Policy Analysis

The Washington Institute's Philip Solondz Distinguished Visiting Fellow addressed a Senate hearing on the prospects of diplomatic breakthrough with Iran. The following is an excerpt from his prepared remarks; download the PDF to read more, or watch video of the full hearing. The rapid pace of events since Iranian president

Hezbollah may be best known for its armed activities, but it also runs one of the largest and most sophisticated criminal operations in the world.

The glorification of violence in Palestinian Authority media must be addressed if peace talks are to succeed.

Given the numerous external threats facing Jordan and the reversal of the Brotherhood's political fortune at home, the organization is now the least of King Abdullah's worries.

After surviving four decades of challenges, the peace treaty is gaining new life as Israel quietly forges closer relations with the post-Morsi authorities in Cairo.

On October 1, BICOM senior visiting fellow Brig. Gen. (ret.) Michael Herzog briefed journalists on a BICOM conference call, providing his assessment of Iranian president Hassan Rouhani's diplomatic offensive and the requirements for a successful deal to set Iran back from nuclear breakout capacity. The following is a summary of

Although President Obama should head down the diplomatic road toward a nuclear deal with Iran, he must make exceedingly clear what he will not abide.

An official Iranian protest to the world's nuclear watchdog could be an attempt to undermine its role in verifying the regime's compliance with potential diplomatic agreements.

On September 26, 2013, the Islamic Republic of Iran submitted an "explanatory note" to the IAEA responding to that agency's report on the implementation of nuclear safeguards in Iran. To read the full text of the Iranian letter, download the PDF.

The Moroccan government should be encouraged to adopt policies that preempt citizens from joining the Syrian jihad and deradicalize eventual returnees.

If the group's standing in Lebanon continues to implode, the country might cease to be the comfortable home for Hezbollah fugitives it has been for decades.

Sanctions might have brought Rouhani to the table, but they won't keep him there.

President Rouhani's track record shows that he is deeply committed to preserving the regime's longstanding interests, and frequently at odds with the principles of international law.

If the newly banned Brotherhood turns to violence, it will only validate a more thorough and perhaps permanent crackdown.

Too many journalists mistakenly view the Brotherhood as a normal political party rather than a highly secretive hierarchy whose most important figures often avoid the media completely.

Stopping Iran's increasingly rapid progress toward becoming a de facto nuclear weapons state requires significant diplomatic progress, and quickly.

Bahrain's proposal of a serving military officer and royal family member as its new envoy will likely complicate relations with the United States.

Islamist violence has chased off tourists, and now it threatens a key waterway -- and Egypt's entire economy.

Arming friendly rebel factions could help curb the slaughter of civilians, maintain pressure on Assad, eliminate the need for U.S. military action, and keep extremists in check, among other benefits.

Syria's Bashar al-Assad may have thrown a wrench into Iranian President Hasan Rouhani's plans for nuclear negotiations with the West -- if the United States learns the right lessons from the Syria experience.