Policy Analysis

The Washington Institute convened a broad array of policymakers, activists, scholars, and journalists from around the world for The Washington Institute's annual policy conference in Washington, DC.

Three of journalism's leading observers of Washington and U.S. national security shared their insights into Secretary of Defense Chuck Hagel's keynote remarks at the Institute's 2013 Soref Symposium.

Anwar E. El Sadat, president of Egypt's Reform and Development Party, joined Institute counselor and former White House Middle East advisor Dennis Ross at The Washington Institute's 2013 Soref Symposium for a conversation on Egypt's ongoing transition to post-Mubarak rule.

Israel's airstrikes were intended to prevent Hezbollah from upgrading its arsenal, not to influence Syria's civil war.

The May 16 summit provides an opportunity to strengthen cooperation on Iraq, Syria, Israel, and Iran.

As the regime narrows the list of approved candidates for the upcoming presidential election, Washington should criticize Tehran for limiting who is permitted to run.

Given Turkey's longstanding fear of Russia, it is unlikely to take action against the Assad regime without full NATO involvement.

U.S. Secretary of Defense Chuck Hagel delivered keynote remarks at the Institute's 2013 Soref Symposium in Washington, DC, on May 9, 2013. Download Secretary Hagel's prepared remarks (PDF) Download a transcript of Secretary Hagel's conversation with Institute executive director Robert Satloff (PDF)

Tzachi Hanegbi, member of the Knesset, Likud, and former Israeli minister of intelligence, addresses The Washington Institute's 2013 Soref Symposium on May 9, 2013.

On April 25, the Kurdistan Workers Party (PKK) announced that it would withdraw its militants from Turkish soil after more than four decades of fighting against Ankara, including carrying out terror attacks inside Turkey. The announcement follows recent news that Ankara has begun official peace talks with PKK leader Abdullah

President Morsi and the Brotherhood are deploying Islam primarily as a rhetorical device for maintaining internal unity and distinguishing themselves from their rivals.

In late April, the Obama administration blacklisted two Lebanese money exchanges for allegedly facilitating Hezbollah's use of narcotics trafficking profits to fund terrorist activities. In an email interview, Matthew Levitt, director of the Stein Program on Counterterrorism and Intelligence at The Washington Institute and author of the forthcoming Hezbollah: The

If it is to be a catalyst for action, the API will require a more direct approach with Israel.

The Institute's director of research reviews three recent studies on Iran's nuclear ambitions and how they fit in with the regime's wider regional strategy and negotiating stance: The Iranian Nuclear Crisis: A Memoir by Seyed Hossein Mousavian, Iran: The Nuclear Challenge by Robert Blackwill (ed.), and U.S. and Iranian Strategic

Turkey's unique combination of Islamic and Western influences is hardwired into its institutions and citizenry, making a drastic turn in either direction both unlikely and inadvisable.

During the past few years, Lebanese Hizb Allah's global operations increased markedly, but until recently its efforts yielded few successes.

U.S. policymakers once lamented that Washington needed Turkey more than the other way around, but this is no longer true.

The Obama administration should respond to the Assad regime's reported use of chemical weapons and its obstruction of UN investigators by ratcheting up support for the opposition.

While surface-to-surface missiles have not changed the course of the war, their introduction is in line with past regime escalation -- a pattern that will likely to apply to chemical weapons use if the international reaction remains muted.

Despite concerns about stability, oil, and Islamism, Beijing will continue to let Washington underwrite security in the Gulf.