Iran’s nuclear ambition is currently the focus of global headlines and diplomatic debates. Iran says it has a right to become a nuclear power but the US and its European allies worry more about Iran’s nuclear weapons program. The Spring 2005 issue of The Middle East Journal features two very timely articles on Iran, as well as an analysis of the recent Egyptian elections and other regional issues.

Mustafa Kibaroglu offers a fresh perspective on the Iranian nuclear debate in “Good for the Shah, Banned for the Mullahs: Iran’s Quest for Nuclear Power.” Kibaroglu is a Turkish scholar at Bilkent University and an arms control specialist. In this article he explores the historical context of Iran’s nuclear program and examines different options facing the international community. In “Iran’s Policy Towards Afghanistan,” University of South Florida Professor Mohsen Milani traces Iran’s policies towards its eastern neighbor from Soviet occupation through the Taliban era to the present.

The recent Egyptian election is the focus of Yoram Meital’s article, “The Struggle over the Political Order in Egypt: The 2005 Elections.” Meital is an Israeli specialist on Egypt. He argues that Egypt’s elections are of considerable importance despite their obvious flaws. He also examines the role of new media in the electoral campaign.

Two articles on the Israeli-Palestinian conflict look at the crisis from contemporary and historical perspectives: Guy Ben-Porat’s article “Markets and Fences: Illusions of Peace” argues that policymakers have sometimes opted for short-cuts that avoid or postpone dealing with the difficult issues at the heart of the conflict. University of Cologne professor Roland Popp explores the origins of the 1967 War in “Stumbling Decidedly into the Six-Day War.” Using recently declassified information, Popp provides fresh insights into Israel’s motivation for the war, which he suggests was to block a diplomatic solution to the conflict and not for military reasons.

In the Book Review essay, respected Iraq expert Peter Sluglett of the University of Utah takes a look at recent publications on Iraq and the war that toppled Saddam Hussein.