Contact: Ralph Derickson

Robert Olson

LEXINGTON, Ky. (Jan. 19, 2005)

WHO: Robert Olson, University of Kentucky history professor with expertise in Mideastern politics and author of “Turkey-Iran Relations, 1979-2004: Revolution, Ideology, War, Coups and Geopolitics.” Olson is currently writing a book on the situation in Iraq. He is a leading international authority on the foreign policies of Iraq, Turkey, Iran and the Kurds.

WHAT: Mahmoud Abbas: Can the New President Create New Directions for Palestine?

Robert Olson, who has written extensively about the politics of the Middle East, believes that Mahmoud Abbas's garnering of 62 percent of the vote to become the president of the Palestinian Authority may create some chance for headway in negotiations with Israel. “ Israel may seize the opportunity to make some concessions to Abbas, but the challenges are many,” said Olson. “For starters, Abbas will have to give some hope to the Palestinians that their lives have some chance of improving. Unemployment rates run as high as 70 percent in Gaza and the West Bank. Abbas will have to curtail violence, terrorism, corruption and purge the ranks of the Palestine Authority and his own Fatah organization. Unless he does this, there is little chance that Israel will let thousands of Palestinian workers back into Israel,” Olson added.

Olson believes Abbas will have to make sure that Israel withdraws from Gaza and ensure that it does not destroy the infrastructure – homes, water systems, factories – built by Israeli settlers in Gaza. “After accomplishing this, he must get Israel to reduce its occupation of the West Bank, remove the 230 checkpoints it has created, let Palestinians used the roads that Israel has built for exclusive use of Jewish settlers, and agree to reduce the estimated 420,000 Jewish settlers now occupying the West Bank,” Olson continued.

Abbas must also get Israel to destroy the barrier that it has built that now stretches for some 400 miles and have the 12 percent of the West Bank that it occupies returned to Israel, Olson contends.

“There is little possibility that any of the above can be accomplished without the active participation of the George W. Bush administration and of the president himself. Washington's active engagement must be accompanied by a substantial financial aid package in order to create the basic infrastructure for economic development and job creation,” Olson said.

Interview Opportunity : Olson is available for interviews with news media. Contact him at his office, (859) 257- 4346, or for assistance with interviews, contact the Office of Public Relations, (859) 257-1754.