The Dubai School of Government is currently recruiting for Assistant Professor(s) of Public Policy.

For the United States or Israel to attack Iran now seems unlikely given the blossoming diplomacy with Israel on several fronts, and the likely downshift of the US occupation of Iraq. A cost-benefit analysis favors diplomacy.

In a public hearing last week, the New Orleans City Council tangled with the Office of Recovery and Development and Administration over a state tax credit program to promote cultural activities. Some council members felt their districts were being ignored. The mood turned contentious. As a result of this debate, approval of funding for the city's 17-zone recovery plan was put off -- at Dr. Ed Blakely's request -- for at least another week.

AFTER Idi Amin terrorized and killed his own Ugandans throughout the 1970s, President Julius Nyerere of neighboring Tanzania finally sent his army across the border to end the mayhem and restore stability. Who will now do the same for beleaguered Zimbabwe?

The American political process of self-criticism is one reason millions want to emigrate to the United States -- and why we have few reports of young men or entire families trying to sneak into, say,  Egypt, Sudan, Syria, Tunisia, Iran or Algeria.

There is good news in the simultaneous Israeli negotiations with Syria, Hamas, Hizbullah, and with the Palestinian Authority - not to mention Israel's offer to negotiate directly with Lebanon. But beware simplistic or extreme interpretations.

Iran still has considerable influence in Iraq. It may reconstitute the Mahdi Army and pick up the fight against America, using special groups of the type suspected in the Baghdad car bombing Tuesday. It may also try to use nationalist opposition to the U.S.-Iraq "status of forces" agreement to its advantage. But Tehran will find it difficult to regain lost turf in Baghdad or Basra, or to go back to happily supporting Shiites both at the center and in the militias. It will have to choose whether it is with the state or the sub-state actors.

DI Senior Fellow Vali Nasr tells Charlie Rose about his recent trip to Iraq. The Council on Foreign Relation's Stephen Biddle and the New York Times' Michael Gordon also weigh in.

Watch the full program here.

In virtually every area (except two and half) Washington's Mideast policies have failed to achieve their goals, or have backfired and made things worse for US interests and allies -- and the failures are rather spectacular.

Unless Western leaders enhance their understanding, change their tactics, and address the reasons individuals in the Arab world and Asia lose themselves to despair and terror, the latter will continue to be a global growth industry.

The United States is not a foreign actor in the Middle East, but a leading local player. It has toppled two regimes along with their entire political orders and state structures in Afghanistan and Iraq. It has sanctioned several others in Iran, Syria, Sudan, and the Hamas-led part of Palestine. And it has made clear that it plans to stay, and throw its weight around, for many years. Its strategic aims go well beyond the traditional ones of protecting Arab allies, preserving Israel's dominance over everyone else in the region, and ensuring the free flow of oil. 

Xenia Dormandy, Director of the Project on India and the Subcontinent, was interviewed for The News Hour with Jim Lehrer on June 9, 2008 regarding instability along the border between Pakistan and Afghanistan.

The Summer issue also features calls for action on the economy from economists affiliated with the Belfer Center - Martin Feldstein, Lawrence Summers, Jeffrey Frankel, and Paul Volcker. Additionally, this issue covers a unique "Oil ShockWave" simulation event and much more.