Policy Analysis

A presentation on Saudi royal succession and evolving military relations, including key figures in the Pakistani defense and nuclear establishments, made by Simon Henderson to Harvard University's Belfer Center in May 2014.

Long-simmering tensions between non-Islamist and Islamist forces have boiled over into military actions centered around Benghazi and Tripoli, entrenching the country's rival alliances and bringing them ever closer to civil war.

Given the Brotherhood's persistent and dangerous delusion, the existential struggle that has defined Egyptian politics since Morsi's removal will likely worsen.

Governments across the Middle East and far beyond are already changing their policies to address the problem of jihadist returnees from Syria, highlighting the scope and seriousness of the threat.

The Bahraini government will need to distinguish better between protestors and terrorists if it wants Washington and other foreign partners to believe its claims of Iranian support for local militants.

A Moroccan statesman discusses efforts to counter terrorism and violent extremism in one of the most stable parts of the region.

In light of the inability of diplomacy and sanctions to staunch the Syrian bloodletting, the Obama administration is reviewing its policy alternatives in Syria. This paper, and the associated briefing, provides an overview of U.S. military options, evaluating the pros and cons of each.

The Syrian conflict is rattling the world of the Druze, an ethnic group that straddles national lines.

An unexpected and unprecedented series of changes in the kingdom's military leadership raises questions about future Saudi strategy.

Recent developments indicate a credible, previously unseen rebel threat to Damascus.

A cloud of uncertainty hangs over the road to Palestinian succession, and potential candidates will likely have to form ad hoc alliances that result in significant policy compromises on peacemaking and other issues.

As the next round of talks unfolds, U.S. officials should remember that a weak agreement could prove to be a strategic setback in the guise of a tactical success.

If Erdogan hopes to become Turkey's first directly elected president, he will need to continue courting Kurdish voters and burnishing his economic and populist credentials.

If the United States and the major donor nations endorsed a transition agreement, the conflict would become a dispute between two states, leaving the Palestinian leadership with little choice but to forge ahead toward a final-status solution.

As narratives about the root causes of the impasse in Israeli-Palestinian negotiations take shape, U.S. leaders have a major decision to make about whether to disengage from diplomacy or deepen involvement in less high-profile ways.

Security crackdowns will not be enough to eradicate jihadist networks in Tunisia and Libya, which have the patience and ideological conviction to weather drastic reorganization.

A CIA veteran and an Israeli security expert discuss the growing presence of al-Qaeda affiliates in Sinai and Syria.

Israel and Jordan have together mounted a "well coordinated" effort to prevent the most extreme elements among the Syrian rebellion from dominating the southern front along both the Israeli and Jordanian borders, Middle East analyst Ehud Yaari told attendees at The Washington Institute's 2014 Weinberg Founders Conference. Yaari, the Institute's

Israeli and Palestinian perspectives on recently collapsed peace talks offer hope for eventual progress, though publics and leaders on both sides will need to overcome barriers of mistrust and misunderstanding.

Before Hezbollah's massive intervention in 2013, Bashar al-Assad's forces were nearing exhaustion, Syrian Opposition Coalition chief of staff Monzer Akbik said during a panel discussion at The Washington Institute's 2014 Weinberg Founders Conference on May 8. Assad was facing a catastrophic human-resources and materiel crisis, Akbik said, which the dictator