Policy Analysis

The question remains open as to how effective the Iranian proxy can be fighting simultaneously against the Syrian rebels and the Israeli military.

While each country looks at the jihadist problem through a different lens, all are concerned and want to take an active role in combatting it.

Amid electoral boycotts and continued concerns about ISIS and Iran, King Hamad has reappointed a prime minister whom Washington regards as an impediment to political progress.

Although a nuclear agreement might encourage banks and investors to reengage with Iran, low oil prices and longstanding economic problems could affect how the deal is perceived.

Washington needs to change the negotiating dynamics so that the next round of talks is more successful than the past year's efforts.

Although past uprisings have been quickly snuffed out, the latest calls for mass protests have been more strategically savvy and explicitly violent than usual.

Implementing a nuclear agreement will be no easier than reaching one, and Washington will have little influence over what Iran decides to do over time about the deal.

The following is an excerpt from Mr. Singh's unpublished manuscript on China's current and future role in the region. To read the full paper, download the PDF. Even as it pursues greater economic engagement with the Middle East to satisfy its energy needs, it is not at all clear whether

Officials believe a bad deal would leave Iran with the ability to develop more advanced centrifuges, continue with previously undisclosed missile work, avoid intrusive inspections at certain facilities, and 'sneak out' with insufficient warning.

By rethinking its position on creating an opposition buffer zone along the Turkey-Syria border, the administration could spur Assad, Iran, and Russia to change their calculus.

The Kurds may be leveraging recent arms agreements to achieve a more direct security relationship with Western powers on the road toward de facto autonomy.

While the purpose of multilateral negotiations with Iran is to reduce proliferation concerns, successful talks may in fact accelerate nuclear plans in the Gulf states and Jordan.

Regardless of who enters Carthage Palace in January, a free and fair election will represent an achievement worthy of international recognition.

By focusing on financial transactions and income from oil, kidnapping, and major donors, the Treasury Department could severely undercut the group's funding streams.

Although President Abbas has condemned Tuesday's attack in Jerusalem, he allows his advisors and official media to praise the perpetrators as heroes, while his government pays stipends to convicted terrorists and their families.

Washington should help Netanyahu and Abbas formulate a code of conduct for preventing an explosion that would imperil both leaders politically.

Helping Cairo defeat jihadis -- at minimum by delivering long-postponed weapons systems -- would be more productive than punishing it for its repressive approach in Sinai.

In waiving sanctions related to the nuclear program, the president would also blunt his most effective tools for countering Tehran's other illicit activities, effectively rewarding the regime for steps it has not taken.

A late-night agreement in Riyadh appears to have resolved the diplomatic spat between Qatar and its GCC partners, opening up the possibility of more diplomatic coordination and greater unity.

If the United States and its allies fail to manage the Syria and Iraq crises, victorious "anti-order" actors such as Russia, Iran, and ISIS could usher in an unstable era similar to the late 1930s.