Policy Analysis

Internal political bickering and public discontent over economic problems could complicate the upcoming Mosul campaign and the KRG's long-term unity.

How the next president deals with the conflict in Syria will shape American foreign policy in the Middle East for years to come, says Andrew Tabler, and American decisions in Syria will determine the course of American relations with our regional allies, with Iran, and even with Russia. Join us

In order to start a “holy war” against the West, al Qaeda tried to lure Western countries into the Middle Eastern military quagmire. ISIS’ goal, however, is to create a social conflict in the West in order to weaken it, since a weakened enemy is an easier target in the long run.

Arabs and Israelis are in the same boat, facing Iranian-backed threats all around them and yearning for Western leadership on how best to roll back the regime's destabilizing policies.

The two countries appear to be compartmentalizing their shared and divergent interests in Syria and Iraq, but such an approach is highly vulnerable to unexpected military incidents and other factors.

Their presence will likely be more low-profile than for Rabin's funeral twenty years ago, but this is more a sign of the post-Oslo times than a rebuttal of their increasingly close ties with Israel in various spheres.

The killing of Ahmed Halawa highlights the complex web of rivalries, political calculations, and security fears driving recent West Bank power dynamics.

A bipartisan team of distinguished former officials share their insights from a recent tour of key regional capitals.

The Washington Institute's counselor, a veteran U.S. envoy, remembers the late Israeli leader's visionary but pragmatic approach to pursuing peace.

September 28, 2016 In a bold state-like move, the Kurdish Democratic Union Party ( PYD) conducted censuses in the Rojava canton of Jazira. The government of the autonomous region seems to realize that being the “good guys” on the battlefield is not enough. To be legitimate rulers, they need to

Although continuing the crackdown would be the quicker and more expedient approach to meeting Erdogan's goals, it is also more dangerous, risking a permanent state of cultural civil war.

As he saw it, the key to Zionism was not waiting for others to determine the country's future.

With a few exceptions, the candidates focused more on debating the past than offering ideas and prescriptions for today's Middle East challenges.

In Arab Fall, Eric Trager examines the Muslim Brotherhood's decisionmaking throughout the eventful period that commenced with the 2011 Arab Spring uprisings and ended with Mohamed Morsi's overthrow. He explains the Brotherhood's reason for joining the anti-Mubarak uprising, running for a majority of the seats in the 2011-12 parliamentary elections

In addition to meeting the kingdom's urgent energy needs, the new natural gas deal should facilitate long-delayed efforts to develop Israel's offshore Leviathan field.

Rather than honoring its pledge to comply with international norms on money laundering and terrorist finance, Iran may point to two prominent banks in particular as safe spaces for Western engagement.

There's no stopping Iranian ambitions if Moscow has Tehran's back, warns Ambassador James Jeffrey, unless the United States is prepared to "get real" about its Middle East engagement in the next presidential administration. The former American ambassador to Iraq and to Turkey, Jeffrey explains the importance of setting, and upholding

Read what both candidates and their parties have said about Syria, ISIS, the Iran nuclear deal, U.S.-Israel relations, and host of other pressing regional issues.

Watch senior FBI official Michael Steinbach as he details the new borderless threats from terrorists, and how law enforcement is changing the way it does business.

While the group's core appeal among most recruits is its supposed Salafi orientation, the project of raising a generation of Islamic State 'citizens' is driven by factors that have little relation to Salafi doctrines.