Policy Analysis

As Saudi military failures draw ever-sharper criticism, Iran seems content to support proxy actions that stop just short of prompting a direct clash with Riyadh.

Fighting between two vital U.S. allies will only strengthen Assad and Iran.

Trita Parsi's formidable persuasive effort would be stronger if he took the counterarguments more seriously and explained why the nuclear negotiations turned out the way they did.

With Iran's help, militant cells are poised to add unmanned vehicles, anti-armor weapons, and other potent capabilities to their existing IED and combat skill set.

January 24, 2018 The Turkish offensive into Afrin, the westernmost enclave controlled by Kurdish factions in northern Syria, opens another sad chapter in the long Syrian conflict. Immediate attention from Washington can contain the situation. It has been advised to address the underlying tensions plaguing Syrian relations and maintain its

As British officials consider how to designate Hezbollah's supposed 'wings,' they should take the group's own words to heart.

January 24, 2018 As his current term nears its end, Egyptian president Abdul Fattah al-Sisi is preparing to run in Egypt’s upcoming presidential election, set for three days beginning on March 26. Sisi derives his legitimacy in ruling Egypt from his overthrow of Islamist President Mohamed Morsi in June 2013

Many officials fear that a full ban on the group could jeopardize British relations with Beirut and undermine Lebanon's stability, but the facts show otherwise.

Two experts discuss how Washington can use its warming relations with Cairo and Riyadh to foster soft-power reform campaigns.

As protests erupted in more than twenty Iranian cities in the waning days of 2017, European leaders were placed in a precarious diplomatic position. When put side-by-side with European responses to the Green Revolution in 2009, the new statements reflect the tamer priorities of European countries: protecting their diplomatic and

In the national security advisor's hawkish view, the possibility of military action against Pyongyang could be understood not so much as a good thing, but as the 'least bad' option.

Institute experts Patrick Clawson, Hanin Ghaddar, and Nader Uskowi discuss Iran's growing influence from the Persian Gulf to the Mediterranean and beyond.

In light of Emirati complaints about the Qatari air force intercepting civilian airliners, Washington should caution both sides in the ongoing Gulf dispute.

January 17, 2018 The Arab-Israeli peace process limps forward at best, but is more appropriately described as being paralyzed to the extent that it calls for immediate intensive care with the United States as its only broker. President Trump surprised all parties by announcing Jerusalem as the capital of Israel

January 17, 2018 The Iraqi narrative is simple and slightly apologetic: While the danger may have been over-felt, still, the “Islamic State” was at the gates of Baghdad, threatening to storm the capital city, and bluntly promising large-scale massacres of its Shia population. Thus sweeping through the majority of northeastern

Despite the inflammatory rhetoric in his latest speech, the Palestinian leader is unlikely to foreclose the two-state process and opt for armed struggle, Islamist domination, or other risky options.

This new study offers a deeper understanding of the foreign-fighter phenomenon, its evolution, and its potential trajectories.

January 12, 2018 A large proportion of the Iraq’s disputed zones fall within the administrative boundaries of the Nineveh governorate, areas in the Rabia-Zummar region where Sunni Kurds and Sunni Arabs are deeply intermeshed. The Sunni Arabs are split between those who support the Kurdistan Region (the Shamar and Jabour

January 12, 2018 The recent demonstrations in Iran have caught many by surprise, especially those who have been attuned to voices sympathetic to the Iranian regime, like that of the National Iranian-American Council (NIAC). Yet the current unrest in Iran has confirmed what those more attuned to domestic conditions in

The latest demonstrations will test the government of Prime Minister Chahed and the broader democratic experiment under way in the birthplace of the Arab Spring.