Policy Analysis

In this anthology, contributors discuss the policy challenges associated with an emerging phenomenon, but disabuse readers of any notion that jihadist governance and statecraft should be equated with political moderation.

Iran’s new reformist president will need time to generate consensus at home before making any significant foreign policy moves; Washington should do the same.

A promising cross-Mediterranean initiative has run into political challenges, burdensome investment laws, methane leaks, and other hurdles.

Direct strikes from the Yemeni group are unlikely at the moment, but a more aggressive Hezbollah could alter the threat picture.

The challenge is to find a common line that accounts for different national positions on regional issues while still promoting a coherent foreign policy.

A former Israeli military planner joins three experts to discuss each side’s current calculus and the U.S. policy implications if they opt for war or a truce.

Asaib Ahl al-Haq cannot seem to decide whether it has detached from anti-U.S. militancy or not, causing other militias to tie themselves in rhetorical knots over the group's public credentials.

If the PA leadership collapses under the weight of Israeli pressure and West Bank deterioration, the result could be a destabilizing reset in the Palestinian arena and a postwar void in Gaza.

Iran-backed militias were quick to defend the judge after he was accused of being a tool for Iranian influence.

Only by working to address internal issues can the KRI hope to stem the tide of both irregular migration and the loss of its most valuable human capital.

The deal could eventually boost supplies to Egypt, though Hezbollah’s robust missile arsenal and public threats against East Mediterranean energy targets may dampen broader regional investment in the sector.

Key Middle East actors tend to distrust the U.S. narrative about the war and conclude they can reap better economic benefits from Russia, so Washington should do more to get them off the sidelines.

To fill the capabilities gap between carrier groups and prepare for potential Houthi escalation in the next few weeks, the United States and its partners need to implement stopgap measures and, ideally, surge more military assets into the region temporarily.

The obvious nature of multiple recom­mendations points to scandalous mismanagement at the UN aid agency over decades.

Allowing a runoff in the presidential election is a somewhat risky move for the Supreme Leader, but engineering a one-round outcome would raise domestic problems of its own.

The brand appears to have been reactivated by its parent organization, Kataib Sayyid al-Shuhada, to claim certain attacks on Israel during the Gaza war.

The immediate effects of the Houthi antishipping campaign are measurably serious, but the United States, Saudi Arabia, and other partners also need to prepare for the emboldened group to exert its newfound leverage in other ways beyond the Gaza war.

An American-led diplomatic initiative to separate their forces at the border appears to be falling short, and time is running out.

The alliance has already been shifting toward greater engagement with the Middle East and Africa, but various maritime and infrastructure threats require more urgent attention, as does the broader problem of countering Moscow’s narrative.

Given the complicated baggage that Sadr brings into Iraq’s political game, his re-entry into formal politics after a years-long hiatus will likely destabilize the internal Shia political landscape.