Policy Analysis

Washington Institute experts discuss the economic, social, diplomatic, and military implications of the anti-regime demonstrations sweeping Iran. Read a summary or watch video of the full event.

If Erdogan does not compromise with Turkey's forty-million-strong opposition, Kurdish nationalists and other factions could spark widespread unrest.

Two experts distill key points from their Mediterranean Advisory Group meeting on Russian policy in the Middle East and surrounding regions.

Their wildly divergent responses to Iran's protests may be the first salvos in an imminent standoff over the future of the nuclear agreement and international sanctions.

January 5, 2018 As street protests persist against the regime in Iran, Arab official reaction so far has been surprisingly restrained. Typically, a prominent op-ed this week by Abdul Rahman al-Rashed in the flagship Saudi media website, Al-Arabiya, urged not regime change but merely policy changes in Tehran. This reticence

January 5, 2018 The use of the term “Kharijite,” an Islamic sect that is well-known in Islamic history and heritage, has accompanied the emergence of the Islamic State in Iraq and Syria to the point where the term “Kharijite” is used today to directly refer to the organization. Just as

A closer look at the structure and tactics of the many-headed internal security network that the Islamic Republic has deployed to crack down on protestors nationwide.

January 5, 2018 After several days of demonstrations, protests, and civilian deaths as a result of clashes with security forces, the EU, through a spokeswoman for EU Foreign Policy chief Federica Mogherini, cautiously put out statements urging “restraint” and saying it was “monitoring the situation” after having “been in touch

As ethnic minorities and poverty-stricken provincial communities assume a greater role in nationwide unrest, the regime will likely try to pit them against each other.

January 03, 2018 The Kurdistan Regional Government (KRG) conducted the independence referendum on 25 September 2017. Of the 72.16 percent of eligible voters in the Kurdistan Region and the disputed territories that cast their votes, 92.73 percent favored separation from Iraq despite vehement opposition both internally and externally. The KRG

The muted response to the protests may stem from Russia's reliance on Iranian assistance in Syria and its dearth of other regional partners.

January 03, 2018 There is an argument that natural resource abundance is associated with slow growth, greater inequality, and poverty for a majority of a country’s population. Therefore, natural resource wealth has a two-way path: it can lead to economic growth and development, or it can drop the country into

The more the regime believes that its foreign adventures threaten its internal foundations, the more likely it will be to temper its behavior.

The sign of a successful policy response will be its ability to remain relevant whether the demonstrations gather steam or subside.

The group's efforts to increase recruitment in certain areas of Lebanon have helped it continue the fight in Syria, but they could cause internal fissures down the road.

The various regional actors who galvanized past protests have lost much of their legitimacy in recent years.

One hundred years ago, over a lunch, the internationalization of Jerusalem became irrelevant, and it remains so today.

Iraq's existing security institutions need bolstering, and the Popular Mobilization Forces can be incorporated into that process with the coalition's help.

At this current juncture there is not a viable path for either Syrian rebel forces nor for the opposition to win the war on their own. Saving Syria requires international cooperation by executing an effective plan to end the crisis. The best way forward is for the United States to

Putin continues to use weapons deals as a tool for gaining political influence and changing power dynamics abroad, courting virtually every government in the region.