Policy Analysis

For the first weeks of 2016, the imminent “Geneva 3” conference was hyped as the best chance to a find a political solution to the seemingly indefinite Syrian civil war. Despite the buzz and high expectations for diplomacy, violence marked the eve of the negotiations. Syrian soldiers, the YPG, Afghan

In Iraq, the menace of radical Shiite cleric Moqtada al-Sadr, leader of the Sadrist Movement, has reared its head again, posing serious challenges to Prime Minister Abadi and his plans for government reform. For several months, Abadi’s efforts to fight corruption and replace incompetent ministers with technocrats have faced resistance

December 10, 2015 Political reform, in nearly every country on earth, relies on three principles. The first is that a powerful state can impose its influence on the country it rules and force the entirety of its people to submit to the laws it issues. Secondly, and in contrast to

February 5, 2015 The fourth anniversary of the January 25 revolution quickly turned bloody as security forces killed at least eighteen people across Egypt, including Cairo. Violence has spread across the country, especially following the Rabaa al-Adawiyya massacre in August 2013, and President Abdul Fattah al-Sisi’s government has cracked down

As Egypt prepares to go to the polls this weekend, official Washington is scrambling to sort out what it thinks about them. Two weeks ago Secretary of State Hillary Clinton met with Egyptian Foreign Minister Aboul Gheit and Director of Defense Intelligence, Omar Soliman. According to the press conference afterwards