Policy Analysis

Bahrain’s prime minister, Sheikh Khalifa bin Salman al-Khalifa, has held his position since 1971, the year his country gained independence from Britain, but he is now eighty-four and evidently in uncertain health. Potential candidates to replace him include Crown Prince Salman or even a much younger nephew, Nasser bin Hamad, mirroring the generational handover in Qatar and Saudi Arabia. But the Khawalids, an influential, once-sidelined branch of the ruling family, also merit attention as Bahrain nears the end of an era.

In February, millions of Algerians went to the streets to protest against Bouteflika’s fifth bid for presidency after ruling the country for twenty years. What started as a spontaneous political movement against Bouteflika quickly transformed into popular demand for a radical political change. Even so, Algerians have been able to

The timing of the Iranian government decision to lift gasoline subsidies, which has effectively doubled the cost of fuel on Iranian motorists, raises fundamental questions about the Tehran regime’s political calculus. Despite protests raging in nearby Iraq featuring open and persistent rejection of Iranian meddling and influence, and despite a

As its concerns about domestic dissent and Western naval activity grow, Tehran may once again try to divert attention from the unrest at home by launching attacks abroad.

The deployment of Kremlin-linked mercenaries will make a costly civil war even more difficult to end.

Throughout 2016 and 2017, statements from Riyadh suggested that Saudi Arabia might be on the verge of reorienting its decades-long promotion of Salafism around the world. Given the sheer scale of the kingdom’s support for Islamic institutions over the years, the ripple effects of such a shift would be profound

The Supreme Leader faces tough choices about who to blame for the protests, and what impact they should have on policy toward the United States.

An expert testifies on the concrete steps Washington can take to ensure that a credible, technocratic government forms in Beirut, and that the Lebanese Armed Forces protect civilians from Hezbollah-led reprisals.

The FBI’s top intelligence official shares his insights into how authorities and agencies are collaborating to keep the United States safe amid a shifting threat landscape.

The demonstrations indicate widespread popular rejection of the political system, but this same system remains well organized to deflect and counter unrest.

With Tehran testing the limits of European patience, Washington has an opening to forge a united front, offer conditional leeway on some sanctions, and push the Iranians back to the negotiating table.

The Iraqi Kurdistan government's top diplomat shares the Kurdish view of the growing unrest sweeping Iraq.

In summer 2006, the United Nations passed Security Council Resolution 1701 with the goal of ending the war between Israel and Hezbollah and preventing a recurrence. Among its terms was an expansion of the UN Interim Force in Lebanon, a multinational peacekeeping body created in 1978. UN reports over the

Facing grim prospects in Iran’s upcoming elections, the president’s camp is trying to convince hardliners that they need to keep the nuclear deal alive in order to continue expanding their military arsenal and intervening abroad.

The Turkish leader knows that if he cannot restore economic growth at home or stay just out of Russia’s permanent orbit, his political troubles will only increase.

"Decision Points" is a new podcast that is both a history lesson, a biography of the key Israelis and Americans that shaped the modern bond between the two nations, and a quest to understand how these decision points continue to reverberate today.

The two countries still need to resolve longer-term questions about international export options and energy contracts with Jordan, but the latest step toward reopening the pipeline is encouraging.

In this in-depth briefing, a leading CT official discusses how to address diverse challenges ranging from border security and document forgery to online radicalization and far-right copycat attacks.

The U.S.-brokered talks are a good start, but breaking the impasse on the GERD reservoir’s fill rate is crucial to avoiding deep socioeconomic damage in Egypt and potential armed conflict.

The unprecedented protests in Iraq underline the reality that Iraq is slowly failing as a state. Though life inside the country has improved in some ways, there are still nearly a million new job-seekers each year left unemployed, militias continue to openly humiliate the government, and little is being done