Policy Analysis

Washington Institute fellow Michael Knights addressed a joint hearing of the House Subcommittee on Terrorism, Non-Proliferation and Trade and the Subcommittee on the Middle East and North Africa. The following is an excerpt from his prepared remarks; download the PDF to read more, or watch video of the full hearing

The Institute's Soner Cagaptay was a featured expert on BBC2's documentary series on Turkish history. Watch his contribution to episode three.

The Syrian refugee crisis may force Lebanon, Hezbollah, and Iran to reevaluate their approach to Bashar al-Assad's war.

The Beirut embassy bombing and Iran's anticipated retaliation against Saudi Arabia could threaten Lebanon's already tenuous stability.

The December 10-11 Gulf Cooperation Council meeting should indicate how member states will respond to U.S.-led nuclear diplomacy with Iran, among other issues.

The Saudi government views Twitter as a national security threat.

While Egypt's Muslim Brotherhood is hardly on the cusp of a dramatic comeback, it retains legions of members and active rural cells that are committed to its power-seeking program.

Washington's failure to act forcefully in Syria and other limited-risk situations will only fuel chaos in the Middle East.

A viable comprehensive solution will need to resolve concerns about possible military dimensions, eliminate an automatic sunset clause, and define clear-cut incentives for compliance and disincentives for noncompliance.

Aaron Lund interviews the Institute's Richard Borow Fellow regarding the number, nature, and affiliations of the various foreigners who have joined Syria's conflict on one side or the other.

The latest umbrella organization for key rebel factions in Syria may not include U.S.-designated terrorist groups, but it does oppose many U.S. objectives.

Given Egypt's brewing power struggles, the current state of relative calm should not be mistaken for progress, let alone stability.

From my standpoint as U.S. ambassador in Iraq when we had to operate post-2011 without the presence of U.S. troops, I know that the Nov. 27 editorial " Getting to 'yes' with Afghanistan," on the need for a post-2014 U.S. troop presence in Afghanistan, was on target. The editorial accurately

David Pollock reviews Shibley Telhami's book "The World through Arab Eyes: Arab Public Opinion and the Reshaping of the Middle East."

The United Nations recently announced that international talks will resume in January in an effort to end the bitter and brutal conflict now in its third year. In this video briefing backgrounder to the talks, Washington Institute Syria expert Andrew J. Tabler addresses five key questions about the conflict in

Gulan Media spoke with Washington Institute fellow Michael Knights about Turkey's outreach to Iraqi Kurdistan and other Kurdish issues in the region.

The problem lies not in the accord's substance, but rather in the lack of trust that the Obama administration is willing and able to run a regional security system requiring potential use of force.

The agreement is neither a "breakthrough" nor an "abject surrender" but rather "a cap for a cap," with a limited rollback on each side for the next six months.

Arab responses to the nuclear agreement with Iran suggest that the United States must work harder to allay the fears of allies and friends -- and be especially mindful of the deal's nonnuclear implications.

Given the complexities and dynamics of the Syrian conflict, it is distinctly possible that Israel could be drawn into the fighting. Perhaps more important, the risk of spillover will likely extend years into the future, since the war's aftermath will not include near-term peace between Syria and Israel. How can