Policy Analysis

With tensions peaking between Iran and the conservative Arab states, the current calm in the island kingdom of Bahrain may prove only temporary. A longtime U.S. ally that hosts the Navy's Fifth Fleet headquarters, Bahrain plays a crucial role in ensuring regional security. Yet reforms of its political system have

Washington lacks the voice and vocabulary to rhetorically challenge the group's theology, so it should focus on making better use of other potent tools that can actually stop jihadist goals from becoming a reality.

With ample Russian and Iranian help, regime forces have cut the rebels' main lifeline in the north, and they will likely steer their relentless steamroller to the west unless outside powers take action.

The potential risks of inaction -- including thousands more civilians killed, millions more refugees, the spillover of fighting into Turkey, Jordan, and Israel, and a Russian-Iranian military victory -- greatly outweigh the dangers of moving forward.

In addition to suffering from inadequate international humanitarian assistance, the kingdom's massive Syrian refugee population is threatening the domestic stability of a key strategic partner.

The Muslim Brotherhood in Egypt can be characterized as an intellectual and political movement distinguished by its relationship with the ruling regimes. After Gamal Abdel Nasser and his comrades swept away the Egyptian constitutional monarchy in 1952, the Brotherhood cemented its place in Egypt’s political arena, regarded as the most

The fifth anniversary of the Syrian uprising against Bashar al-Assad's government will be commemorated in a few weeks with yet another round of diplomatic attempts at forging a political solution. The Syrian crisis has killed hundreds of thousands, injured and displaced millions, and destroyed much of the country's infrastructure. Facing

While the Experts Assembly elected this month may be formally tasked with appointing the elderly Khamenei's successor, the real decision will likely be made by other power centers that could wind up controlling the new Supreme Leader.

In a statement delivered at the King Salman Air Base in Riyadh in mid-December, Saudi Arabian Defense Minister and Deputy Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman announced the formation of an Islamic coalition to fight terrorism. The coalition was supposed to be comprised of 35 countries out of a total of

Regional regulators must take steps, as the Iraqi Central Bank has done, to wall off their financial systems from unlicensed or loosely regulated money remitters vulnerable to exploitation by the Islamic State.

The situation in the Middle East is beginning to resemble the Balkans: either the Balkans in the early 1990s, before Washington woke up and played its role as security leader, or the Balkans before World War I, when no one woke up.

The promise of renewed conflict between Israel and Hamas has made donors shy away from funding the large-scale projects and new housing developments needed to improve and not simply manage living conditions in Gaza.

Reversing the political, military, and ideological factors that led to the movement's rise will require substantive projects that are as self-sustaining and nimble as IS has proven to be.

On 11 December 2015 Russian President Vladimir Putin addressed the Russian Defense Ministry's expanded board meetings, where he said, for the first time according to Western press reports, that Russia is helping the Free Syrian Army -- an opponent of Syrian President Bashar al-Assad. Russia has supported Assad unequivocally since

Tighter border security would pose an existential threat to IS, not to mention hindering its travel, smuggling, and recruitment efforts.

The security of the Kurdistan Region-Iraq (KRI) depends more on agreements between Erbil and Kurdistan’s neighbors than the KRI’s own security and intelligence capabilities. Whenever the regional powers surrounding the KRI have suspected that their interests are at risk, they have not hesitated to put the KRI’s security and stability

There is no denying Egypt’s current state of public discontent, stemming from deteriorating living conditions and a state of frustration over the repressive policies of the Sisi government. Today’s Egyptian citizen has lost the most basic guarantees of freedom, justice, and human dignity. The brutality of the security state awaits

Pushing the Syrian opposition to the negotiating table while the regime's onslaught continues will only worsen the situation, so Washington should press Russia for a true ceasefire if it wants the talks to produce actual progress.

Diplomacy is shaped by facts on the ground, not the reverse, so Washington must be prepared to alter those facts by increasing its support for the opposition or expanding its own military involvement.

Turkey is poised to become the most pivotal country of the Middle East. Turkey’s position as the geographical, historical, religious and cultural bridge between Europe and Asia leaves it uniquely situated in the region. It is also a close regional ally of Israel and the major Arab powers of Saudi