Policy Analysis

In Tehran's alternative reality, there is no risk to doing business in the Islamic Republic because sanctions no longer exist, yet such claims ignore the role that the regime's own actions play in scaring foreign banks away.

The survival of the regime enclave in Deir al-Zour is fundamental to the anti-IS fight, so Washington and Moscow's allies on the ground may need to race to its rescue sooner rather than later.

Coalition units and allied Yemeni forces have fought a successful and timely campaign to stem the al-Qaeda affiliate's runaway growth in Yemen.

Sweeping bureaucratic changes, including the appointment of a new oil minister, may help the deputy crown prince impose his economic plan but could also prompt a royal family crisis.

Washington will be pleased to see Riyadh bolstering another key regional ally, but the potential development of Jordan's nuclear sector could cause headaches, and the political costs for Amman remain unclear.

The future of Europe as a political project may depend on how the union and its individual member states respond to the Islamic State threat.

Russia is less dominant militarily but more willing to act, and that has changed the dynamics in the region.

If the president continues down his path of personalizing power and hollowing out political and civil institutions, he will endanger the country's longstanding democratic makeup.

Davutoglu's departure probably won't change President Erdogan's perception that Turkey has the moral high ground by supporting Sunni rebels in Syria against the Assad regime.

In the latest sign of how new entrants are upending the space launch industry, the Air Force announced last week that an $83 million contract awarded to SpaceX to put a GPS satellite into orbit would cost the government 40 percent less than the competing bid from United Launch Alliance

Given the diplomatic vacuum that formed after the collapse of peace negotiations in 2014, the IDF has increasingly asserted itself as a stabilizer on Israeli-Palestinian issues and a guardian of democratic values at home.

What makes someone become a violent Salafi rather than a non-violent Salafi depends on how they answer a basic question -- what makes someone Muslim?

Watch a pathbreaking public dialogue between senior national security leaders from two old adversaries - His Royal Highness Prince Turki bin Faisal, Saudi Arabia's former intelligence chief and one-time ambassador to Washington, and retired IDF Maj. Gen. Yaakov Amidror, former national security advisor to Prime Minister Netanyahu.

As complicated as the Syria policy challenge may be, the president’s continued inaction in the face of atrocity and his statements about that deliberate posture remain deeply troubling.

Reflecting broad foreign policy themes dating to World War I, U.S. grand strategy in the Middle East since the Cold War has focused on establishing and managing a global security system to contain and deter outside threats. Given Eurasia's demographic and economic/technical strength, a dominant power or powers arising from

The prospect of warmer Iranian-Turkish ties is manageable so long as the United States maintains the intent and capability to promote regional security, and assuming Ankara continues to balance any such rapprochement with its ties to the West, Israel, and Arab states.

Washington shouldn't rush to resolve issues such as banking restrictions and heavy-water stockpiles without prodding Tehran to take helpful steps of its own.

Of course it would be daunting to solve the conflicts the Islamic State feeds on, but that shouldn't be the mission in the first place.

While Western officials should remain true to their longstanding support for human rights and civil liberties in Iran, they should nevertheless be cautious about their ability to shape the country's internal dynamics, focusing instead on influencing its regional and foreign policies through a mixture of pressure and engagement.

Half a decade after the 2011 Libyan uprising, the Libyan Eastern Army is fighting against Islamist militants in Benghazi while a unified interim government in Tripoli, guided by Fayez Sarraj and sponsored by the United Nations (UN), is attempting restore order according to the Libyan political agreement of last December