Policy Analysis

After more than a decade of feuding, Palestinian factions face an opportunity for change.

After the UN's failures regarding Assad, Syrians need a more forceful option to restore their dignity and rights.

Algeria's divided political system has limited time to make critical reforms.

A recent poll gauges Egyptians' lasting impressions of their chapter in the Arab Spring.

Gridlock and economic stagnation are testing the Arab world's only functioning democracy.

Sisi may need to respond to U.S. pressure over human rights issues, but he knows that Biden will not willingly damage relations with Egypt.

Libya's political process will require input from all its people, including women, youth, and minorities, to ensure a government that governs the country fairly and legitimately.

The best means of understanding Biden’s likely Middle East policy is by analyzing his own writing on the question, which suggests that expectations for a major shift in regional policies may remain unmet.

While Iraqi elites seem to see the announcement of early elections as a major development, polling reveals that Iraqi public opinion is less optimistic about the moves ability to promise major change.

Egypt’s upcoming elections are shining the spotlight on the parliament’s deteriorating performance and credibility.

One of the most common terms used among Iraqi elites to criticize the current state is the concept of the non-state, or al-ladaula. Anyone closely observing Iraq’s political affairs cannot avoid reading and hearing this word multiple times a day, given its prominent usage on TV debates, Whatsapp chats, local

In 1992, as I watched the celebrations for the inauguration of al-Tabiqayn Bridge in Baghdad (formerly, al-Qa’id Bridge) on Al-Shabab Television, I turned to my wife and said: “wouldn’t it have been better for us if the cost of this bridge had been spent on better flour for us to

In a recently announced move, Secretary of State Mike Pompeo visited Khartoum yesterday as part of his broader tour through the region, including visits to Israel, Bahrain, and the UAE. The Israel-UAE normalization deal sparked the series of diplomatic visits. In the wake of these developments, international observers wondered if

On July 30, Prime Minister Mustafa al-Kadhimi announced that early elections in Iraq will take place on June 6, 2021. Following the announcement, various political parties unleashed a barrage of statements in Iraqi media, with some asking for even ‘earlier’ elections. This camp included the President, the Speaker, the UN

Last year, the nonviolent protests of the Sudanese people triumphed over thirty years of oppression, as reflected in the Revolution’s best-known slogan: “Freedom, peace, and justice.” These three words represent the Sudanese people’s yearning to bring these ideals to their country; pressure has led to a negotiation process culminating in

The new Prime Minister of Iraq—Mustafa alKadhemi (MK)—has finally proven to be the nominee who has made it to the finish line and formed the 7 th Iraqi government after the 2003 regime change. The new government, sworn in on early hours of May 7, saw 15 out of 22

With neighboring Iran one of the most severely affected areas of coronavirus, Iraqi authorities are also confirming rising infections and deaths despite closing the border between the two states.

On January 14, Tunisia marked the ninth anniversary of the revolution that overthrew the regime of Zine El Abidine Ben Ali. Yet this year’s anniversary took place amid a tense social and political atmosphere, made even more strained by Tunisia’s fragile economy. Although Tunisian citizens now enjoy freedom of expression

One year ago, Algeria witnessed the beginning of the largest and most peaceful popular protests since its independence in 1962. Since then, Algerians have filled the streets every Tuesday and Friday to express their rejection of the state’s political system and demand radical change. In the past year, Algeria has

The rapid escalation following the assassination of Iranian general Qasem Soleimani has threatened the already precarious state of U.S.-Iraq relations. Now, Iraq must decide how to respond, while considering the unintended consequences that any action will bring. At present, it seems the Iraqi government’s recent 170-0 vote—in the absence of