Policy Analysis

A seasoned Middle East researcher and hiring director offers four tips for aspiring policy wonks.

Six weeks after Saudi Arabia, Bahrain, and the United Arab Emirates announced the withdrawal of their ambassadors from Doha, signs of reconciliation are emerging.

Turkey has risen over the past decade thanks to Erdogan, but liberals are becoming the country's new agents of change.

The sudden shakeup at the top of the kingdom's intelligence service will likely have implications for Saudi policy on Iran and Syria.

To prevent another failure that would further dishearten the Israeli and Palestinian publics, the Obama administration should focus on direct, low-profile engagement between the two sides, lapsed economic reform, and other helpful efforts.

Putin remains skeptical about America's willingness to use force, and that doubt creates a much more dangerous situation than the prospect of deploying small numbers of troops to Poland, the Baltic states, and Romania.

If the nuclear talks cannot survive this unrelated incident, then the P5+1 must reexamine its narrow approach to the negotiations.

A 1981 encounter with Klansman Glenn Miller highlighted the rabidly violent, racist mindset that apparently led to this weekend's shooting.

Israel has gotten few positive results from past financial measures against the PA, and both sides risk miscalculation and escalation when they employ unilateral tactics.

The Islamic Republic has added to its nuclear negotiating team a law professor who has extensive experience making Iran's case in international disputes.

The Iraqi parliamentary elections, scheduled for April 30, will take place in just a few weeks. Candidates and competing electoral blocs are campaigning fiercely against each other, despite the absence of political stability and general security. In recent months, there has been an increase in forced deportations and an ongoing

Regardless of how much relief money is spent, life for the refugees in Lebanon and Jordan will become increasingly inhospitable absent a horizon for return to Syria.

Given the imposing obstacles to a near-term breakthrough, the time may be right for a fundamental rethink of U.S. strategy on the peace process.

This new study by Mehdi Khalaji focuses on explaining the decisionmaking process within Iran's highest political echelon.

A closer look at Palestinian views on prisoner releases, the Jewish state question, economic needs, and other issues suggests diplomatic openings are far from exhausted.

The Druse cannot bet on the still-fragmented Syrian opposition to protect them.

As Tunisia's Islamists reaffirm their cohesiveness, the country's contentious politics have worn out many voters and dulled their interest in democratic participation, making abstention the most likely winner of this year's elections.

The Ukraine crisis is unlikely to usher in a new Cold War, but such developments could seriously jeopardize American interests unless Washington does more to uphold international norms and nurture its alliances.

Ambassador Ross sets the context for understanding where we are in the peace process, how we got there, and what we might do from this point on.

Michael Eisenstadt examines the parallels between the development of Iran's chemical warfare program during the war with Iraq and its nuclear program today.