Photo of Syrians holding a memorial protest for family members killed by the former Assad regime.
Assad’s Speech Laws Are Putting Syria’s Security and Reconstruction at Risk
With Assad-era laws increasingly triggered by private complaints and enforced unevenly, U.S. officials can no longer relegate these issues to secondary tracks or assume that core administration objectives will remain unaffected.
Aug 28, 2026
  • Aaron Y. Zelin

3 Things I'm Watching: Gulf States Amid the Iran War

As the U.S. tightens the economic squeeze on Iran, here are three things Institute Gulf expert Simon Henderson is watching.

 

Learn more about the Gulf states.

Against parliamentary hall backdrop, book cover includes Tunisian flag imagery at top, EU, USA, IMF, World Bank imagery at bottom.
Maps & Graphics
Why Economic Reform Failed in Tunisia:
International actors, while expressing confidence in the country’s political progress, struggled to adapt to economic resistance from the national labor union, the destabilizing effects of terrorism, and interference from outside actors.
Aug 19, 2026
  • Sabina Henneberg

Interactive Map: Maritime Attacks in the MENA Region

Arab Public Opinion 2014 to Today

Fikra Interactive Public Polling Platform Thumbnail
Maps & Graphics
TWI Interactive Polling Platform
Interactive datasets, from 2014 to today
Jun 30, 2022