Arab World

THE RECENT DEATH of King Hussein has led to widespread mourning in his beloved Jordan and evoked new concerns about stability in the Middle East, specifically the stalled Middle East peace process.Unfortunately, in many Western capitals, King Hussein's historical importance has been either simplified through numerous personal anecdotes or diminished by a focus on his relationship with Jordan's powerful neighbor, Israel. Relatively little has been said about Hussein's public image in Jordan, his relationship with his subjects and his place in the Arab world.

The way Jerome Segal sees it, the United States and Iraq are involved in a very dangerous game of chicken."I don't think we can know just yet if war will come, because the two sides are playing chicken," he says, referring to the game in which two cars speed directly at each other until one driver, losing his nerve, pulls away at the last moment."

J. WILLIAM FULBRIGHT, a distinguished visitor from Washington, came through Arkansas last week on a trip down memory lane. Everything was as it once was: The former chairman of the Senate Foreign Relations Committee was still bad-mouthing American foreign policy, the American military, the American president . . .It could have been the Seething '60s again. The more things had changed, the more J. William Fulbright had remained the same. It was kind of assuring in a a zany way -- like going back to your past and finding at least somebody who hadn't changed a bit.This time it wasn't the defeat in Vietnam that was a misconceived adventure of the military-industrial complex but the victory in Iraq.

Boston -- Arabs are not the only ones to experience whiplash because of events in the Soviet Union. But the Arab reaction, not only among most Palestinians but also among intellectuals in much of the Arab world, received special notice. In the early hours after the coup, there were many displays of jubilation about an event that much of the world received with alarm.Was that reaction mere perversity? Interviews in Cairo, Amman and Jerusalem, both with Egyptian intellectuals and Palestinian leaders -- including several involved in negotiations toward a peace conference -- suggest it was a bit more complicated.

RIYADH, Saudi Arabia - Earlier this month, I wrote a column suggesting that the 22 members of the Arab League, at their summit in Beirut on March 27 and 28, make a simple, clear-cut proposal to Israel to break the Israeli-Palestinian impasse: In return for a total withdrawal by Israel to the June 4, 1967, lines, and the establishment of a Palestinian state, the 22 members of the Arab League would offer Israel full diplomatic relations, normalized trade...

MOST OF the reaction to President Bush's speech on the Middle East last week focused on its content, especially his dual call for a Palestinian leadership change and the creation of a Palestinian state within three years. But regardless of the merits or feasibility of these substantive positions, the speech, above all, reflected the continuing tension within different corners of the Bush administration and how this tension can change the aims of policy. The aim of the speech had changed substantially by the time it was delivered.

MANAMA, Bahrain -- There is nothing more beautiful than watching people get to vote in a free election for the first time -- particularly in the Arab world, where elections have been so rare. That's what happened in Bahrain on Thursday, as this tiny island nation off the east coast of Saudi Arabia voted for a parliament that will, for the first time, get to share some decision-making with Bahrain's progressive king, Sheik Hamad bin Isa Al Khalifa. As I visited polling stations, what struck me most was the number of elderly women who voted, many covered from head to toe in black burqa-like robes.

WASHINGTON -- I was chatting with an Egyptian friend in Cairo two weeks ago when she got a joke e-mailed to her cell phone, which she immediately shared with me. It said: "President Bush: Take Syria -- get Lebanon for free." Now that it's become apparent that the Syrians have given military help to Saddam Hussein's army, and are alleged to be providing sanctuary for members of his despised clique, the question has been raised as to whether the Bush team might take out Syria's regime next.

WASHINGTON - During the next six months, the world is going to be treated to two remarkable trials in Baghdad. It is going to be the mother of all split screens. On one side, you're going to see the trial of Saddam Hussein. On the other side, you're going to see the trial of the Iraqi people. That's right, the Iraqi people will also be on trial - for whether they can really live together without the iron fist of the man on the other side of the screen. This may be apocryphal, but Mr. Hussein is supposed to have once remarked something like: Be careful; if you get rid of me, you will need seven presidents to rule Iraq.

WASHINGTON - So let me see if I've got this all straight now: Pakistan will allow us to use its bases Mondays, Wednesdays and Fridays - provided we bomb only Taliban whose names begin with Omar and who don't have cousins in the Pakistani secret service. India is with us on Tuesdays and Fridays, provided it can shell Pakistani forces around Kashmir all other days. Egypt is with us on Sundays, provided we don't tell anyone and provided we never mention that we give the Egyptians $2 billion a year in aid. Yasser Arafat is with us only after 10 p.m. on weekdays, when Palestinians who have been dancing in the streets over the World Trade Center attack have gone to bed. The Northern Alliance is with us, provided we buy all its troops new sandals and give U.S. passports to the first 1,000 to reach Kabul.