Policy Analysis

Watch expert conversation on the contents and implications of the new U.S.-Iran memorandum of understanding.

Although the United States and the world needed shipping to resume through the Strait of Hormuz, negotiating a nuclear agreement is not a postwar priority.

Join us for an expert preview of next month's NATO summit in Ankara as the alliance deals with lingering tensions from Ukraine, Iran, and other crises. Watch live starting at 10:00 a.m. EDT (1400 GMT) on Monday, June 22, 2026.

Although the U.S. military approach to the region has delivered many operational successes, the Iran war has exposed its serious shortcomings and created new challenges.

Presidential spats with Israeli prime ministers are nothing new, and scapegoating America’s most capable ally in the Middle East would mean more work for U.S. forces, not less.

With the regime still in place, the war has left ordinary Iranians worse off, and U.S. policy has compounded their sense of abandonment.

A young government working to secure its own territory is poorly positioned to open new fronts outside its borders, and Hezbollah would quickly exploit such a move to its advantage.

Three experts discuss the fallout from the latest military strikes, along with the potential contours and implications of a newly announced agreement to halt the fighting and reopen the Strait of Hormuz.

As a landmark tool for monitoring the group’s activity hits another sobering milestone, U.S. officials cannot let regional crises completely overshadow important shifts in jihadist threats around the world.

Asian market realities and the ongoing risks to energy investments inside Syria may put a damper on any large-scale infrastructure plans, though Damascus can better its prospects through further stabilization and reform efforts.

The Egyptian pound is weathering significant challenges to its stability as the Iran war continues to impact oil markets and Egypt's revenue streams, raising concerns about the longterm impact of continued conflict.

Whether the U.S. truce with Iran breaks down or winds up rewarding the regime, the previously restrained Houthis may take it as a signal to resume their own aggression.

Despite President Trump’s transformative goals in the Middle East and the ongoing need for American help in weathering multiple regional crises, the new budget request doubles down on a range of problematic funding cuts.

The Trump administration won’t achieve all of its war goals, but it could still notch a strategic win with time.

Flipping the kill switch is a potent exercise of authoritarian control, but expediting countermeasures like D2C can help prevent regimes from using this tactic in the future.

Tehran is hoping that its Persian Gulf Strait Authority will establish “facts on the ground” and give it leverage at the negotiating table, so Washington and its partners need to respond right away with a suite of military, economic, and diplomatic countermeasures.

Washington should treat the recent public discontent not as a sign that Syria’s transition is failing, but as an opportunity to help ensure that Damascus does not repeat the mistakes of previous governments.

Although disarming the group is still crucial, negotiators need to realize that they will never really break Hezbollah’s hold on Lebanon so long as it retains Iranian support and key political allies and government posts in Beirut.

U.S. and Israeli experts discuss the potential obstacles to progress in upcoming rounds of negotiations, and explain why keeping the Lebanon track separate from the Iran talks would be wise.

Tehran seems just as enthusiastic about the new prime minister as Washington—a telling sign that the militia-dominated status quo in Baghdad will be difficult and slow to change, if it changes at all.