Policy Analysis

As UN peacekeepers prepare to depart, an EU mission could help boost Washington’s efforts in Lebanon—provided Europeans can closely coordinate their proposals with the future UN presence and the U.S. focus on sovereignty and disarmament.

Recent Lebanese media engagement with Israelis is a welcome sign, but U.S. mediators should let this organic trend gain momentum for the time being rather than pressuring Beirut to make immediate legislative changes.

Join us for an expert conversation exploring how the Iran war will change Russia's ambitions in the Middle East. Featuring Keith Kellogg, Anna Borshchevskaya, and Matt Tavares. Watch live starting at 12:00 noon EDT (1600 GMT) on Thursay, July 9, 2026.

Although local religious and social differences would present some obstacles, the proven exportability of Rabat’s deradicalization machinery and the kingdom’s good working relations with the Israeli government make it an intriguing candidate for inclusion in the wider Gaza stabilization effort.

Watch an expert preview of next month's NATO summit in Ankara as the alliance deals with lingering tensions from Ukraine, Iran, and other crises.

This landmark document offers a once-in-a-generation opportunity to build real peace between Beirut and Jerusalem, but progress needs to be swift and visible given the threat of violent opposition from Iran and its local allies.

The potential upsides of implementing the Trump administration’s poorly conceived idea are negligible at best, while the downsides would be legion, including further damage to Middle East stability and American interests.

Constricted traffic patterns, escalating warnings, uncertain mine threats, and a new drone attack all suggest that Tehran has no intention of willingly going back to business as usual in the Strait of Hormuz, regardless of diplomatic breakthroughs.

Whatever course Iran and the wider Middle East may take following the war, Russia is well positioned for the aftermath.

The task now is not to achieve an unattainable final victory, but to consolidate allied gains, prevent bad outcomes on the nuclear and navigational files, and ensure that Iran remains weaker than when conflict first broke out in 2023.

By incorporating Ukraine and other like-minded states from the Middle East and Asia, the G7 Summit highlighted the net progress made on countering Iranian, Russian, and Chinese threats to the American-led global security and economic system.

Although claimed compromises by some of Iran’s proxies are unlikely to result in actual disarmament anytime soon, Washington can still erode Tehran’s illicit financial networks by carefully exploiting the militias’ desire to be treated as normal political actors.

Three experts discuss the terms, gaps, and wider regional implications of the new MOU, including how it is being received inside the Gulf states and Iran.

An in-depth look at why the board’s lack of progress in Gaza makes it unlikely to serve its envisioned role of resolving conflicts around the world.

Although the United States and the world needed shipping to resume through the Strait of Hormuz, negotiating a nuclear agreement is not a postwar priority.

Although the U.S. military approach to the region has delivered many operational successes, the Iran war has exposed its serious shortcomings and created new challenges.

Presidential spats with Israeli prime ministers are nothing new, and scapegoating America’s most capable ally in the Middle East would mean more work for U.S. forces, not less.

With the regime still in place, the war has left ordinary Iranians worse off, and U.S. policy has compounded their sense of abandonment.

A young government working to secure its own territory is poorly positioned to open new fronts outside its borders, and Hezbollah would quickly exploit such a move to its advantage.

Three experts discuss the fallout from the latest military strikes, along with the potential contours and implications of a newly announced agreement to halt the fighting and reopen the Strait of Hormuz.