Policy Analysis

After a decade of discord with the United States, Turkey's ties with Washington improved significantly during 2011.

Protesters in the Middle East have made clear that they look to the U.S. for inspiration and support, and that they look down on the U.S. when they believe this support is not materializing.

Al-Qaeda's finances are at their weakest point in years due to a successful campaign to close off major sources of funding.

The international community's inability thus far to stop Assad, as well as its reticence to intervene on the ground, means that more and more Syrians are looking to the Free Syrian Army not as an alternative to the protest movement, but as a way to support the overall revolutionary effort.

The Russian refusal thus far to support international action against al-Assad is based solely on Russia's fear of losing access to the port of Tartus.

Turkey, which has experienced phenomenal economic growth over the past decade, no longer feels content to subsume itself under Europe.

For the time being, Washington should pay no attention to anything Egypt's Muslim Brotherhood says in English and little attention to any private "assurances" it offers.

The growing Free Syrian Army, the armed wing of the popular rebellion, is playing an increasing role in determining the Assad regime's future.

The potential collapse of the latest negotiations should not stop the United States and its partners from pressing for further concessions from both sides.

Maintaining leverage in Egypt requires demonstrating a willingness to use it -- particularly when vital U.S. interests are at stake, such as the safety of American citizens.

On January 24, Samuel Tadros, Eric Trager, and David Schenker addressed a Policy Forum at The Washington Institute. Mr. Tadros is a research fellow at the Hudson Institute and a professional lecturer at John Hopkins University's School of Advanced International Studies. Mr. Trager is the Ira Weiner fellow at The

Obama's brief, but pointed, focus on the Middle East during his State of the Union address was clear in its determination that Washington will use all diplomatic means available to further the toppling of Bashar al-Assad's regime of terror.

A year after the ebullience in Egypt's Tahrir Square, an alliance between military autocrats and radical theocrats is viewed, sadly, as the best-case scenario.

There are few people in Washington who know the complex diplomatic shoals of the Middle East as well as Ambassador Dennis Ross. Over the course of three administrations -- both Republican and Democrat -- he has witnessed multiple efforts to create a lasting peace between Israel and Palestine, crafted a

Given that Egypt's incoming Islamist legislature will seek to change the state from a presidential to a parliamentary system, the presidency may soon be irrelevant, and ElBaradei might find himself well positioned -- and well qualified -- for the top slot.

Washington's message to Cairo's emerging leaders should be that U.S. support is conditional on their cooperation in maintaining peace with Israel and preserving political pluralism and religious and minority rights.

Despite horrific scenes on the streets of Rabat, Washington should continue to encourage Morocco's process of incremental reforms.

The Egyptian parliament's ill-defined mandate will be a source of tension between the Muslim Brotherhood, the ruling military council, and the Salafis.

On January 17, 2012, Stanley Greenberg and Susan Glasser addressed a Policy Forum at The Washington Institute. Mr. Greenberg, the chairman and CEO of Greenberg Quinlan Rosner, has served as polling advisor to an array of world leaders, including Bill Clinton, Al Gore, Tony Blair, Nelson Mandela, and Ehud Barak

If Washington does not demonstrate through both word and deed the risks that Tehran faces, overly optimistic Iranian hardliners may wrongly decide that the benefits of a confrontation in the Strait of Hormuz outweigh the costs.