Policy Analysis

Gen. James L. Jones (Ret., USMC), President Obama's national security advisor, delivered the Michael Stein Address on U.S. Middle East Policy at The Washington Institute's Soref Symposium on April 21, 2010. The event honored the Institute's 25th anniversary. Gen. Jones previously served as special envoy for Middle East regional security

In his confirmation hearing in March, Robert S. Ford, the U.S. ambassador-designate to Syria, listed five issues that will be at the core of the Obama administration's engagement with Damascus. Four were familiar: the United States wants Syria to prevent jihadi fighters from entering Iraq, end its support for Hezbollah

Middle East Bulletin, a publication of the Center for American Progress, interviewed Institute Next Generation fellow Andrew J. Tabler about U.S. policy toward Syria. The following is the published Q&A. The recent reports about Syria transferring Scud missiles to Hezbollah have only fed into a fractious debate about what U.S

The most likely scenario for government formation is a government of national unity that will hold together just long enough to appoint a president, prime minister and cabinet. Iraq is likely to witness restrictions on prime ministerial power, ongoing corruption and disrupted governance, although these factors will only slow rather

At the outset of the April 2010 Nuclear Security Summit, President Obama warned that nuclear terrorism is "one of the greatest threats to global security," observing that terrorist groups like al-Qaeda would "surely use" a nuclear device if they were able to obtain one. He further argued that a "new

Israeli Defense Minister Ehud Barak sent officials in Damascus and Washington scrambling when he claimed Tuesday that Syria is providing the Lebanese Shiite militia Hezbollah with Scud missiles whose accuracy and range threaten more Israeli cities than ever before. His unexpected announcement, though vehemently denied by the Syrian regime, threatens

It is widely known that the poor relationship between U.S. President Barack Obama and Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu stands at the center of U.S.-Israeli tension. Yet, it is hard to be hopeful for a variety of reasons. They relate to differences of outlook between them in three key areas: the

How is the United States working to improve global cooperation and coordination to combat terrorist financing?

On March 28, 2010, Politico's Laura Rozen ran a story citing an anonymous U.S. government source who suggested that Ambassador Dennis Ross, senior director for the Central Region at the National Security Council, "seems to be far more sensitive to [Israeli prime minister Binyamin] Netanyahu's coalition politics than to U.S

As the news broke that his cross-sectarian alliance was leading last month's parliamentary election with 91 seats, former Iraqi Prime Minister Ayad Allawi was seen on television, grinning and receiving well-wishers in his Baghdad headquarters. His supporters took to the streets, jubilantly dancing and exchanging congratulatory embraces. It was, however

In October 2008, Colombian authorities arrested thirty-six Lebanese expatriates on money laundering and drug charges. This was more than a standard criminal syndicate, however -- the group was transferring a portion of its profits back to Hizballah. Michael Jacobson and Matthew Levitt discuss how such cases point to a new

In February 2010, tensions spiked between Israel and its northern neighbors. First, Syrian and Israeli officials engaged in a war of words, complete with dueling threats of regime change and targeting civilian populations. Weeks later, Hizbullah leader Hassan Nasrallah pledged to go toe-to-toe with Israel in the next war. Then

On April 5, 2010, Gregory Schulte, George Perkovich, and Simon Henderson addressed a special Policy Forum luncheon at The Washington Institute to discuss the implications of regional nuclear proliferation in the context of the April 12-13 Nuclear Security Summit in Washington. Ambassador Schulte, who served as U.S. representative at the

The March 26 clash between elements of the Israel Defense Forces (IDF) Golani Brigade and Palestinian operatives near the Gaza border was the most serious since the end of Operation Cast Lead in January 2009. The incident has exacerbated tensions -- already on the rise due to increased rocket attacks

Last week in Beirut, the United Nations Special Tribunal charged with investigating and prosecuting the killers of former Lebanese premier Rafiq Hariri brought six members of Hizballah in for questioning. The tribunal's decision to interview Hizballah in connection with the 2005 murder appears to confirm a 2009 report in Der

As the United States seeks to reduce its military presence in Iraq, the ambitious withdrawal timetable laid out by President Barack Obama becomes vulnerable to disruption by a number of strategic factors. Chief among these is a violent breakdown of relations between the federal government in Baghdad and the Kurdistan

A top Justice Department official shares a briefing on his agency's efforts to counter Iran's global illicit activity.

Abstract While al-Qaeda has used the Internet primarily to spread its propaganda and to rally new recruits, the terrorist group has also relied on the Internet for financing-related purposes. Other Islamist terrorist groups, including Hamas, Lashkar e-Taiba, and Hizballah have also made extensive use of the Internet to raise and

On March 17, 2010, U.S. deputy secretary of energy Daniel Poneman addressed a special Policy Forum luncheon at The Washington Institute on nuclear proliferation and nuclear power in the Middle East. Deputy Secretary Poneman served previously in the Clinton administration as senior director for nonproliferation and export controls on the

In the new book Son of Hamas now grabbing headlines, Mosab Hassan Yousef, the son of one of Hamas's founders, reveals that he was a long-time informant for the Israeli government, providing intelligence that helped prevent numerous terrorist attacks. Yousef, who has since converted to Christianity and lives in California