Policy Analysis

This summer, Turkey's ruling Justice and Development Party continued its decade of electoral dominance, winning a third consecutive parliamentary victory. Yet the voting results tell a more nuanced story, with the main opposition Republican People's Party making gains in key areas and the AKP's heartland strongholds continuing to lose sway

Turkey, Iran, and the Assad regime are locked in a power game over Syria's future: either Ankara will win and Assad will fall, or Tehran will win and Ankara, hurt by PKK attacks, will throw in the towel and let Syria be.

Although military action in Syria would carry some risks, not intervening in the face of the regime's now fully revealed violent and repressive nature carries its own dangers.

Public frostiness aside, expanding QIZs and other economic initiatives could help ensure that the Egyptian-Israeli cold peace does not devolve into war.

Although Turkey and Israel are not yet ready to become friends, they do not need each other as enemies: talking to one another would serve them both well.

Testimony before the House Committee on Homeland Security, Subcommittee on Counterterrorism and Intelligence and Subcommittee on Oversight, Investigations, and Management. U.S. Attorney General Eric Holder's announcement on Oct. 11 that a dual U.S.-Iranian citizen and a commander in Iran's Quds Force, the special-operations unit of the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps

Washington must prevent renewed PKK attacks from becoming either a wedge between Turkey and Iraq or a bridge between Ankara and Tehran.

Once the military withdrawal is complete, Washington will need to tread gently on Iraqi sensitivities, shrug off snubs, and broaden the range of international voices capable of positively influencing Baghdad.

By telling the Syrian opposition to remain nonviolent and explicitly ruling out military intervention, the Obama administration is laying out unrealistic expectations.

The pullout of U.S. forces in Iraq threatens to unleash a dangerous and deadly struggle with Iran and within the Iraqi army.

On October 17, 2011, Dan Schueftan and Michael Singh addressed a Policy Forum at The Washington Institute. Dr. Schueftan is director of the National Security Studies Center at the University of Haifa and a lecturer at the Israel Defense Forces National Security College and Command and Staff College. Mr. Singh

Turkey's latest earthquake could be the beginning of the end for the PKK's appeal among Kurds in the southeast, to the benefit of other players.

In the wake of Sultan's death, Prince Nayef is almost certain to insist that he be chosen as the next heir apparent.

Turkey's sustained economic growth since 2002 has cast Ankara as the dominant power in its neighborhood.

A moderate Islamist party governing in coalition with secularists will offer Tunisia a reasonable chance at real democracy.

If Washington is not going to compel Asad to step down, the least it can do is help protect those Syrians brave enough to continue to call for change themselves.

On October 14, 2011, Robert S. Ford and Andrew J. Tabler addressed a Policy Forum at The Washington Institute. Mr. Ford, the U.S. ambassador to Syria and a career member of the senior foreign service, joined the discussion from Damascus via Skype. He has visited cities under siege by Syrian

Ankara and Tehran appear locked, once again, in their centuries-old competition to become the region's dominant power.

Although the Shalit deal may help Netanyahu, the massive prisoner release will backfire on him if there is a spate of terrorist attacks.

U.S. policy toward the Asad regime could be affected by the recent indictment of a Syrian American for spying on U.S.-based opposition figures, especially if both governments respond with diplomatic expulsions.