Policy Analysis

Israel's deterrent power is largely a reflection of how its adversaries view the strength of its strategic relationship with the United States, so actively addressing the issues that have caused recent fissures is paramount.

Normalization negotiations seem closer than ever to conclusion and should be encouraged, but significant differences remain, especially on Gaza, Hamas, and Egypt, and they will likely prevent a return to past bilateral intimacy.

Until Iran stops engaging in illicit behaviors such as terrorist financing, banks are likely to see prohibitive reputational, regulatory, and other risks to doing business there.

To curb the power of Salafi ideas, the West must help Middle Eastern countries rebuild even as they fight ISIS, so that the group's destructive, exploitative project is perceived for what it is.

April 17, 2016 On the periphery of international concern, the situation in Libya continues to disintegrate. Yet Libya’s eastern neighbor Egypt has consistently exercised its influence in determining the diplomatic outcomes of the five year-long crisis. Recently, Cairo hosted talks between U.N. special representative to Libya Martin Kobler and Libyan

By heeding the lessons garnered from past experience and empirical studies, Washington can mitigate concerns about sanctions overreach and greatly increase their effectiveness.

The two countries will likely continue to cooperate, especially on the economic and military fronts, but Putin's assertive anti-Westernism could still pose problems for Israel in Syria and elsewhere.

April 15, 2016 The last few weeks have witnessed increased tensions over the Sahara conflict – a more than forty year long dispute between Morocco and the Algerian-backed separatist group Polisario Front, which seeks independence for Morocco’s southern provinces. Although a ceasefire between sides has held since 1991, subsequent attempts

April 14, 2016 The journey from London to the French coastal city of Calais was quick and comfortable . I nearly forgot I was traveling between two different countries until I was greeted by high fences and endless spirals of barbed wire, which marked the boundaries of the refugee camp

Four eminent scholars and policy practitioners debate the president's worldview and how it will shape American interests and options in the next administration.

New evidence indicates that components of the old but potent missile system have made their way to Tehran, though the scope and timing of their contribution to Iran's air-defense capabilities remain uncertain.

Riyadh and Cairo's new agreement on transferring islands and building a long-planned bridge between the Sinai and Arabian Peninsulas also signals emerging rapprochement between Saudi Arabia and Israel.

Despite talk of a negotiated transition or a national unity government, Syria's Bashar al-Assad intends to stay. And while Western powers maneuver for diplomatic high ground in Geneva, Russia continues to push its on-the-ground military advantage on Assad's behalf.

For many at-risk Muslims in Europe, the Islamic State provided the opportunity to be a part of building something exciting, and local authorities are now dealing with the consequences of this recruitment wave.

A recent article on the Francophone origins of foreign jihadists fighting in Syria shows a surprisingly shallow understanding of the French-speaking world.

Elements of the national army have officially joined the IRGC on Syria's battlefields, but Tehran's apparent public-relations strategy could backfire at home if casualties mount.

April 11, 2016 The “Declaration” presumably issued by Alawite notables and broadly covered by international media is a historic statement, irrespective of its political implications. While it commands international engagement, both to highlight its positive aspects and to invite its authors to expand on the less positive, it particularly ought

A conversation on the causes, consequences, and lessons of the Yemen war, including its implications for potential future conflicts between the Gulf states and Iran.

April 8, 2016 On the afternoon of this past January 24th, while Egypt was preparing for the fifth anniversary of the January 25 Revolution, the young Italian academic researcher Giulio Regeni disappeared in the middle of Cairo. His body turned up several days later, tossed near a security outpost on

April 8, 2016 Future relations between the Palestinians and the Israelis will likely be hamstrung by issues of the past. Namely, Israel continues to illegally occupy and support settlements in Palestinian territory, among other restrictive activities. As a result, the Palestinian Authority (PA) has warned Israel of its readiness to