Learning the lessons ATFP World Press Roundup Article from Bitterlemons by Ghassan Khatib - (Opinion) March 19, 2012 - 12:00am Violence has been always a prominent characteristic of how Israel handles its relationships in the neighborhood. The state was created through violence wielded against the indigenous Palestinian population, resulting in the exile of 800,000 Palestinian refugees to surrounding countries. Afterwards, the use of force became a doctrine in Israel, used to intimidate its neighbors and impress its friends. » Read more

This conflict has no military solution ATFP World Press Roundup Article from Bitterlemons by Ephraim Sneh - (Opinion) March 19, 2012 - 12:00am We are in a period of loss of confidence in the peace process, when the chances of reaching a negotiated two-state solution to the Israeli-Palestinian conflict appear distant. Now, again, we hear Palestinian voices calling for a return to violent struggle. This seems like an appropriate time to review the history of violent clashes between the two sides--and their outcome. » Read more

U.S. War Game Sees Perils of Israeli Strike Against Iran ATFP World Press Roundup Article from The New York Times by Mark Mazzetti, Tom Shanker - March 19, 2012 - 12:00am WASHINGTON — A classified war simulation held this month to assess the repercussions of an Israeli attack on Iran forecasts that the strike would lead to a wider regional war, which could draw in the United States and leave hundreds of Americans dead, according to American officials. The officials said the so-called war game was not designed as a rehearsal for American military action — and they emphasized that the exercise’s results were not the only possible outcome of a real-world conflict. » Read more

The West Bank Through Chinese Eyes ATFP World Press Roundup Article from The Daily Beast by Bernard Avishai - (Opinion) March 19, 2012 - 12:00am Three weeks ago—just while Benjamin Netanyahu was preparing for his Palestineless AIPAC speech—I accompanied a team of about thirty Chinese businesspeople on a visit to the West Bank, led by a former Duke colleague, Liu Kang, now also the dean of the Institute of Arts and Humanities Shanghai’s Jiao Tong University. It was kind of tour d’horizon for uninitiated but intrigued foreign investors—“some billionaires,” Kang assured me—shoe and leather manufacturers, toy exporters, equity-fund managers, people by now accustomed to seeing the world as their market, if not their oyster. » Read more