Policy Analysis

Without radical reform, Iraq faces potential dissolution and geographic fragmentation in the case of an increasingly likely economic crisis.

The Kadhimi government must move quickly if it wants to avoid a potential popular uprising among dissatisfied Shias in Iraq.

The United States' approach to intra-Kurdish dialogue requires a profound understanding of regional history and dynamics, without which it risks further complications and difficulties in Syria.

The history of Iraq’s political parties helps contextualize why Iraq’s current political scene is so fragmented, and what remains missing.

Iraqi Kurdistan's Komal party faces a difficult dilemma as it seeks a more reformist direction.

The talks, which resumed in April in secret sessions, have made progress toward an agreement. But many are concerned that delays and unreasonable demands have turned the talks into theater among regional parties vying for power.

Moroccan responses to normalization with Israel are split along two opposing narratives, although popular resistance to normalization is unlikely to cause any real change.

Members of the political class and the general public are increasingly anticipating and expecting that Palestinian elections will take place due to an unusual convergence of interests between PA president Mahmoud Abbas (Abu Mazen) and Hamas.

After more than a decade of feuding, Palestinian factions face an opportunity for change.

Algeria's divided political system has limited time to make critical reforms.

Qatar must adequately manage its ties to the Brotherhood if it wants to ensure sustainable Gulf ties.

Hezbollah is profiting from the pandemic.

Gridlock and economic stagnation are testing the Arab world's only functioning democracy.

Sisi may need to respond to U.S. pressure over human rights issues, but he knows that Biden will not willingly damage relations with Egypt.

The best means of understanding Biden’s likely Middle East policy is by analyzing his own writing on the question, which suggests that expectations for a major shift in regional policies may remain unmet.

Though the recent normalization deal between Israel and several Arab states certainly poses a new challenge to Iran, it is the unique combination of the past year’s events that is pushing the Islamic Republic towards an existential crisis.

While Iraqi elites seem to see the announcement of early elections as a major development, polling reveals that Iraqi public opinion is less optimistic about the moves ability to promise major change.

Egypt’s upcoming elections are shining the spotlight on the parliament’s deteriorating performance and credibility.

The 2014 National Dialogue Conference allowed for ample discussion of the southern issue in Yemen. Now, all sides must help implement the solutions outlined there and in the more recent Riyadh Agreement to ensure that a just solution to the southern issue is achieved.

Last week, Iraqi Prime Minister Mustafa al-Kadhimi led a large cabinet delegation to Washington D.C. for new sessions of the U.S.-Iraq Strategic Dialogue, topped off by the first Iraqi prime ministerial visit to the White House in over three years. During the visit, I spoke to most of the Iraqi