Iran and Syria continue to be major players in the Middle East, especially in Iraq, Lebanon and the Israeli-Palestinian conflict. The Winter 2007 issue of The Middle East Journal offers analysis of the alliances and oppositions brokered by these two countries and their impact on the region and US policy.

This special issue also commemorates the 60th Anniversary of The Middle East Journal with a concise history, and takes a look back at the political and social environment in which MEJ came into being. In “The View from 1947: The CIA and the Partition of Palestine,” Thomas Lippman examines the political setting in 1947 when the Journal was first published. He delves into a CIA analysis put forth shortly before the United Nations vote on the partition of Palestine. Lippman illuminates some advances achieved and stalemates endured.

The atypical alliance between Iran and Syria is the focus of “Syria’s Relations with Iran: Managing the Dilemmas of Alliance.” Fred Lawson, professor of government at Mills College, analyzes the strategic relationship and also sheds light on current US-Iranian tensions.

“‘Don’t Mention the War?’ The Politics of Remembrance in Postwar Lebanon,” by Oren Barak of Hebrew University, offers insight into the legacies of Lebanon’s Civil War and the country’s reluctance to deal with them.

Paul Scham and Ilan Peleg examine parallels between the development of Neoconservatism in America and Neo-Revisionism in Israel and discuss why both movements have recently been losing support.

Virginie Collombier contributes an original investigation into the 2005 Egyptian Parliamentary and Presidential elections, approaching the elections from the perspective of power struggles within the ruling National Democratic Party (NDP). In her article, Collombier chronicles the rise of Gamal Mubarak within the NDP. In the Book Review article, Augustus Richard Norton discusses recent books about Hizbullah.