Policy Analysis

President Obama's call for Bashar al-Asad to step aside puts to rest debate about where exactly Washington stands on the Syrian regime.

With the Palestinian train heading toward the UN, the light at the end of the tunnel is really just Quartet diplomacy heading in the wrong direction.

An Interview by Bernard Gwertzman, CFR.org Despite objections from the international community, as well as Turkey's stern warning that Syria should end its five-month crackdown (NYT) on protesters, Syria's President Bashar al-Assad continues to press on with brutal attacks around the country. What's needed to stop Assad is concerted international

On a day that saw both spectacular terrorist attacks and an annual football championship game, comparing Iraq's soccer world and its broader political system can be enlightening.

The time has come for Washington to withdraw its ambassador from Syria, just as Saudi Arabia, Kuwait, and others have done.

FEATURING Amr al-Azm, Thomas E. Donilon, Robert Kagan, Hisham Kassem, Martin Kramer, James LaRocco, Robin Wright, Amos Yadlin, Dalia Ziada THE PROCEEDINGS In early 2011, the Middle East began a process of convulsive political change unlike any the region had witnessed in memory. Fueled by a heady mix of rage

The Asad regime's actions against protestors appear to fit the definition of war crimes.

Like Ataturk, Erdogan has a vision and controls all levers of power. Time will tell how far he is able to shape Turkey in his conservative design.

U.S. and Saudi efforts to pressure injured Yemeni president Ali Abdullah Saleh to agree to a peaceful transfer of power have been unsuccessful. To counter al-Qaeda in the Arabian Peninsula, a new approach is required.

A key player and an unrelenting obstacle in the Middle East peace process, Syria has long been a thorn in Washington's side when it comes to forging strategic alliances with powers in the region. But only after the events of 9/11 and Damascus's staunch opposition to the War in Iraq

Unless conditions in Syria somehow magically revert to normalcy, Turkey will likely lead the international community in taking a tougher line against the brutal crackdown.

Western powers and their regional allies are increasingly understanding that just talking to Syrian president Bashar al-Asad about his brutality will not be enough to stop it.

The United States should support Saudi King Abdullah's condemnation of President Bashar al-Asad's tactics against demonstrators even though it is an implicit call for a military coup.

The internet provides the medium through which political freedoms are accessible to all for the first time in human history.

Now that one of the revolution's central goals has been accomplished, most Egyptians appear willing to move on, even though the military regime that Hosni Mubarak fronted is still very much intact.

Washington must find the leverage needed to ensure that Egypt's military-supervised transition does not intentionally strengthen Islamists at the expense of revolutionary forces.

Washington has several policy options short of military action to torque the pressure on the Syrian regime and to help the Syrians themselves topple the dictatorship.

If oil income falters due to falling prices or sanctions, Tehran will have great difficulty paying its promised $45 billion per year in public subsidies, making the regime more susceptible to foreign pressure.

After months of drafting, heated interagency discussion, and many rounds of redrafting, the White House is reportedly set to release its long-expected national strategy on countering violent extremism.

Unless the United States reverses the current dynamic, Iran could reap the perceived benefits of being a nuclear power even without building a bomb.