Word: arafat
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Although there certainly have been lucky breaks, like the death of Arafat, it seems churlish not to give the Bush Administration some credit for the spread of democracy. Regime change in Iraq has changed the climate in the Middle East by enabling the Iraqi people to defy the insurgency and prove the plausibility of democracy. Even more importantly, Bush shifted away from the U.S.’s previous policy of “pragmatic tolerance” of brutal autocratic regimes, which calcified established political regimes and stillborn reformist efforts. As a foreign policy, cynicism masquerading under the self...
Meanwhile, Jordanian King Hussein's proposal for bringing about a negotiated settlement in the Middle East received some encouragement last week when Yasser Arafat, chairman of the Palestine Liberation Organization, finally came up with a list of Palestinians acceptable to the P.L.O. who could serve on a joint Jordanian-Palestinian team. The group would meet first with U.S. diplomats to pave the way for direct negotiations with Israel. Although Israeli Prime Minister Shimon Peres has said he would welcome direct negotiations with a Jordanian-Palestinian delegation, he is not prepared to talk with Palestinians who have links to the P.L.O...
...progress of a sort too. For one thing, it's an implicit sign that things are going better in Baghdad, where the new, democratic, Shi'ite-led government was installed last week. But it is also an indication that the White House, which refused to talk to Yasser Arafat during George W. Bush's first term, may be about to get more involved in the diplomatic scutwork that attends the never ending Middle East negotiations. After all, a viable Palestinian state can no longer be an American afterthought. It is now integral to the Administration's signature foreign policy initiative...
...Respondents who said the steps toward democracy resulted more from other factors, like the death of Yasser Arafat...
...PALESTINIAN TERRITORIES The surprise was not that Palestinians held a successful election. The death of Yasser Arafat in November fundamentally altered the character of their politics. Tired of the Old Man's corruption and violence, a sizable majority of Palestinians chose to replace him with a man known for moderation and willingness to parley with Israel. Even more important, Israel and the U.S., which had ostracized Arafat for two years, were willing to deal with...