Policy Analysis

Syria's Bashar al-Assad may have thrown a wrench into Iranian President Hasan Rouhani's plans for nuclear negotiations with the West -- if the United States learns the right lessons from the Syria experience.

Forget Rouhani -- Iran's hardline Supreme Leader Ali Khamenei might actually be open to a nuclear deal with America.

With help from Washington and the GCC, Yemen's political transition has been successful thus far, though deeper reform efforts will test the new government's stability.

Hezbollah retaliation could include firing rockets at Israel or executing terrorist attacks on Western and Israeli interests via the group's formidable global networks.

As Israeli and Palestinian negotiators pursue their latest round of talks, hate speech remains one of many daunting obstacles to long-term peace. It is one thing for a government to tolerate private hate speech, but quite a different and more serious matter for it to actually produce, disseminate, or subsidize

Despite its shortcomings, the Oslo process has benefited Israelis and Palestinians, and its focus on nationalist frameworks remains more relevant than unfeasible binational proposals.

The Obama administration should take steps to ameliorate the negative effects of the chemical disarmament agreement, restore Washington's credibility, and preserve its ability to use force if necessary.

The system that will likely be put in place for Egypt's next parliamentary elections may sideline new parties, but this could help consolidate the country's scattered political spectrum.

The AKP sees a bit of its past in the Egyptian Muslim Brotherhood's military ouster, and also a bit of its imagined future.

By limiting potential strike options, Washington risks undercutting diplomacy and being drawn into the kind of intensive, open-ended engagement in Syria that it wants to avoid.

The Arab Spring has recalibrated the regional system by ushering in a tri-axial Middle East.

Although a military response to Syria's August 21 chemical weapons attack is on hold, Washington can restore credibility and pressure by threatening to strike immediately if the Assad regime uses such weapons again.

Political and fiscal pressure is pulling Libya apart at the seams and creating conditions that threaten neighboring countries.

This two-part PolicyWatch discusses how the jihadist group ISIS has gained a foothold in Syria. Part I outlined the group's recent successes; this installment describes how it could face popular discontent if it attempts to enforce its socially conservative agenda or commit high-profile abuses. Despite its successes in Syria so

Al-Qaida and its affiliates have been well-positioned to take advantage of the recent regional upheaval, some of which the group predicted years ago.

An in-depth report on the various opportunities and obstacles that have arisen following major offshore gas finds in the Eastern Mediterranean.

If U.S. strikes are seen as seriously undermining the Assad regime's viability, Hezbollah's global networks could be called on to retaliate against Israeli or Western interests.

President Obama should use Moscow's gambit as an opportunity to turn international and domestic momentum back in his favor on Syria, even while recognizing it for the cynical feint that it assuredly is.

This two-part PolicyWatch assesses how ISIS has gained a foothold in Syria by learning from past jihadist mistakes in Iraq. Part I discusses the group's recent successes; Part II discusses jihadist mistakes in other countries and whether ISIS is repeating them. In August, the Islamic State of Iraq and al-Sham

Washington Institute military expert Jeffrey White contributes to an online debate on the merits and goals of potential intervention.