This contradictory America feeds the tension between two broad camps into which the Arab world itself breaks down: on the one hand old-school nationalists and Islamists who in recent times have supplanted them in mass appeal, and on the other newly emergent democratic forces...

Across the Middle East, "freedom is on the march." Certainly, that is the hope and prayer of every American. Is that what we see? In three short years, we have witnessed elections in Afghanistan, Iraq and among the Palestinians. Libya has disavowed and disgorged its nuclear capability.

Jerusalem. In mid-2000, when it appeared that some Arab-majority parts of Jerusalem would be transferred to Palestinian Authority control, Muslim Jerusalemites expressed less than delight at the prospect. Peering over at Arafat's PA, they saw power monopolized by domineering and corrupt autocrats,

The UN's assessment of freedom and governance in Arab societies practically mirrors some of the discussions and debates currently taking place in the region. "Why, among all the regions of the world, do Arabs enjoy the least freedom?" the report's authors poignantly ask.

One of the messages coming out of the Crawford summit between President George W. Bush and Prime Minister Ariel Sharon is that, at least in the eyes of the president, the Road Map to Middle East peace sets the ultimate terms by which actions will be judged.

In his second inaugural address, President Bush said that "it is the policy of the United States to seek and support the growth of democratic movements and institutions in every nation and culture." But many democracy advocates in the region are skeptical of U.S. intentions here,

During their press conference in Crawford, Texas, this week, President Bush and Israeli Prime Minister Ariel Sharon referred several times to Palestinian democracy. Bush, for example, mentioned his ''vision of two democratic states, Israel and Palestine, living side by side.

As an Arab, I was inspired by the Iraqi elections. It took courage to stand up for freedom and democracy. The Iraqis clearly said, "We want to join the civilized world and stand against the terrorists." The elections have given hope to Lebanon, Egypt, and others throughout the region.

As the Palestinians receive lectures on a daily basis to stop violence and change their curricula to defeat extremism, we witness extremism at the core of Israeli society in its most extreme forms of attempting to invade the Al-Aqsa Mosque, without any hesitation in experimenting with planting explosives.

Until the recent elections in Iraq and among the Palestinians, the modern Arab world was largely immune to the winds of democracy that have blown everywhere else in the world. Why? That's a pretty important question. For years, though, it was avoided in both the East and the West.

Europeans’ impressions of America’s so-called “War on Terror” unfortunately, though not surprisingly, paint a gross caricature of the actual campaign. My purpose is to provide an overview of what I believe the War on Terror aims to achieve, clarify misunderstandings...

Many predicted that the war in Iraq would so inflame Arabs and Muslims that Al Qaeda and other extremist groups would enjoy a rise in influence. Now, many Arab observers are saying it is not George Bush's military approach to the Middle East that is making fundamentalist influence grow...

The purple finger revolution in Iraq may have inspired non-Iraqi Arabs in a "good for them" and a "wish it were us" sort of way. But the liberals, moderates, and other disorganized dissidents in the rest of the region can't just copy what the Iraqis have done whenever they feel like it.

The first quarter of 2005 has seen increasingly dramatic news from the Middle East, but equally significant developments, relevant to the future of Islam and the whole world, continue to emerge in Washington. When the United States took leadership of the Iraq intervention in 2003,

And I would like to dedicate my speech to Miriam R'aban and her husband Kamal, from Bet Lahiya in the Gaza Strip, whose five small children were killed by Israeli soldiers while picking strawberries at the family's strawberry field. No one will ever stand trial for this murder.

Elections in Iraq. Pro-democracy rallies in Lebanon. Constitutional reform in Egypt. Renewed peace efforts between Israelis and Palestinians. Some are calling it an "Arab Spring" -- a long overdue turn in the Middle East toward democracy.

Over on the West wing of the Arab world, one watches with amazement as Brother Colonel, as likes to be called, the man otherwise -- the one, the only, the inspired leader of Libya -- turns into an informant for American, British and French secret services.

Ancestors of nations living on the territory of former Soviet Union never participated in Crusades against Arabs and accordingly they never viewed Arabs as enemies. On the other hand, they never gained personal knowledge of the Middle East and its people.

Talk of a democratic surge sweeping the Middle East is yet another case of mistaking wishes for reality. It bears an uncanny resemblance to the blind belief that tens of millions of Iraqis would greet U.S. troops the way the French greeted their American liberators in 1944.

When Syrian dictator Hafez Assad finally died in 2000, hopes were high in Damascus, Western capitals and even Jerusalem about a possible change in this country. The heir apparent Bashar Assad was educated in England, and was an Internet user.

Democracy is being touted as the great hope for the transformation of the Middle East. Is this realistic, given the mindset that prevails in those nations? Can we anticipate that Israel's nasty neighbors will suddenly become nice through the magic wand of democracy?

Pressure for elections and democratic reform has been building in many Arab societies for more than a decade. Just a few years after the low point reached in 1991, when elections were effectively canceled in Algeria, the cause of democratic reform...

The conference, which was organized by the Interreligious and International Federation for World Peace (IIFWP), included a foreign delegation of 50 religious figures from different religions around the world and was entitled "international dialogue and cooperation for progress, prosperity and peace."

The Arab world is changing. Popular protest movements, parliamentary and municipal elections, and successive concessions by the ruling elites are creating a momentum for political transformation in countries as different as Lebanon and Palestine, Egypt and Saudi Arabia.

The gravest evil threatening democracy and world peace today is militant Islam—the convergence of fundamentalist Islam and terrorism. Its breeding ground is in the madrasses (Islamic schools), mosques, and camps sponsored by Arab leaders, and it seeks world dominance.

On the face of it, the post-September 11 era sees Pakistan re-established in the world community, nurturing friendly relations with India, and enjoying political stability in the shape of President General Pervez Musharraf's grip on power, with the economy steady.

Events in the Middle East in 2004 vividly demonstrated U.S. commitment to promoting democracy and respect for human rights. In Iraq, people braved intimidation and threats of death for the opportunity to participate in elections to shape their own future.

The signs from the Middle East are hopeful, but how far can democracy movements go? This is the question after recent elections in Iraq, pro-democracy protests in Lebanon, and tentative signs of openness in Saudi Arabia and Egypt. Can an "Arab Spring" blossom in the harsh soil of the Middle East?

The reality remains that over the past three decades, the Arab populace has gradually grown weary of radical ideologies and their self-proclaimed verities. From pan-Arabism and its promise of Arab renaissance to radical Islam and its quest for salvation,

The Sharon’s boys at the Pentagon thought that 9/11 fit nicely into their boss political agenda as well as yours. Actually, it was the other way around. It fit into my agenda. Nevertheless, you went along with their advice and blamed me and Saddam Hussein for the 9/11 action.