Policy Analysis

The recent flurry of international and regional activism may ultimately result in parameters and UN resolutions that dictate the agenda for the next U.S. administration, so Washington and other actors should weigh each initiative carefully.

It is certainly still premature to engage in a post-mortem for the “Islamic State” in Iraq and Syria (ISIS). While the group has lost two-fifths of its territorial conquests, including Tikrit, Ramadi, Tal Abyad, Sinjar, and Palmyra, ISIS has not yet been put fully on the defensive. Instead, it continues

The deputy crown prince hopes his U.S. visit will help garner support for shifting the kingdom away from oil dependency, but his proposals need more rigorous questioning to ensure they are viable.

Months after the attack on Ben Gardane, Tunisians and the regional public are still overwhelmed by mixed feelings of pride in the power of Tunisian security forces and the people and fear of the Islamic State’s bold move of attempting to establish an “emirate” in Tunisian territory. ISIS leaders had

Cairo's expensive nuclear deal with Moscow will likely increase the country's economic burden and susceptibility to Russian influence.

The leader's distorted view of the Ottoman past may dictate whether the country further embraces Islamization.

In the American policy debates over the causes, consequences, and potential cures of Islamist extremism, institutions of state Islam -- i.e., religious institutions that are formally tied to the states governing their respective countries -- have featured only marginally. Whether due to an understandable ambivalence toward overt engagement with religious

The director of the Institute's Gulf Program answers questions on a variety of U.S.-Saudi issues, including how the next president will be in a much better position to improve the frayed bilateral relationship.

This weekend's mass shooting elicited wide official condemnation from Arab states, but regional media coverage has been limited so far.

The group's public executions of gay men are part of a deliberate moral policing campaign, one aimed at showing supporters and enemies alike that it means to enforce its narrow, atavistic view of Islamic law wherever it can.

The deputy crown prince's first solo trip to Washington confirms his preeminence in the Saudi hierarchy but could spur pushback from royal rivals.

When the 2011 Jasmine Revolution catalyzed a major shift within Tunisian society, contemporary European observers noted that this movement exhibited similarities to the European model of revolution. Many argued that Tunisia's experience had and would continue to remain distinct from those influences shaping the Egyptian, Yemeni, Libyan, and Syrian revolutions

Morocco needs to balance its desire to hold onto an economically and politically important region with the realities of EU human rights regulations and other international norms.

Last month's assassination of a senior Hizbullah commander, apparently by Syrian rebel groups, demonstrates the growing threat the organization faces from fellow Arabs and Muslims.

To get a truer picture of the party's longer-term plans and the implications for political Islam writ large, observers will need to see how Ennahda changes its internal structures, how it votes on divisive legislation, and how it campaigns in upcoming elections.

Two Washington Institute experts share their findings from recent visits to Russia, where they discussed a wide range of regional issues with current and former officials, leading analysts, and other citizens.

The tribes in eastern Syria have been driven in different directions by the Assad regime, outside actors, and their own self-interest, leaving the coalition with a complex web to untangle before it can fully uproot IS.

The heated criticism of his government's rightward shift is obscuring the fact that Arab officials continue to work with Israel on various important initiatives, creating room for potential diplomatic developments that could render outside peacemaking forays moot.

A recent Foreign Policy article argued against holding the Sykes-Picot agreement accountable for the current turmoil in the Middle East. While the author may have gone too far in absolving the treaty and its signatories from all blame, it is certainly true that the borders this document ultimately helped develop

This essay, the sixth in a series exploring prospects for political reform throughout the Middle East, analyzes the unique perils facing democratic governance in Iraq, particularly the dangerous Islamist alternatives masquerading under the guise of theocracy.