No Arabist, Buttonwood probably knows as much as most about Saudi Arabia, which is to say very little.

ECONOMIST: Buttonwood

Mr Sarkozy, who has shifted French diplomacy towards a less Arabist and more pro-Israeli position, has been characteristically busy in the Middle East recently.

ECONOMIST: Europe and America

Mr. Bush urgently needs to place someone who shares and advocates his views in charge of the Mideast portfolio at the policy-coordinating National Security Council, not someone detailed from NEA and loyal to its Arabist agenda.

CENTERFORSECURITYPOLICY: Return to Mideast First Principles

He wants to be for the 1980s and 1990s what Gamal Abdel Nasser was for the 1950s and 1960s: the preeminent Pan-Arabist, the leader of an as-yet-unborn third force telling Soviets and Americans to stay off his turf.

FORBES: Iraq: The Oil, C'est Moi