Policy Analysis

December 21, 2017 On the first of December, President Donald Trump announced that the United States was recognizing Jerusalem as the capital of Israel and directed the U.S. embassy to be moved from Tel Aviv to Jerusalem. In addition to fulfilling a campaign promise to his base, the move undertaken

Washington and its Gulf Arab partners should collectively hinder Tehran's efforts to close capability gaps, modernize its military, and develop its Shia foreign legion into a more effective expeditionary force.

The country's continuing political and commercial challenges, including limited export possibilities, are hampering development of its Eastern Mediterranean natural gas.

Despite issuing threats through its proxies, Iran shares the international community's interest in Lebanon's near-term stability, but its motivations are hardly benevolent.

December 20, 2017 There have recently been a number of announcements claiming military defeat of the Islamic State in its strongholds of Mosul, Raqqa, and in the Syrian-Iraqi border town of al-Bukamal. And yet new questions arise on the lack of hard evidence of the group’s defeat, in the form

The push by Iran to fill the void created by the defeat of the Islamic State looms large in Israel’s strategic landscape. If the current trajectory persists, these two determined regional actors could increasingly face each other in Syria and eventually slide into confrontation. Tehran seeks to create an enduring

If taken as a whole, the document supports a largely traditional brand of U.S. foreign policy, but many elements of it could be used to justify a very different approach to the world.

Despite its less than definitive verdict, the trial of Ahmed Abu Khattala showed that federal prosecutors, the intelligence community, and the FBI have pursued the case with apolitical professionalism.

Given the clampdown on foreign fighters and the changed environment in Syria and Iraq, the group may be unable to break out as broadly as it once did, so Washington's approach should shift accordingly.

Egyptian laws do not explicitly criminalize homosexuality. However, any publicly announced behavior related to homosexuality or supporting homosexuality falls under the crime of “debauchery,” .

The group has used social solidarities to enhance unit cohesion, encourage tactical flexibility, and strengthen its fighters’ commitment to a culture of jihad, martyrdom, and resistance.

Clear evidence exists of Iranian arms smuggling to the Houthis, but the United States and its allies must get better and faster at sharing intelligence with the UN if they expect to garner more international support for border controls and sanctions.

It's not too late to discourage Iranian adventurism and lead a return to relative calm, but mistakes by successive U.S. administrations and the region's own weaknesses have contributed to a dangerous situation.

Saudi Arabia's rulers have lots of worries, but Trump's announcement about the holy city isn't one of them.

December 14, 2017 Before U.S. President Donald Trump recognized Jerusalem as the capital of Israel in a speech on December 6, the anticipated move was roundly criticized. Both by America’s ‘traditional enemies’ such as Iran and various Islamist groups, but also by U.S. allies in the Middle East and North

December 14, 2017 President Trump’s dramatic declaration to recognize Jerusalem as Israel's capital and his plans to relocate the U.S. Embassy from Tel Aviv to Jerusalem have thrown a spotlight on three goals the Palestinian leadership had so far failed to achieve, namely, to affirm the Palestinian national rights in

When it comes to U.S. policy on the Gulf and Iran, Washington should abandon any wrong-headed notions about resurrecting the pre-1979 security architecture.

At a time when a macabre fondness for the 'stability' provided by the likes of Saddam, Qaddafi, and Assad has seeped into sectors of America’s public discourse, Elliott Abrams has correctly diagnosed the main problem with U.S. regional policy.

A Bahraini delegation's trip to Israel is the latest sign of burgeoning Gulf outreach to the Jewish state.

As more congressional deadlines and international meetings pass with no robust efforts to address the JCPOA's flaws, the chances of the Trump administration terminating the deal grow.