Policy Analysis

Iran’s conservative administration has threatened to block one of the country’s last standing social media platforms, signaling a shift to more restrictive media censorship.

Pro-Iranian militia media channels are relying on distortion, character assassination, and misinformation to attract Iraqi audiences, after dependence on constant religious messaging proved futile.

Militias' repeated targeting of Kadhimi, including this week's attack on his home, emphasizes that Kadhimi has done something right in his past two years as Prime Minister of Iraq.

The recent targeting of the al-Tanf base in Syria, where U.S. forces are stationed, highlights the ways in which the Iranian presence in Syria is becoming increasingly bold in line with the foreign policy goals of Iran’s new president.

Turkey has maintained strong dialogue with NATO and EU countries despite increasing differences regarding foreign policy matters. Meanwhile, Turkey’s intensifying relations with authoritarian states is one of the striking trends between 2010 and 2020.

As Gulf countries pursue dialogue with Iran, they must realize the threats posed by Iranian-backed Iraqi militias – both to Iraq itself, and to wider regional stability.

With Al-Burhan’s coup sparking an international and popular backlash, the military may again look to Hamdok to renegotiate a power-sharing agreement.

With a sizable number of independents in Iraq’s next parliament, young Iraqi MPs are hoping to push the Iraqi government to finally deliver on their protest demands from 2019.

Facing a Taliban-controlled Afghanistan, Iran is likely to pursue pragmatism based on mutual interests and forgo escalation, even in the face of growing terrorist threats.

While Iraq’s new electoral law did have some successes, the reforms it attempted to achieve will only be able to come to fruition if the Iraqi electorate is convinced that elections can make a tangible difference in their lives.

After capturing Kabul, the Taliban announced that they were seeking good relations with their neighbors—China, India, Iran, Russia, Pakistan, and the Gulf Arab states. Yet given Pakistan and Qatar’s extant relations with the Taliban, the two countries appear to be the main winners in this shifted balance, and whichever one is chosen as the primary mediator will have a significant role in shaping regional policies towards Afghanistan going forward.

The formation of a new Tunisian government under recently-appointed Prime Minister Najla Bourden cements the political dynamics that emerged on July 25.

As a lawyer who has specialized in defending minorities right, religious freedom, and civil rights in Iraq, I have come to the conviction that giving justice to Iraq’s Jews is impossible under Iraq’s current legal system, as it must include restoring their stolen rights under a new, democratic Iraq.

Despite Syrian women’s significant contributions in coordinating anti-Assad activity during the 2011 revolution, Syrian women now face exacerbated obstacles against participating in civil society.

Amid growing calls for pluralism in Iraq, the U.S. should take steps to promote preservation of Iraqi-Jewish heritage, before it is too late.

To prevent obstacles to aid delivery in Syria, the United States should invest in local governance and agriculture production in areas outside the regime’s control. Doing so is an important step for deterring Russian blackmail, strengthening the Caesar Act, and alleviating the humanitarian crisis.

Preliminary election results illustrate Iraqi opposition to foreign influence and the impact of the Marja'iyya of Najaf, as the Sadrists lead the coalition-building process to form the next parliament.

After the U.S. withdrawal from Afghanistan, China faces dilemmas about its own policy—and how it will now approach the broader region.

The recent Ahwaz protests point to broader tensions between the Iranian state and the country’s minorities, and Iraqi influence within Iran.

On October 10, a new generation of Iraqi voters, who have lived their entire lives in a fledgling democracy rife with bureaucracy and corruption underpinned by sectarian patronage networks, could have their say in who governs them.