Policy Analysis

Download the complete text of this article (PDF) Conventional wisdom says preventive action against Iran's nuclear programme would entail significant risks and uncertain prospects of success. But that wisdom focuses too narrowly on military-technical considerations, does not ask the right questions regarding the preconditions for successful prevention, ignores historical experience

Matthew Levitt is director of the Stein Program on Counterterrorism and Intelligence at The Washington Institute and an adjunct professor at Johns Hopkins University's School of Advanced International Studies (SAIS). From 2005-07, he served as deputy assistant secretary for intelligence and analysis at the Department of the Treasury. Previously, he

Although recognized as a political flashpoint, the Iraqi province of Kirkuk is suffering from a largely overlooked security crisis that has improved little since the beginning of the 2007 U.S. military "surge." The decline in reported insurgent attacks in Kirkuk has been relatively small, dropping from a monthly average of

On October 3, the Department of Justice published the revised Attorney General Guidelines (AGG), which govern all Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) activities, including those involving international terrorism. The AGG comes into effect on December 1, 2008, and will consolidate procedures controlling the FBI's various investigative programs. Although members of

On October 27, 2008, Institute senior fellows Matthew Levitt and Michael Jacobson addressed the Emirates Center for Strategic Studies and Research in Abu Dhabi to discuss how financial measures can help achieve a diplomatic resolution of the ongoing crisis over the Iranian nuclear program. Read a summary of their remarks

After months of rigorous debate, U.S. and Iraqi negotiators submitted a draft Status of Forces Agreement (SOFA) to Iraq's cabinet and political leadership last week. Since then, many Iraqi politicians have publicly expressed reservations, while others have distanced themselves from the draft in an attempt to deflect blame and avoid

Today, oil ministers from the Organization of the Petroleum Exporting Countries (OPEC) meet in Vienna to discuss a possible production cut. Originally planned for November, the meeting was brought forward because of falling oil prices. With the perilous state of world financial markets, seldom has an OPEC meeting been so

This PolicyWatch is the third in a three-part series examining the situation in Lebanon two years after the implementation of UN Security Council Resolution 1701. This series coincides with the twenty-fifth anniversary of the Marine barracks bombing in Lebanon on October 23, 1983, an attack that continues to inform U.S

This PolicyWatch is the second in a three-part series examining the situation in Lebanon two years after the implementation of UN Security Council Resolution 1701. This series coincides with the twenty-fifth anniversary of the bombing of the Marine barracks in Lebanon on October 23, 1983, an attack that continues to

This PolicyWatch is the first in a three-part series examining the situation in Lebanon two years after the implementation of UN Security Council Resolution 1701. This series coincides with the twenty-fifth anniversary of the Marine barracks bombing by Hizballah in Lebanon on October 23, 1983, an attack that continues to

U.S. secretary of state Condoleezza Rice has decided to skip the Forum for the Future in Abu Dhabi this weekend, a move that will deepen concerns surrounding the Bush administration's Broader Middle East and North Africa (BMENA) Initiative. Although Deputy Secretary John Negroponte will attend the forum -- an annual

On October 6, 2008, The Washington Institute honored former secretary of state Henry Kissinger with its 2008 Scholar-Statesman Award.

On October 3, 2008, Matthew Levitt, Ghaith al-Omari, and Dennis Ross addressed a Policy Forum luncheon at The Washington Institute to honor the launch of Dr. Levitt's new book, Negotiating Under Fire. Dr. Levitt is a senior fellow at The Washington Institute and the director of the Stein Program on

On October 6, 2008, The Washington Institute honored Dr. Henry Kissinger with its 2008 Scholar-Statesman Award.

In early September, the European Court of Justice (ECJ) -- the highest court in the European Union -- ruled that the EU's application of UN sanctions against Yasin Qadi and the al-Barakaat International Foundation infringed their basic rights, and declared the action illegal under EU law. Although the judgment applies

On September 23, 2008, Maj. Gen. (Ret.) Giora Eiland and Ambassador Martin Indyk addressed a Policy Forum luncheon at The Washington Institute. General Eiland is former head of the Israeli National Security Council and currently a senior researcher at the Institute for National Security Studies in Tel Aviv. Ambassador Indyk

Last week, Lebanese president Michel Suleiman met with President Bush at the White House -- the first visit by a Lebanese head of state since 1996 -- and reportedly pressed for a continued U.S. commitment to the bilateral military assistance program. Since the program's revitalization after the election of the

This past Monday, a Lebanese Armed Forces (LAF) transport was targeted by a car bomb that killed five soldiers and wounded twenty-five others. The strike was the third on the LAF since June and occurred in increasingly violent northern Lebanon. In fact, violence in and around Tripoli, the largest city

For the past several years, Turkey has balanced its relationship with the West with its relationship with Iran and Russia -- just as Finland balanced the West and Russia during the Cold War. Finland, at the time, paralleled Western policies but remained intimate with Moscow. In this Turkish-language interview, Soner

On Friday, September 26, The Washington Post asked various foreign affairs analysts and other experts for their evaluation of what the two presidential candidates should discuss in their first televised debate, which took place that evening. Afterward, the Post asked those analysts to share their assessments of the debate. The