Policy Analysis

The Cipher Brief sat down with Matt Levitt, former deputy assistant secretary for intelligence and analysis at the Treasury Department, to discuss Hezbollah's roles in Lebanon and Syria and as a proxy for Iran. According to Levitt, despite losses in Syria, Hezbollah remains a threat to Israeli security and U.S

The agreement's currently proposed terms have far less chance of stemming the international terrorist threat, helping the Syrian people, or turning the cessation of hostilities into a viable ceasefire.

Using both carrots and sticks, Israel has so far managed to prevent attacks against the Golan, but the danger is growing as jihadist movements increase their presence in southwestern Syria amid setbacks on other fronts.

Unlike past reports, this iteration plainly acknowledges glorification of violence from both Hamas and Fatah, but it pays inadequate attention to problems associated with Palestinian governance.

One year after the signing of the nuclear deal with Iran, how has the agreement changed the Iranian economy, Tehran's foreign policy, and Russia's role in the Middle East? Watch video briefings by Washington Institute experts.

The United States should not let Iran define effective sanctions relief at the expense of continued implementation of nonnuclear sanctions.

In keeping with their limited view of the agreement's scope, and in light of their other pressing policy concerns, European officials are focused on enforcing the JCPOA's nuclear restrictions and ensuring that the West holds up its end of the deal.

Lost amid the attention devoted to FBI director James Comey's July 5 announcement that the FBI would not bring charges against former Secretary of State Hillary Clinton was his broader criticism of the "security culture of the State Department in general, and with respect to the use of unclassified e-mail

On June 27th, the Kremlin announced that Turkey had apologized to Moscow for downing a Russian jet, which had violated Turkish airspace while flying over Syria in November 2015. The following day, Turkish Prime Minister Binali Yildirim said that President Recep Tayyip Erdogan had expressed his regrets to Russian President

Watch video or read a summary of a lively debate between Israeli lawmakers about how their government should address growing efforts to internationalize the peace process.

The nuclear deal and the negotiations leading up to it have been a significant source of factional confrontation inside Iran over the past few years, and this trend will continue for the foreseeable future.

In the wake of terrorist incidents, societies and their political leaders must avoid the impulse to give in to hatred, focusing instead on reconciliation at the personal, community, and intercommunal levels.

Tehran's claims about its nuclear ambitions still lack credibility and could mean that the JCPOA does not survive beyond the Obama administration.

Thus far, the Obama administration has not fulfilled its pledge to deter and confront external threats to Gulf partners following the nuclear deal.

Egypt and Israel are exploring more overt consultation beyond the quiet security sphere, where ties are closer than ever amid shared threats.

As rival militias continue to dominate Libya's political and security landscape and the Islamic State threatens to evolve into a different but no less potent problem, the West should consider stepping up its efforts to foster a unified and functional national government.

"Islamist" and "Islamic" may sound similar but the difference between them is huge -- and carries profound policy implications.

The Islamic Republic's terror sponsorship has hardly abated since the nuclear deal was reached, giving the Obama administration another opportunity to reassess these menacing behaviors and hold Tehran accountable.

As the kingdom attempts to counter the Islamic State's narrative by consolidating a common identity for those most prone to radicalization, it is simultaneously alienating others.

Editor's Note: This is the first article in a two-part series. Next week, Prof. Mohammad Dajani presents the view that the region's challenges are primarily political rather than cultural. James Clapper, Director of National Intelligence, recently claimed that the United States “can't fix” the Middle East region. Clapper is right