—Voices from the Sensible Center—

Interpreting the Middle East for North Americans—
Interpreting North America for the Middle East

Current Affairs

2 Mubarak and Us—Our friend Humphrey came into the office again, feisty as always but looking earnestly for answers to Middle East puzzles. While explaining some things to him about the dangers facing President Mubarak, we had the feeling Humphrey was more on the ball than usual. Could he have actually learned something during 1982?

3 The "Ogaden War"—As we all know, some of the major media have an exasperating habit of putting an event into headlines one day, and then burying it—sometimes forever—from the second day onwards. So for those of you who might have wondered whatever happened to those arms that the U.S. airlifted urgently to the African Horn last summer, we have dug up an answer.

4 U.S.: Going with the Grain—The U.S. Department of Agriculture has declared war on European grain subsidies by selling some subsidized grain of its own. It's a good time to be doing it, as the market for agricultural products in the Middle East continues to grow.

4 Lobby Activities—Representatives of the National Association of Arab Americans have been making dozens of calls on members of Congress in the hope that such visits will build up their clout as lobbyists. Meanwhile, the American Israel Public Affairs Committee has distributed a memo to Congressmen which argues that Israel shouldn't be expected to withdraw from southern Lebanon until that country agrees to Israel's conditions for withdrawal.

Regular Features

2 Editorial—Sometimes a photo is as good as a thousand words, as they say. We've seen one that we think tells a tragic story, and it doesn't take a thousand words for us to tell you about it.

6 Facts For Your Files—Chronology of U.S.-Middle East Relations Upcoming Events

7 Book Review—From Trucial States to United Arab Emirates is a detailed work on the U.A.E. which is not only readable and useful for reference but captures the flavor of how people live and work there. The author herself has been a resident of the U.A.E. for many years.

8 Personality—It's always nice to know that there are some people in government who are allowed to hold down the same job long enough to become especially expert in what they do. So meet Bonnie Pounds, U.S. Director for the Saudi Arabian-United States Joint Commission on Economic Cooperation.