Policy Analysis

Amid the recent turmoil, one Salafist group is attempting to outhustle its rivals and the government by flexing its organizational muscles on the street.

Barring an across-the-board change in Tehran's strategic goals, the Iranian people's readiness for regime change, or the scope and immediacy of the Iranian threat to the United States, there is little reason to believe that a policy based exclusively on military action or rapprochement is viable. Therefore, the most reasonable

Iranian truculence likely ensures that the P5+1 -- not direct bilateral talks -- will remain the most meaningful forum for nuclear negotiations.

To win over the Syrian Kurds, Turkey will likely need to offer them even more commercial and political inducements that it did the Iraqi Kurds.

By turning its "weapons of resistance" against fellow Muslims in Syria, Hezbollah risks destroying its standing at home and abroad.

Read a summary or watch video of a recent panel discussion featuring Institute scholars Michael Eisenstadt and David Pollock, along with Intel's Greg Slater and Dr. Steven Phillips of the NIH, on the wide-ranging ways the United States benefits from its alliance with Israel.

As the United States and its allies increase pressure on Iran, Washington must remain steadfast in its demands rather than respond to Tehran's obstinacy with increasingly generous offers.

Although more jihadis continue to be attracted to Twitter and Facebook, they still prefer al-Qaeda's tried and true method of authentication using approved online forums.

Although France's intervention likely staved off jihadist control over strategically crucial areas of Mali, AQIM and other factions will probably regroup.

An in-depth analysis of past and present chatter on prominent jihadist internet forums, including its implications for extremist ideological penetration in the West.

On February 5, Matthew Levitt, director of the Stein Program on Counterterrorism and Intelligence at the Washington Institute, testified before the House regarding the implications of the Fatah-Hamas reconciliation and its effects on the propects for Middle East peace. The following is an excerpt from his testimony.

Domestic issues, rather than the war raging next door, currently dominate Lebanon's politics.

Another prominent Salafist militia has emerged in Syria, further complicating Washington's efforts to find rebel factions that align with U.S. interests.

On February 5, David Makovsky, director of the Project on the Middle East Peace Process at The Washington Institute, testified before the House regarding the implications of the Fatah-Hamas reconciliation and its effects on the prospects for Israeli-Palestinian peace. The following is an excerpt from his testimony.

Washington Institute fellow Andrew Tabler and Syria expert Brian Fishman discuss the need for direct action. Download a PDF of the full debate.

Providing for Syrian refugees has been difficult for cash-strapped Jordan, but more troubling is the prospect of foreign jihadists moving across the border.

Although Assad's ouster would bring welcome disruption to the Iran-Hizballah axis, Israel's leaders are focusing on the potential security risks of Syria's deterioration, including chemical and missile proliferation and jihadist border violence.

Assad's ouster would create significant risk of widespread violence in Iraq, but also a fleeting opportunity to regain leverage over the Maliki government.

How Israel contributes to U.S. hard and soft security, from defense and intelligence to economic competitiveness and sustainability.

In October 2012, an Iranian-American car salesman pleaded guilty to his role in an audacious plot to assassinate the Saudi Arabian ambassador to the United States. The plot, to be carried out in a Washington, D.C., restaurant, drew nearly as much attention for its clumsy execution as it did for