palestinian unilateralism, which offer no security guarantees to Israel. On February 6, in an effort to unite rival Palestinian factions Hamas and Fatah, Mahmoud Abbas signed a

Last week, I asserted that it was unlikely that the Israelis and Palestinians would achieve a diplomatic breakthrough by January 26. The history of failed bilateral negotiations shows that it may be time to try a novel and multilateral approach advocated by the Arab Peace Initiative.

This...

The series of direct talks between Israelis and Palestinians which began in Amman on January 3 are scheduled to end on January 26. While the Middle East Quartet may extend this deadline to continue negotiations, it appears this would have little effect in formulating any comprehensive agreement. Neither...

A key item on the agenda for Jordanian King Abdullah's meeting with President Obama on January 17 will be the fate of Israel-Palestinian negotiations. Jordan hosted a series of direct talks between Israel and the PLO which began on January 3. Israeli and Palestinian officials have agreed to...

In the autumn of 2011, Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas embarked on a controversial diplomatic offensive to have the United Nations recognize the state of Palestine with East Jerusalem as its capital. While Abbas asserts that this strategy is neither intended to delegitimize nor embarrass Israel, the United States, Israel and...

Polling data in Egypt suggests that Islamist parties will gain a majority of seats in Egypt's future parliament. While it is too soon to predict whether an Islamist government in Egypt can coexist with democracy, and whether it can adopt a truly "Egypt-first" approach which focuses on domestic...