Policy Analysis

When the Syrian uprising began in March 2011, the presence of jihadists in the protests was minimal at best. As the rebellion escalated, however, jihadists began to take advantage of the new landscape; by fall 2012, militants associated with al-Qaeda's worldview had become one of the key fighting forces against

At the moment, the Islamic Republic is just too dysfunctional to cut a nuclear deal.

Watch a February 27, 2013 conversation with Sen. Marco Rubio (R-FL) on his recent fact-finding visit to the Middle East.

Some believe Egypt's uprising began on January 25, 2011, but the Brotherhood begs to differ.

Dr. Levitt and CFR.org consulting editor Bernard Gwertzman discuss Hezbollah's preparations for Assad's fall, its ever-closer ties with Iran, and its expanding terrorist and militant activities inside and outside Lebanon.

The late prime minister's assassination is only one of many destabilizing moves Hezbollah has made over the past several years.

How is Europe dealing with the resurgence of Iranian state-sponsored and Hezbollah terrorist activity?

How is Europe dealing with the resurgence of Iranian state-sponsored and Hezbollah terrorist activity?

Riyadh's latest appointment suggests that traditionally secretive royal rivalries may be moving into the public eye as the succession process comes to a head.

Europe thinks it can separate Hezbollah's political activities from its terrorist operations, but the Party of God isn't built that way.

On February 7, 2013, James F. Jeffrey and Thomas Pickering addressed a Policy Forum at The Washington Institute. Ambassador Jeffrey, a former assistant to the president and deputy national security advisor, is author of the new Institute study Moving to Decision: U.S. Policy toward Iran . Ambassador Pickering served in

Hezbollah's Bulgaria attack shows that the group and its Iranian cohorts have climbed back up the list of immediate terrorist threats.

President Saleh's solution to Yemen's "civil-military problematic" (to borrow Peter Feaver's phrase) was to build powerful praetorian units and place his relatives in command of them, a counterproductive approach that ultimately increased the risk that Saleh faced. During Yemen's Arab Spring uprisings, sections of the armed forces not controlled by

Amid the recent turmoil, one Salafist group is attempting to outhustle its rivals and the government by flexing its organizational muscles on the street.

Barring an across-the-board change in Tehran's strategic goals, the Iranian people's readiness for regime change, or the scope and immediacy of the Iranian threat to the United States, there is little reason to believe that a policy based exclusively on military action or rapprochement is viable. Therefore, the most reasonable

Iranian truculence likely ensures that the P5+1 -- not direct bilateral talks -- will remain the most meaningful forum for nuclear negotiations.

By turning its "weapons of resistance" against fellow Muslims in Syria, Hezbollah risks destroying its standing at home and abroad.

Read a summary or watch video of a recent panel discussion featuring Institute scholars Michael Eisenstadt and David Pollock, along with Intel's Greg Slater and Dr. Steven Phillips of the NIH, on the wide-ranging ways the United States benefits from its alliance with Israel.

To win over the Syrian Kurds, Turkey will likely need to offer them even more commercial and political inducements that it did the Iraqi Kurds.

As the United States and its allies increase pressure on Iran, Washington must remain steadfast in its demands rather than respond to Tehran's obstinacy with increasingly generous offers.