Policy Analysis

As the West struggles to navigate Islam's major sectarian cleavage, it can learn from the Ottoman Empire's historical experience with Protestant-Catholic wars.

The Assad regime and Hezbollah back Iran's view of the announced parameters, but most other Arab officials and commentators are openly skeptical.

The Supreme Leader expressed skepticism that any progress was made at Lausanne and warned about barriers to resolving the nuclear impasse.

Islam offers both Christians and Jews a broad scope of religious freedoms and protections, and minority rights are also considered a religious and moral obligation.

Heeding fears over Iranian subversion and the security of the vital Bab al-Mandab Strait, the United States and other countries have been drawn into a longstanding Saudi-Yemeni dispute whose deep roots may not be fully appreciated.

The revolution that toppled the regime of Muammar al-Qadhafi has brought Libya the exact opposite of stability. Since November 2014 alone, almost a half-million Libyans have been displaced, some for the fourth or fifth time. The Islamic State has recently entered the country, intensifying the climate of violent extremism. A

Iran needs a nuclear deal to provide daylight for its stricken economy, but if the supreme leader senses that the impending agreement falls short of that, he may impose new redlines that effectively close down the discussions.

By canceling a weapons financing system that had long served as a signal of Egypt's privileged relationship with Washington, the president might have closed the book on any chance for closer ties during his term.

If Ankara and Washington can manage the complications surrounding various domestic and foreign issues, particularly in Syria, then the coming months hold promise for reviving the bilateral relationship.

The Palestinian Authority may have avoided an immediate, devastating crisis following Israel's recent decision to resume the transfer of tax revenues, but the failure of the Palestinian-Israeli peace process, and the unwillingness of the PA to exercise representative good governance, have created a dynamic that will continue to erode the

In recent days, the U.S. Government reshuffled the Middle Eastern deck dramatically, signing a framework agreement with Iran but also buttressing America's traditional regional allies -- supporting the Saudi-led Arab force in Yemen, lifting arms delivery constraints on Egypt, launching air strikes against ISIS in Tikrit after Iran's effort there

Over the past two years, global attention has shifted to Syria and Iraq with the rise of Jabhat al-Nusra and the return of the Islamic State of Iraq and al-Sham (ISIS). However, nearly one thousand miles to the west, Ansar al-Sharia in Libya (ASL) has continued its work of facilitating

President Rouhani speaks of conciliation with the United States, but the differing bilateral descriptions of the parameters have some Iranians worried that a deal is by no means certain.

Click to download high-resolution map [PDF] This map adapted from information contained in Nuclear Iran: A Glossary.

Volcanic changes in the region are under way, with the outbreak of Sunni-Shiite wars in Iraq, Syria, and Yemen, unprecedented tension between Washington and Israel, and U.S.-Iranian nuclear talks that appear on the verge of breakthrough. Watch an expert discussion of these challenges and the future of U.S. policy in the region.

If Washington and its negotiating partners do not adjust their approach, the talks could be remembered not as a signature foreign policy accomplishment, but as a case study of a powerful country playing a strong hand poorly.

In this video,Institute Managing Director and Lane-Swig Senior Fellow Michael Singh notes that the nuclear framework agreement announced on April 2 between Iran and the P5+1 presents impediments to Iran's ability to create a weapon, but does not completely eliminate its nuclear program. President Obama must now reassure U.S. allies

Israel's concerns about the framework nuclear deal center on how the United States will prevent Iran from getting away with violations, increasing its destabilizing actions in the Middle East, and triggering a regional arms race, all while Tehran gets to retain much of its industrial-size nuclear infrastructure.

With ISIS and Iran both threatening to upset the state system in the Middle East, Washington needs to adjust its approach accordingly.

Initial public statements by Iranian officials emphasize that the United States and its partners have accepted an outcome in which Tehran need not change course.