Policy Analysis

September 13, 2017 The first time I was exposed to the work of the United States Agency for International Development (USAID) in Egypt was in the early 1990s. I was a child in Imbaba, one of the most populous, radicalized, and poorest areas in Cairo. The area did not have

September 12, 2017 Syria’s economic and political stability have long been predicated on a grand bargain of water access. Since Hafez al-Assad seized power in 1970, the Syrian government has manipulated public access to water for political ends. The regime uses water to buy and maintain loyalty, intimidate opponents, and

September 5, 2017 Recently, another controversy erupted over a one-hour sermon delivered at the Islamic Center of Davis in California by Imam Ammar Shahin. His words sounded hateful and anti-Jewish in tone bidding to "liberate Al- Aqsa mosque from the filth of the Jews. Annihilate them down to the very

September 5, 2017 Mideast pundits often speak in terms of “age-old” ethnic and religious conflicts, or of “deeply entrenched” attitudes or prejudices. A closer look at the evidence, however, reveals that Arab public opinion can sometimes change dramatically, both for better and for worse, in the space of just a

August 30, 2017 When Russia began its military intervention in Syria, it was motivated more by political incentives than economic ones. However, now that victory increasingly favors the Assad regime, Russia has found new opportunity to bolster its foothold in the region. With the opposition forces relatively subdued and prospects

August 25, 2017 In the prolonged search for a solution, the Syrian conflict has influenced Russian-Turkish relations greatly, causing either tension or rapprochement depending on each country’s often conflicting interests. But the major change occurred after Turkey’s failed coup and Russia’s supportive position towards the Turkish regime afterwards. As a

August 24, 2017 In " Why Israel Should Listen to Jordan on the Temple Mount," Abdullah Sawalha asserts that in handling the recent Temple Mount crisis, Israel prioritized domestic political considerations over coordination with Jordan. While I agree that Israel could have handled the crisis better, I believe the piece

August 22, 2017 At a May 4, 2017 meeting of the Gulf Cooperation Council, Iraqi prime minister Haider al-Abadi was the apparent subject of criticism from Bahrain’s Interior Minister, Rashid al-Khalifa. Khalifa discussed the threat posed by Iraq’s complicity in some elements of the Hashd al-Shaabi (PMU) and Iran providing

There is much disagreement over how to engage with the deteriorating situation in Jerusalem with regard to security and politics. The recent Temple Mount crisis could have been avoided if there had been a proper assessment of the situation at the political level. Stronger consideration and cooperation with the Jordanian

August 10, 2017 In a few weeks, the citizens of Iraqi Kurdistan will vote in a historic referendum that will pave the way for the emergence of a fully sovereign Kurdish state. Almost a century has passed with Kurdish national aspirations thwarted by a world order that has otherwise accommodated

August 10, 2017 This week King Abdullah of Jordan made a rare visit to Ramallah, his first in five years, to confer with Palestinian Authority President Mahmoud Abbas in the wake of a crisis over security at the Temple Mount/Al Aqsa Mosque in Jerusalem. This latest outbreak of small-scale violence

August 9, 2017 The Islamic Republic of Iran and the autonomous Kurdish region of Iraq maintain cordial relations, and the two neighbors have publicly cooperated in battling the Islamic State (IS). However, this might change soon. The authorities in Tehran are increasingly frustrated with the Kurdish leadership’s decision to hold

August 9, 2017 To wish for change is very hard in a culture that fears transformation. For almost three decades Iraqi Kurdistan has seen the same government, the same faces, and the same ideas, with only the slightest changes in leadership or policies. Who is accountable for the crisis in

July 27, 2017 In his July 13 Fikra Forum article, “The United States and Saudi Arabia Have More In Common Than Mere Common Interests,” Fahad Nazer makes the jarring claim that U.S.-Saudi relations are now based not only on well-known security and economic interests, but also on shared “core values”

July 26, 2017 On June 14 the Egyptian parliament approved the agreement delimiting the maritime borders between Egypt and Saudi Arabia as well as the transfer of the two disputed islands of Tiran and Sanafir, fueling anger among opponents of the agreement, with terms such as “treason” and “setback” making

July 25, 2017 Despite the numerous incubators of radicalism, such as the internet, social media networks, mosques and other religious or social centers, it may be said that a major factor at the root of rad-icalism is the educational curricula in the Arab and Islamic world. Words like “jihad,” “killing

July 20, 2017 The first battle in northern Syria, which has a Kurdish majority and lies along the Turkish border, broke out in 2012 when several armed opposition groups crossed the border and attacked Syrian regime forces concentrated in Ras al-Ayn. After the groups took control of the city, Kurdish

July 20, 2017 Before Congress can reach a conclusion on the administration’s proposed budget, President Donald Trump needs to articulate a strategy for counter-terrorism and the ongoing war in Syria. A new policy should specify its political objectives regarding the Syrian government and other actors in the region. There are

July 12, 2017 The conventional wisdom in Washington has long been that the United States and Saudi Arabia have important mutual interests that sustain their bilateral relations, but they do not adhere to the same core values. That assumption is in need of reassessment. Over the past two decades, Saudi

July 5, 2017 Iraqi Kurdistan has finally set September 25 as the date for an independence referendum. After Mosul fell to the Islamic State (IS) in 2014, Masoud Barzani announced that the region will hold a referendum on independence, as Iraq has already essentially partitioned. Barzani renewed his call for