Policy Analysis

On a day that saw both spectacular terrorist attacks and an annual football championship game, comparing Iraq's soccer world and its broader political system can be enlightening.

The time has come for Washington to withdraw its ambassador from Syria, just as Saudi Arabia, Kuwait, and others have done.

Like Ataturk, Erdogan has a vision and controls all levers of power. Time will tell how far he is able to shape Turkey in his conservative design.

U.S. and Saudi efforts to pressure injured Yemeni president Ali Abdullah Saleh to agree to a peaceful transfer of power have been unsuccessful. To counter al-Qaeda in the Arabian Peninsula, a new approach is required.

A key player and an unrelenting obstacle in the Middle East peace process, Syria has long been a thorn in Washington's side when it comes to forging strategic alliances with powers in the region. But only after the events of 9/11 and Damascus's staunch opposition to the War in Iraq

Unless conditions in Syria somehow magically revert to normalcy, Turkey will likely lead the international community in taking a tougher line against the brutal crackdown.

Western powers and their regional allies are increasingly understanding that just talking to Syrian president Bashar al-Asad about his brutality will not be enough to stop it.

The United States should support Saudi King Abdullah's condemnation of President Bashar al-Asad's tactics against demonstrators even though it is an implicit call for a military coup.

The internet provides the medium through which political freedoms are accessible to all for the first time in human history.

Now that one of the revolution's central goals has been accomplished, most Egyptians appear willing to move on, even though the military regime that Hosni Mubarak fronted is still very much intact.

Washington has several policy options short of military action to torque the pressure on the Syrian regime and to help the Syrians themselves topple the dictatorship.

If oil income falters due to falling prices or sanctions, Tehran will have great difficulty paying its promised $45 billion per year in public subsidies, making the regime more susceptible to foreign pressure.

Washington must find the leverage needed to ensure that Egypt's military-supervised transition does not intentionally strengthen Islamists at the expense of revolutionary forces.

After months of drafting, heated interagency discussion, and many rounds of redrafting, the White House is reportedly set to release its long-expected national strategy on countering violent extremism.

Unless the United States reverses the current dynamic, Iran could reap the perceived benefits of being a nuclear power even without building a bomb.

Although the Syrian army has shown signs of fraying for some time, the potential for more serious fissures is beginning to emerge.

Turkey's military has staged coups before, but never one like this week's: by resigning, they created a power gap that destabilizes the government -- and shows how much the country needs them.

The news of mass resignations by Turkey's military leadership is a sign that NATO's second-largest force is snapping under the weight of the ruling party.

As it remakes the Middle East, the Arab Spring is also realigning U.S. and Turkish policies.

Worldwide efforts aimed at Hezbollah's criminal rather than terrorist activities would weaken the group's support network and undermine its reputation at home and abroad.