Policy Analysis

The reported frontrunner has close ties to the Syrian regime, so his selection may not help mitigate sectarian tensions as hoped.

Unless the United States quickly establishes a mechanism for Bashar al-Assad's departure, the Islamic State and similar groups will remain potent regional actors.

The group's much-vaunted media machine seems to have slowed down over the past half year, suggesting that military efforts against its forces are taking a toll.

The escalating conflict remains a sectarian war, and deliberate ethnic cleansing by various actors is drawing new internal borders that will be difficult to erase.

After a decade of trying to become a Middle East player in its own right, Turkey may now find comfort in the NATO alliance when faced with the historic Russian menace.

A yes vote is important not just for the expected increase in tactical effectiveness it would bring on the Syrian battlefield, but also for signaling that the strategic alliance within the EU and between Europe and the United States is seamless.

Establishing a safe haven in Syria could press Putin to fight ISIS in earnest, and convince him that protecting Assad will only prolong the war.

Ironically, most of the Sunni Arab states see Israel as a bulwark against Iran and the Islamic State, so emphasizing those security relationships and restoring the image of American reliability would make it easier to ask more of them on both fronts.

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and Russian President Vladimir Putin will meet on the sidelines of the UN climate summit in Paris today to discuss the situation in Syria, fighting terrorism, and the Israeli-Palestinian conflict, according to Russian and Western press reports. Earlier, at Israel's initiative according to a Kremlin

A new Israeli diplomatic office in the UAE is a rare public indication of a broader trend.

For now, Moscow's retaliation will most likely come against Turkish commercial exports or gas imports, but continued Russian operations near the border mean that a dangerous military escalation is still possible.

An old conflict through the prism of a new institution: an insider’s explanation of the effects of Palestine’s recognition as a “State” under the Rome Statute

Despite endorsing the nuclear deal, the Supreme Leader has empowered the IRGC Intelligence Organization to tighten Iran's domestic political environment ahead of 2016 elections.

Expectations for Secretary Kerry's trip to Jerusalem and Ramallah are low, but given the mounting violence, he must nevertheless ask each side to take separate de-escalatory steps.

French experts discuss how the Paris attacks will affect European foreign and domestic policy, including efforts to broaden and deepen the coalition in Syria.

ISIS and other groups have appropriated an inherently nonpolitical ideology to suit their political ambitions.

By stopping in the Mediterranean on its way to the Persian Gulf and conducting joint anti-ISIS strikes with the French, the USS Truman could send a strong message to NATO allies and Moscow alike.

An in-depth look at the mission, scope, and growing reach of the Fikra Forum online community, highlighting its diverse contributors and their unique role in the ongoing, intense dialogue with the region.

The tragic success of recent terrorist attacks shows that the group has not so much changed its strategy as learned from its past failures, so the West must now focus on limiting its external operational capabilities.

In Marine Corps University's expanded and revised 2015 edition of The Strategic Culture of the Islamic Republic of Iran, first published in 2011, author Michael Eisenstadt discusses Iran’s unique approach to statecraft, strategy, and the use of force, focusing on the following core elements: Policy in the theocratic Islamic Republic