Policy Analysis

In this podcast episode from World Politics Review, Vish Sakthivel joins Peter Dörrie to talk about the outlook for Algeria when the Bouteflika era comes to an end.

Given the current state of Israeli politics and the settler movement, Netanyahu has dispiriting choices to salvage a no-win situation.

The group's pioneering use of jihadist social media and communications ensures that its message will continue resonating well past the loss of Mosul and other strongholds.

The strategically important Syrian Druze will not be won over unless they are cut off from Damascus, and even then they would need concrete assurances that international forces will protect them from hostile jihadists.

A State Department official discusses why overcoming cynicism and encouraging reform in the Middle East remains a crucial part of America's role as defender of the international system.

Repartitioning Yemen into separate northern and southern entities may be the only way to resolve its brutal war and beat back its al-Qaeda franchise.

Speculation that the execution of a minor prince means greater accountability in Saudi Arabia is almost certainly misplaced.

Whether the popular Shiite cleric's motivations are ideological or political, Washington should make sure that neither his loyal militias nor any rogue splinter groups are tempted into further acts of violence against American personnel and interests.

According to young Shiite interviewees, two incentives could avert an uncertain journey to the Syrian battlefield: jobs and loans.

Cairo has sought to placate Saudi and American officials while reaching out to their respective adversaries in Damascus and Moscow, but this balancing act may soon topple if Riyadh and Washington withhold crucial funding.

Along with Iran's heightened anti-American rhetoric and local naval deployments, the recent Houthi missile attacks against U.S. vessels raise fears that Tehran's clients may take the war into a new and more dangerous phase.

But kicking out the Islamic State and keeping the peace are two very different things, so longer-term coalition support will be needed.

Putin's forceful strategy of internal military reforms, wide-ranging naval deployments, foreign interventions, and formidable A2AD bubbles has seemingly solidified Russia's presence in the region for the long term, which could complicate U.S. freedom of maneuver.

In this ninth essay in a series exploring Middle East actors pressing for political reform, Saudi activist Hala Aldosari discusses, first, the network of human rights activists encompassing Shiites, liberals, and women; and, second, social entrepreneurs who advocate for a cultural transformation to resist politically forced norms.

While the vast majority of Israeli settlers prefer a political solution, several radical subsets could threaten violence during the Amona evacuation or other attempted outpost removals.

Although the nascent Palestinian initiative may fizzle out on its own, U.S. inaction could draw the Obama administration into an unwanted diplomatic fracas or preempt its own potential initiative.

Israeli President Rivlin hosts Washington Institute Iinitiative that brings Israeli Jewish and Palestinian Muslim religious leaders together for the first time.

Absent effective support from the United States and Saudi Arabia, Lebanon's traditionally pro-Western but increasingly fractured Sunni bloc stands little chance of preventing further gains by the Hezbollah-Syria-Iran axis.

After three antishipping attacks in two weeks by Iranian-backed Houthi rebels, Washington should take firm steps to prevent this from becoming the new normal off Yemen's coast.

As their sons and 'temporary husbands' are ripped from them to fight a proxy war in Syria, grieving mothers and brides are compensated with empty promises, poverty, and threats, heightening communal frustrations to the point of explosion.