Epstein Secrets

, deserves great credit for ensuring that when the Soviet empire did fall, as Eisenhower had much earlier worked to make happen, the transitions in Eastern Europe were peaceful. Where there could have been chaos Bush reached out to other world leaders and produced an orderly handover of power. He also waged a

of us, knows how weak the Palestinians are. Abbas also knows that the Gaza-West Bank split is much more than a "brotherly" misunderstanding between Fatah and Hamas. The world has been preoccupied away from Palestinian concerns, and now, the Arabs themselves are preoccupied away from Palestine with th

he source of so much allied anxiety: Obama really seems to believe that his foreign policy is succeeding. Ukraine has already been written off. But Eastern Europe need not worry. Obama understands containment. He recently dispatched 150 American ground troops to Poland and each of the Baltic states. You read

ah, West Bank — A week before the deadline expired on the stalled Israeli-Palestinian peace talks sponsored by John Kerry, the Palestinian factions Fatah and Hamas announced an end to their seven-year split. The announcement paved the way for the formation of a Palestinian unity government in the com

of the last century and into this one, many people assumed that history moves in only one direction. The tide of freedom had lifted East Asia and Eastern Europe, the former Soviet Union and Indonesia. In an era of global trade and communications, the rest of the world surely would follow. Academics and thin

from the Emir. The PA is still paying the salaries of the 70,000 teachers and other bureaucrats who stopped going to work when Hamas kicked Abbas' Fatah party out of the place five years ago. Gaza's skeletal economy would collapse without that money, but it's not the currency that matters most. Ham

rom West Bank outposts. He has also declared that the Torah — the book of Jewish religious law — trumps the state's (secular) law. Lior was born in Eastern Europe and by luck evaded the Nazis. In 1947 he was an 11-year-old passenger on the "1947 — Exodus from Europe" (more commonly known as the "Exodus"), the

n Policy Palestinians between reconciliation and impasse Peter Lagerquist July 5, 2011 -- The reconciliation accord formally signed by Hamas and Fatah on May 2 is beginning to show its first cracks. The two movements agreed to jointly contest new elections in late 2012 and were scheduled to announ

also tend to believe that inside every autocracy is a democracy dying to get out, but that might not be true in the Middle East." It was true in Eastern Europe in 1989, added Mandelbaum, but there are two big differences between Eastern Europe and the Middle East. Many Eastern European countries had a rec

s already stepped over the wreckage of the U.S.-Israeli effort to smash Hamas and brokered a unity agreement between the movement and Abbas' rival Fatah party, although its implementation remains bedeviled by deep rivalries and internal splits in Hamas over its terms. And nobody ought to be too sur

t tacked on to Russia -- were originally Scandinavian traders and settlers who made their way from the Baltic Sea through the marshes and for=sts of Eastern Europe down toward the fertile riverlands of what's now Ukra=ne. Other Viking adventurers journeyed to Constantinople, the great capital of the Byzantine

rebuilding was predicated on the Palestinian Authority asserting itself in Gaza. However, relations between Hamas and its political rivals, Abbas's Fatah party, remain fraught= The authority has proven unwilling or unable to govern in Gaza. As a result, th= promised reconstruction money has not been d

e also tend to believe that inside every autocracy is a democracy dying to get out, but that might not be true in the Middle East." It was true in Eastern Europe in 1989, added Mandelbaum, but there are two big differences between Eastern Europe and the Middle East. Many Eastern European countries had a rece

as already stepped over the wreckage of the U.S.-Israeli effort to smash Hamas and brokered a unity agreement between the movement and Abbas' rival Fatah party, although its implementation remains bedeviled by deep rivalries and internal splits in Hamas over its terms. And nobody ought to be too surp

e the self-determination and security denied to us elsewhere. During the 1890s and the early years of the new century, more than a million Jews fled Eastern Europe, but mostly for America. It was only in the 1920s and 1930s that significant numbers arrived in Palestine. Then, within a few years, Hitler rose to p

ancing on a Jordanian town called Karameh, across the 5 HOUSE_OVERSIGHT_011476 Jordan River from the West Bank, from which a fledgling group called Fatah, under the command of Arafat, had been staging a series of raids. In one of their most recent attacks, they’d planted land mines, one of which destro

e the self-determination and security denied to us elsewhere. During the 1890s and the early years of the new century, more than a million Jews fled Eastern Europe, but mostly for America. It was only in the 1920s and 1930s that significant numbers arrived in Palestine. Then, within a few years, Hitler rose to p

ancing on a Jordanian town called Karameh, across the 5 HOUSE_OVERSIGHT_027853 Jordan River from the West Bank, from which a fledgling group called Fatah, under the command of Arafat, had been staging a series of raids. In one of their most recent attacks, they’d planted land mines, one of which destro