Policy Analysis

While the world around it goes through economic and political convulsions, Turkey continues to expand its economic reach well beyond Europe and the Middle East.

An interview by Bernard Gwertzman, CFR.org Amid mounting violence that has killed more than five thousand in Syria, it is "almost inevitable" the regime of President Bashar al-Assad will collapse, says Dennis Ross, a former senior Middle East adviser to President Obama. "When a regime is entirely dependent on coercion

In responding to the political crisis in Iraq, Washington should encourage constitutional processes and respect for political and human rights rather than any particular outcome.

Egypt's liberals should be focused on the economic long game, because whichever party delivers prosperity to Egyptians will rule.

On November 30, 2011, Mr. Rachid Ghannouchi, leader of Tunisia's an-Nahda movement, visited the offices of The Washington Institute for Near East Policy to address a seminar of the Institute's senior research staff and several select, invited guests. This was an on-the-record session, with a tape recorder sitting in the

Much of the rhetoric surrounding the Iranian nuclear impasse has been marked by Tehran's staunch refusal to budge and pessimism among Western analysts that increasingly strong diplomatic and economic measures will ever have their desired effect. Yet several avenues for progress have opened up amid an environment of incrementally effective

The death of Kim Jong-il provides an opportunity for Washington to organize a show of disapproval for North Korea's nuclear and missile proliferation.

Egypt's liberals have lost control of their revolution.

In light of its experience in Iraq and Afghanistan, Washington should be able to do more to facilitate the transition in Libya.

The past two-and-a-half years have witnessed a string of failed efforts to launch substantive Israeli-Palestinian negotiations and, more recently, heated controversy surrounding President Obama's baseline formula for compromise. This sad story reflects, among other things, the deep divide between the two sides on the supposedly "easier" issues of territory and

On December 16, Mitchell D. Silber, NYPD Director of Intelligence Analysis, addressed a Policy Forum at The Washington Institute to discuss his new book, The Al Qaeda Factor (University of Pennsylvania Press, 2011). Silber examines sixteen Al-Qaeda-associated attacks launched against Western interests since 1993 and identifies potential points of vulnerability

The Middle East begins 2012 much as it began 1949, 1968, and 1980: confident only that uncertainty is the new norm.

The "Carnation Revolution" suggests democracy can take root in the most unexpected places if the necessary outside support is provided.

Syria's leader is fast losing allies, who seem to know the regime's end is near.

To be more effective, U.S. policy intended to encourage reform in Bahrain should be part of a common approach with allies, especially Britain.

The Brotherhood's efforts to project itself as a responsible actor in Egypt do not align with the inflammatory views freely expressed by its members.

Without external intercession, the violence in Syria is likely to escalate, with destabilizing consequences for its neighbors, particularly Lebanon and Iraq.

In Washington, concern is mounting that Iran's potential for troublemaking will now be countered by Saudi actions, which may escalate rather than quiet regional tensions.

The new financial sanctions against Iran are significant, although key U.S. allies will need to do more to potentially impact the regime's nuclear program decisionmaking.

In its present form, VOA's Persian service is a waste of U.S. tax dollars.