Policy Analysis

A Turkey expert discusses how the upcoming constitutional referendum could exacerbate the internal divisions that the longtime leader has deliberately sown over the years.

After Trump welcomes Sisi, the Syria crisis puts relations in sudden limbo.

Assad's track record indicates that he will likely continue challenging the chemical redline, and that additional strikes and other pressures may be necessary to deter him from doing so.

The United States should not expect any change from Putin until Washington changes its approach first.

As the Trump administration decides whether to pursue a limited military response, it should use existing international legal mechanisms to pressure Damascus and Moscow right away.

Although Israeli trust-building steps are important, Palestinian leaders need to reciprocate by clearly showing their people that peace and terrorism are incompatible.

The prime minister's recent policy adjustment comes across as 'Bush letter minus,' though it may represent the first of several reciprocal steps still required to preserve the two-state solution.

Although the Trump administration is looking to decrease foreign aid, Amman's request for more U.S. funding deserves special consideration given its close cooperation in the region.

The latest regime attack has once again shown that any effort to confront the Islamic State in Syria must also confront Assad.

April 3, 2017 As expected, several Algerian opposition parties declared they would, after all, participate in the parliamentary elections scheduled for May 4. This decision is unsurprising considering their failure to agree on a political plan that extricates the country from its crisis. Over the past two years, the opposition

China's enhanced Middle East profile sends an important message to the Trump administration about America's role in the region.

Sultan Qaboos is ailing, and no one knows who will take over his role as the last word on all aspects of Oman's regional policy.

U.S. officials should take a four-pronged approach to lowering the barriers that have long impeded true normalization between the two countries.

A demonize-and-polarize strategy has worked for the Turkish president in the past, but it may ultimately tear his country apart.

To help Washington in the war against the Islamic State, Cairo must first help itself, in part by adopting a modern COIN approach in Sinai and refocusing its military spending toward that end.

Washington has a strong hand to ask for real concessions on issues such as aid priorities and prosecution of Americans, as well as clarification of Russia's reported military deployments.

Jihadists have become uniquely sensitized to the doctrinal and political stakes in their own names, so the United States should think carefully about the labels it applies to groups like the Islamic State.

Iraq and the Kurdistan Region are America's strongest allies in the war against IS, and sustained U.S. security assistance will be vital to finishing the job.

A military expert lays out the short- and long-term strategic challenges posed by allowing Tehran to continue building up its missile arsenal.

A former National Security Council director outlines the three pillars on which Washington can build a policy of curbing Iran's more destabilizing regional ambitions.