Policy Analysis

A growing body of evidence shows how Iran and its proxies are using artificial intelligence and especially more easily manipulatable open-weight models as tools of warfare, repression, and propaganda.

The United States eased its fertilizer restrictions on the kingdom to manage a supply emergency, but Morocco could also become a key source of purified phosphoric acid—a crucial product tied to growing competition with China over battery production, supply chain integrity, and access to critical minerals.

A $1.5 billion Pakistani arms deal with Sudan signals a regional shift from diplomacy toward military escalation, which may prolong the war in Sudan.

Recent clashes between Damascus and the Kurdish forces in Aleppo highlight the risk that stalling integration talks may trigger broader violence.

Given South Korea’s willingness to offer technology transfer, local production arrangements, and politically flexible partnerships, it has become an attractive alternative to Western and Russian suppliers, presenting both opportunities and competitive challenges for U.S. policy in the region.

The violence in Suwayda has exposed the limits of Ahmed al-Sharaa’s control of Syria. But the assumption that the Druze community there is a monolith does not bear out: Damascus and Jerusalem are vying for influence amid the various leaders competing for power in the southwestern Syrian governorate.

In negotiations, the Iranian regime prefers to operate discreetly and secretly, allowing Tehran to shape the information spectrum and protract talks to buy time and wear down their negotiation counterparts. By shining light on the diplomatic process, U.S. policymakers can provide a counter-narrative that takes to task Iranian intransigence and provides accurate information for the Iranian public.

With U.S. security aid for Iraq under review, Baghdad is attempting to assess the potential impact of an extended freeze on its national security.

Russia is taking advantage of recent coups in Mali, Burkina Faso, and Niger to embed itself in the Sahel. However, its indiscriminate counterterrorism tactics come with a cost for their forces and the regimes it protects.

While Iranian officials acknowledge the significance of cyber tools and AI for foreign policy, they are acutely aware of the country’s financial and scientific limitations.

In the last two months, China has continued its regional economic expansion, making concentrated progress with energy and development deals. Though less pervasive, Russia, too, has added to its economic portfolio in the region.

The SDF’s current role in Deir ez-Zor and the local grievances surrounding it requires an understanding of the origin of its entry into the region, along with the underlying tension between U.S., Iranian, and Syrian regime interests there.

Without clearly stated goals and a well-defined exit strategy, Israel risks its counteroffensive becoming a punitive effort that costs immense civilian deaths while failing to establish lasting stability and peace in its southern sector.

Iraq’s stagnant political and legal environments today indicate that the country still faces a deep strategic impasse as a result of international obligations and limitations.

In Gaza, most residents are strongly supportive of increased Arab involvement in the conflict and half are open to normalizing ties with Israel were Saudi Arabia to do so. A majority of West Bank residents, however, remain hesitant about such a proposal.

The Kurdistan Region of Iraq (KRI) has been heading for unprecedented political and financial uncertainties as a result of the growing disputes between the two ruling parties and the central government’s moves to erode the KRI’s autonomous status.

China's recent mediation efforts between Riyadh and Tehran were motivated by a combination of strategic outlook and economic interest in the Middle East, signaling a gradual shift away from its traditional "free-riding" approach.

The ninth anniversary of the Yazidi Genocide in Sinjar, Iraq is drawing near, a tragedy in which thousands of Yazidis were murdered, Yazidi women and children were enslaved, and Yazidi villages and compounds were destroyed by ISIS in August 2014.

Despite discord between the Wagner Group and the Russian government, the entrenched economic and military engagement of Wagner forces in Syria is unlikely to change soon.

Despite numerous conferences and promises, Sudan's regional neighbors have done little to defuse the current conflict.