Policy Analysis

As-Suwayda has been unstable since the onset of the Syrian revolution. The increasingly fractured political leadership in this majority-Druze region reflects how Syria’s ongoing conflict has warped and splintered local governance.

Although establishing ties between Turkey and the Syrian regime may seem like a smart move by Erdogan, the decision represents a betrayal of the Syrian people and its success is not guaranteed for the Turkish government.

Following the drone strike against al-Qaeda leader Ayman al-Zawahiri, many variables are up in the air that could significantly alter the stability of a Taliban-controlled Afghanistan as well as the future of the al-Qaeda framework.

With the NATO summit approaching, Sweden is now caught between Turkey’s demands and its own complicated domestic politics.

Some reject the idea of a potential ‘ISIS-ification’ of southern Iraq, but radicalization can occur anywhere when the social tensions are sufficiently severe. Southern Iraq certainly faces this dilemma.

On March 27, two Israeli Arab men recorded themselves pledging allegiance to the leader of the Islamic State (IS) jihadist group before committing a terrorist attack in the Israeli city of Hadera, killing two and injuring several others.

The Syrian governorate of Deir Ezzor is currently a heavily militarized area, where militias and armed forces patrol and pursue their varied interests at the expense of local civilians.

The explosion that rocked Basra on Tuesday may prove a harbinger of greater instability throughout the country in the post-elections period.

Militias' repeated targeting of Kadhimi, including this week's attack on his home, emphasizes that Kadhimi has done something right in his past two years as Prime Minister of Iraq.

After capturing Kabul, the Taliban announced that they were seeking good relations with their neighbors—China, India, Iran, Russia, Pakistan, and the Gulf Arab states. Yet given Pakistan and Qatar’s extant relations with the Taliban, the two countries appear to be the main winners in this shifted balance, and whichever one is chosen as the primary mediator will have a significant role in shaping regional policies towards Afghanistan going forward.

Even as Lebanon struggles with basic necessities, the country will need to explore radical reforms in education and other sectors if it is ever to break out of the cycle of repeated collapse.

Relying on geostrategic advantages and the absence of substantial opposition, ISIS seeks to reconfigure itself in the Syrian and Iraqi deserts in order to expand its control.

Women and children in the al-Hol Camp are conducting ISIS operations and perpetuating ISIS's ideology.

In spite of recent attempts to reinvigorate the Arab world, the failure to effectively address the region’s polarization remains a major obstacle to development.

The Islamic State's strategic understandings of geographic territory, time, and victory are critical elements in its potential for a resurgence.

The Abraham Accords seem to have neither obfuscated not strengthened the Palestinian cause.

Hamas is using the rubble and unexploded ordnance from Israeli strikes to re-arm, and new, bold ideas are needed to prevent the continuation of recurring cycles of violence and rearmament.

The U.S. withdrawal from Afghanistan could mean heightened activity from terrorist organizations other than the Taliban.

The United States should address Iranian soft-power expansion in Gaza when approaching Israeli-Palestinian issues.

To combat the effects of the regime’s destabilizing activities in eastern Syria, the United States can focus on supporting local Arab tribes.