Policy Analysis

As extremist foes fight for supremacy in Syria, their rivalries could threaten Europe.

Conversations with senior officials in Egypt, Jordan, and Israel highlight the complexities of -- and potential links between -- the region's latest crises.

In his speech on Wednesday, President Obama announced that the United States will increase training and arming for the moderate Syria rebels. Given the threat posed by the Islamic State of Iraq and al-Sham (ISIS), that is the correct move: Syria’s moderate rebels are as important as ever. Much like

Despite tensions stemming from their domestic policies, non-Islamist actors such as Egypt and the Gulf monarchies are America's natural partners in the region because they favor stability and the free flow of oil and gas while opposing terrorism.

By siding with the Assad regime and taking up arms against Sunni rebels, Hezbollah has placed itself at the epicenter of a sectarian conflict that has nothing to do with its purported raison d'etre of fighting Israel.

Increased al-Qaeda activity on the Golan frontier has some Israelis nostalgic for the days of Assad.

As the P5+1 and Iran negotiate about the nuclear impasse, Iranian factional politics has heated up. Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei has made disparaging comments about the nuclear negotiations, yet supported continuing the talks. The Rouhani government is facing a variety of criticisms: it is vigorously defending its record at

A prison holding hundreds of jihadists has become fruitful recruiting ground for ISIS, and a potential prisoner swap could eventually lead to ex-inmates taking leadership roles in the group.

In Washington, foreign policy crises are covered as breaking news, but in reality, they develop over years and require just as long to resolve.

In light of issues such as Riyadh's well-known antipathy toward democratic agendas, Washington should take its cue from what the Saudis signal they are willing and politically able to do.

Hesitance among U.S. regional allies and short-term expediency are no excuse to align with the regimes in Iran and Syria.

Much has been made of President Barack Obama's recent admission that he didn't "have a strategy yet" on Syria. With the president scheduled to address the nation Wednesday night about the Islamic State insurgency, the White House appears to be seeking to quash the debate about whether Mr. Obama's risk-averse

The Washington Institute's executive director addressed the ICT’s 14th International Conference on Counter-Terrorism in Herzliya, Israel.

Despite the loss of a close ally in outgoing prime minister Nouri al-Maliki, Iran's Islamic Revolutionary Guards Corps (IRGC) appears ready to move on by offering substantial military support to his successor in Baghdad.

On August 10, Recep Tayyip Erdogan continued his prolific electoral run by collecting almost 52 percent of the vote in Turkey's presidential poll, easily besting his chief rival, Ekmeleddin Ihsanoglu, who represented the left-right CHP/MHP coalition. A large part of Erdogan's success lay in peeling away conservative MHP voters through

Despite the authoritarian impulses of Turkey's long-governing AKP, the country's civil society has become too diverse for President Erdogan or any other single leader to control entirely.

To defeat the jihadist group and address the instability it has caused, the United States will need to follow up on its good first steps in Iraq and get serious about Syria.

President Obama is right that diplomacy should be America's lead option. But diplomacy needs help, be it military or economic

In addition to hitting ISIS in Iraq and Syria, the United States should target the Assad regime's military infrastructure to ensure that Damascus cannot take advantage of the situation.

Washington Institute research explains the complexities of the Islamic State in Iraq and al-Sham (ISIS).