Policy Analysis

Despite widespread skepticism, Russian authorities still hope that the upcoming P5+1 summit will be another small step toward settlement of the Iranian nuclear issue.

Washington's ties with Ankara have improved significantly in recent years thanks to a personal relationship between President Obama and Turkish Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan. The two leaders have been in frequent contact, building a rapport that has translated into closer Turkish support for the U.S., including Ankara's 2011 decision

On Tuesday 12 June, Ambassador Dennis Ross was interviewed by BICOM senior research fellow Professor Alan Johnson. The interview covered key policy issues facing Britain, Israel and the United States. The following is a transcript of their discussion.

Although many Russian officials are unsure about who exactly committed the recent massacres, the incidents are nevertheless a serious stress test for Russian-Syrian relations.

Nothing captured the imagery of change in the Middle East more than last year's demonstrations in Tahrir Square that brought down Hosni Mubarak, Egypt's president for 30 years. The sense of hope and possibility that seemed so alive in Tahrir Square made everyone in the Middle East believe there truly

On June 13, Arabic daily al-Sharq al-Awsat interviewed Washington Institute counselor and former Obama advisor Dennis Ross on Syria, Iran, and other regional issues. Below is a brief summary of his remarks; the full interview is available above in Arabic. According to Ambassador Ross, there can be no solution to

Foreign Islamists are beginning to play a role in the fight against Assad's forces, albeit a small one.

Under current conditions, it would be naive to expect Russia to severely curtail its relations with Tehran or officially support the West's stance on the nuclear question. Given Iran's importance as a regional player, Moscow simply cannot afford confrontation with its southern neighbor. At the same time, Russia's pragmatic, cost-benefit

Technically, Egypt's political transition is on schedule. The first round of the presidential election was held May 23-24, the second round is set to occur June 16-17, a winner will be announced by June 21, and the Supreme Council of the Armed Forces (SCAF), which has ruled the country since

Speaking Thursday before the U.N. General Assembly, just one day after the latest massacre of civilians by government-affiliated forces, Kofi Annan warned that the crisis in Syria was on a disastrous course. “If things do not change, the future is likely to be one of brutal repression, massacres, sectarian violence

The Obama administration should take actions to overcome the obstacles to, and mitigate the risks of, bolder international action in Syria.

Violence in Syria and Lebanon coincides with diminished international commitment to UN forces monitoring the borders with Israel.

The results of the first round of voting in Egypt's presidential elections has yielded a choice in the second round between two starkly different men -- former Mubarak-era prime minister and air force general Ahmed Shafik, and Muslim Brotherhood official Mohammad Morsi. For Washington, less important than which man wins

With U.S. encouragement, broad-based national dialogue could increase the chance that Maliki handles Iraq's next political crisis by compromising with domestic partners rather than reaching out to Tehran, a player with no real commitment to Iraq's interests.

Deteriorating security in the Sinai Peninsula threatens not only the peacekeepers based there, but also the Egyptian-Israeli peace treaty.

The upheavals of the last 18 months have transformed an already difficult regional landscape into perhaps the most inhospitable strategic environment in modern history.

Although an Israeli preventive strike on Iran's nuclear program would be a high-risk endeavor carrying a potential for escalation in the Levant or the Persian Gulf, it would not be the apocalyptic event that some foresee. In this Policy Note, two Washington Institute military experts assess the likelihood of various

To bolster the integrity of Egypt's democratic process and preserve America's own national interests, Washington should make clear how the outcome of the presidential runoff could affect U.S.-Egyptian relations.

After the number of Syrian refugees entering Turkey reached 25,000 in April, public statements by senior Turkish officials began raising the possibility of military action. Specifically, Ankara has hinted at the possibility of establishing a buffer zone or safe haven inside Syria to defend the civilian population and contain the

Thursday marks the two-year anniversary of the 2010 flotilla incident, a crisis on the high seas that triggered a tailspin in Turkish-Israeli relations. In the aftermath of the incident, Turkey recalled its ambassador and demanded an apology from Israel as well as reparations for the nine slain activists. Ankara even