MIDEASTINSIGHTS ⋅ NOVEMBER 9, 2011 (Originally published in Middle East Insights)

Last month, senior Palestinian negotiator Nabil Shaath declared that negotiations between the Middle East Quartet (US, UN, EU and Russia) reached a deadlock and he chided special envoy Tony Blair as serving only Israeli interests.  However, Shaath suggested that Palestinians could be encouraged to return to direct talks if Israel imposed a full settlement freeze and agreed that the 1967 boundaries would serve as the basis for negotiations.  In response, Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has agreed to a partial settlement freeze to persuade Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas to return to the negotiating table, but the gesture was rebuffed since it did not entail a total halt to all construction activity. Read more »

September 22, 2011 | 0856 GMT

By Scott Stewart

Lone wolf. The mere mention of the phrase invokes a sense of fear and dread. It conjures up images of an unknown, malicious plotter working alone and silently to perpetrate an unpredictable, undetectable and unstoppable act of terror. This one phrase combines the persistent fear of terrorism in modern society with the primal fear of the unknown.

The phrase has been used a lot lately. Anyone who has been paying attention to the American press over the past few weeks has been bombarded with a steady stream of statements regarding lone-wolf militants. While many of these statements, such as those from President Barack Obama, Vice President Joseph Biden and Department of Homeland Security Director Janet Napolitano, were made in the days leading up to the 10th anniversary of the 9/11 attacks, they did not stop when the threats surrounding the anniversary proved to be unfounded and the date passed without incident. Indeed, on Sept. 14, the Director of the National Counterterrorism Center, Matthew Olsen, told CNN that one of the things that concerned him most was “finding that next lone-wolf terrorist before he strikes.” Read more »