Policy Analysis

With prospects low for a near-term diplomatic breakthrough, the Lebanese group can decide how far this conflict escalates.

The true U.S. strategy debate in the Middle East is not about whether we should stay or go; it’s about how to continue advancing the interests pursued by successive administrations even as hostile competitors and unresolved threats combine to throw U.S. regional policy off balance.

To rebalance limited resources, meet great power challenges, and continue forecasting diverse terrorist threats, the U.S. government will need to invest more in capabilities such as machine learning and AI.

From facilitating a no-fly zone over Ukraine to interdicting Iranian missile transfers, Washington and its allies have various means of answering the latest strategic shift in the war.

A second major report on the political surveillance scandal was quickly muted, in part because it was highly critical of Iranian Qods Force commander Esmail Qaani.

Moscow’s space cooperation with Tunisia could complicate U.S. attempts to develop norms for space travel, communication, and exploration.

Unconfirmed but detailed reporting on potential Iraqi terrorist cells in Uzbekistan and Kazakhstan should be a wake-up call to monitor Kataib Hezbollah's external operations more closely.

The impasse in negotiations boils down to a choice between getting the hostages out or staying in Gaza—and Netanyahu has seemingly picked the latter.

In addition to addressing each country’s concerns about border sovereignty, smuggling, and other irritants, Washington should emphasize the longer-term need to return to the peace treaty’s military limitations after the Gaza war.

Both sides have major incentives to avoid a wider conflict, but they’ll need help escaping the traps they laid for themselves.

A leading Muslim thinker explains how religious figures can play a truly effective role in regional peacebuilding by questioning the embedded norms that fuel intercommunal violence, including in the Israeli-Palestinian conflict.

Like his recently killed predecessor, Ibrahim Aqil had a long history of murdering Americans, Europeans, Israelis, Lebanese, and others perceived as obstacles to Hezbollah’s ambitions, and his experience as a military and terrorist commander will be difficult to replace.

The group must decide between walking back its threat to northern Israel or risking the loss of its advanced missile capabilities, which Iran regards as a crucial insurance policy.

Washington should push to negotiate limited border understandings now—it makes little sense to open a larger, more catastrophically destructive conflict if the outcome is likely to end up at the same place.

Besides strengthening both countries’ economies, the visit represents a new model of international partnership where traditional alliances intersect with cutting-edge innovation.

The Gulf states were right about the Houthi threat and the West was wrong, so another large-scale confrontation is inevitable.

Israel’s cloak-and-dagger pager ploy was extraordinary, but will it change the group’s calculus?

The Emirati leader will likely focus on the future of bilateral economic and technological integration, but discussions will also cover sensitive matters such as great-power concerns over China and Russia, regional nuclear proliferation, and a potential role for his country in postwar Gaza.

Three experts discuss the findings of a new Washington Institute compilation on jihadist governance, highlighting several of the case studies and data points explored in the book.

Elections in which Kurdish voters can authentically choose their leaders are not only what Kurdish citizens deserve; they increase the likelihood that the KRG will address the myriad concerns about its governance.