Robert M. Danin

Middle East Matters

Danin analyzes critical developments and U.S. foreign policy in the Middle East.

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Middle East Matters This Week: Syrian Chemical Weapons, Iraqi Violence, and U.S. Regional Engagement

by Robert M. Danin
Residents wear masks as they search for bodies in Aleppo (Salman/Courtesy Reuters). Residents wear masks as they search for bodies in Aleppo (Salman/Courtesy Reuters).

Significant Developments

Syria. Syrian officials today denied international allegations that Bashar al-Assad’s forces had used chemical weapons in Syria. Yesterday, the White House sent a letter to Congressional leaders stating that U.S.  intelligence agencies assessed “with varying degrees of confidence” that Assad’s government had used the chemical agent sarin on a small scale. Read more »

Voices From the Region: Syria, Egypt, Jordan, Israel, Palestine, UAE

by Robert M. Danin
Syrian rebels talk as they carry their weapons before heading to the front line in Aleppo on January 9, 2013 (Karam/Courtesy Reuters). Syrian rebels talk as they carry their weapons before heading to the front line in Aleppo on January 9, 2013 (Karam/Courtesy Reuters).

“It’s a very big victory for the Islamic groups…They are the strongest in Syria now because the Western countries won’t help.” – The director of the Britain-based Syrian Observatory for Human Rights using the pseudonym Rami Abdulrahman, speaking about the rebel capture of a key military air base last week Read more »

Middle East Matters This Week: Syria’s Cease-fire Tatters, Former Israeli Security Officials Speak out on Iran

by Robert M. Danin
Israel's defense minister Ehud Barak sits across from Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu during the weekly cabinet meeting in Jerusalem on April 29, 2012 (Ronen Zvulun/Courtesy Reuters). Israel's defense minister Ehud Barak sits across from Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu during the weekly cabinet meeting in Jerusalem on April 29, 2012 (Ronen Zvulun/Courtesy Reuters).

Significant Middle East Developments

Syria. The United Nations announced today that the three-week old truce in Syria “is not holding.” Major General Robert Mood, chief of the UN Supervision Mission to Syria, told Britain’s Sky News that “This is not easy and we are seeing–by the action, by explosions, by firing–that the cease-fire is really a shaky one.” He went on to say that “what we are also seeing on the ground is that where we have observers present, they have a calming effect and we’re also seeing that those operating on the ground, they take advice from our observers.” Read more »

Middle East Matters This Week: Syria Plan Flounders, Iraq’s Kurds Worry

by Robert M. Danin
Members of the first UN monitoring team in Syria, together with members of the Syrian Free Army, visit Homs on April 21, 2012 (Khaled Telawi/Courtesy Reuters). Members of the first UN monitoring team in Syria, together with members of the Syrian Free Army, visit Homs on April 21, 2012 (Khaled Telawi/Courtesy Reuters).

Significant Middle East Developments

Syria. The United Nations Security Council established the U.N. Supervision Mission in Syria on Saturday, increasing the number of ceasefire monitors there from thirty to three hundred. UN special envoy Kofi Annan subsequently urged the Security Council on Tuesday to deploy the expanded unarmed military mission rapidly. However, the head of U.N. peacekeeping operations, Herve Ladsous, said it will take a month to deploy the first one hundred monitors. Read more »

Middle East Matters This Week: Syria’s Friends Meet, Kofi Announces a Deadline, and Egypt’s Brotherhood Fields a Candidate

by Robert M. Danin
Supporters of presidential candidate from the Muslim Brotherhood and the Freedom and Justice Party Khairat al-Shater, cheer while carrying banners bearing images of him, as he presents recommendation documents to the Higher Presidential Elections Commission (HPEC) headquarters in Cairo on April 5, 2012 (Asmaa Waguih/Reuters). Supporters of presidential candidate from the Muslim Brotherhood and the Freedom and Justice Party Khairat al-Shater, cheer while carrying banners bearing images of him, as he presents recommendation documents to the Higher Presidential Elections Commission (HPEC) headquarters in Cairo on April 5, 2012 (Asmaa Waguih/Reuters).

Significant Middle East Developments

Syria. The Friends of Syria group held its second ministerial conference on Sunday to discuss UN special envoy Kofi Annan’s peace plan for Syria. Meeting in Istanbul, representatives from more than eighty nations issued a declaration that recognized the Syrian National Council as a legitimate representative of the Syrian people and the opposition, much to the disappointment of SNC members who had hoped the opposition organization would be recognized as Syria’s sole legitimate representative and that lethal assistance would be pledged. Read more »

Middle East Matters This Week: A Syrian Peace Plan, An Arab Summit in Baghdad, and Iran Prepares for Nuclear Talks

by Robert M. Danin
Iraq's foreign minister Hoshyar Zebari meets with his Kuwaiti counterpart sheikh Sabah Khalid Al-Hamad Al-Sabah upon his arrival for the Arab foreign ministers meeting as part of the Arab League Summit in Baghdad on March 28, 2012 (Mohammed Ameen/Courtesy Reuters). Iraq's foreign minister Hoshyar Zebari meets with his Kuwaiti counterpart sheikh Sabah Khalid Al-Hamad Al-Sabah upon his arrival for the Arab foreign ministers meeting as part of the Arab League Summit in Baghdad on March 28, 2012 (Mohammed Ameen/Courtesy Reuters).

Significant Middle East Developments

Syria. A spokesman for UN special envoy Kofi Annan announced on Tuesday that Syrian president Bashar al-Assad accepted Annan’s six-point peace plan. Iran also announced its support for the plan. Western diplomats expressed doubts over Assad’s intention to implement it. Secretary of State Hillary Clinton said “We will judge Assad’s sincerity and seriousness by what he does, not by what he says.” Read more »