Policy Analysis

The September first round of presidential elections in Tunisia have revealed two major developments in Tunisian politics. The results show both that voters will no longer tolerate the mismanagement and indecisiveness of previous policy makers, and that there is a belief that disruption, through unconventional candidates, can bring new life

The legacy of the last 28 years of Kurdish self-governance has been marked by a broken political and economic region—with youth stripped of Kurdish patriotism. The Kurdistan Region’s rentier economy has led its policymakers to think in terms of short-term political gains, fed into a patron-client system already deeply entrenched

Six months have passed since the beginning of the peaceful protest movement in Algeria, commonly known as the Hirak, which ousted longtime president Abdelaziz Bouteflika. The protest movement has also managed to dismantle the clan that surrounded him, as most of its controversial figures are now in jail. However, Algerians’

The surprising results of Tunisia's first round of presidential balloting signal that voters are generally disenchanted with the country's political establishment.

Following months of unrest and bloodshed in the Sudanese streets, a critical power-sharing agreement was signed on August 17 between the Transitional Military Council (TMC) and the civilian opposition alliance–better known as the Forces of Freedom and Change (FFC). The agreement has established a transitional council with 6 civilian and

Due to external pressures and internal fissures, the Jordanian Muslim Brotherhood (MB) today is experiencing its worst days since its establishment in 1946. This decline follows the challenges of the broader Muslim Brotherhood organization, which is facing an “internal crisis” after losing much of their momentum after the Arab Spring

After a month of negotiations and much previous speculation, Washington and Ankara have agreed on a 75-mile buffer zone between Tall Abyad and Ras al-Ain, with the two armies establishing a joint operations center in Ankara. At the end of last week, U.S. and Turkish forces conducted their first joint

Detention facilities for individuals affiliated with jihadist groups in the Middle East have a history of transforming into incubators for the creation and rise of new jihadist organizations, which have proved more dangerous and robust—both in terms of economic strength and manpower—than before. These organizations, which were founded from the

On July 18, 2019 Javaid Rehman, the United Nations Special Rapporteur on the situation of human rights in the Islamic Republic of Iran, reported that “Arab Ahwazis have continued to be subjected to violations of their rights…. [as] Iranian authorities have reportedly applied broad national security laws to target human

Recently, Turkish municipal politics have become another lens into the complicated relationship between the Turkish government and the country’s Kurdish voters. On August 19, Turkish authorities removed the People’s Democratic Party (HDP) mayors of the majority Kurdish cities of Diyarbakir, Martin, and Van on unspecified charges of terrorism. These mayors

As tensions continue to escalate between the United States and Iran, Iraq finds itself struggling to maintain a balancing act. In an attempt to curb Iranian influence and respond to U.S. pressure, Prime Minister Adel Abdul-Mahdi has moved to integrate the Popular Mobilization Forces (PMF), or Hash al Shaabi, into

Early Islamic traditions—compiled in the centuries following Islam’s formative phase through the literary corpus of Sirah (Biography of the Prophet) and Hadith (Acts and sayings of the Prophet)—openly drew on accounts from Jewish converts to Islam ( Isra‘iliyyat). While classical Islamic scholars have generally discounted the value of these accounts

In the course of the past century, a troubling development has asserted itself in Islamic thought. Whether in scholarly religious texts or in popular presentations, a new Islamic “theology of the Jews” has coalesced into a thorough demonization of both historical and contemporary ‘Jews.’ In this evolving and radicalizing theological

Amidst all the turmoil of Israel’s unprecedented second national election within six months, due on September 17, one key yet often overlooked factor stands out: the decisively right-wing role of the small religious parties. Despite the high birth rate of the Orthodox and ultra-Orthodox groups, they still get only about

Now a two year standoff, the Gulf Crisis between the “Quartet States”—Saudi Arabia, the Emirates, Bahrain, and Egypt—and Qatar have continued to shape Gulf foreign policy. In the wake of the declaration of a wide-scale boycott against Doha, the Quartet States have since attempted to impose land and sea “hoops”

The choice of about half of Israel’s Arab citizens not to exercise the right to vote in Israel’s last parliamentary election in April dramatically affected election results, while also reflecting some powerful basic trends in Israel’s Arab society. While the voting rate—49 percent—was higher than expected due to concerns over

Coverage of al-Qaeda in Yemen has always disproportionately focused on the threat that al-Qaeda in the Arabian Peninsula (AQAP) poses to the West, while ignoring the plight of the local population in areas under its control. However, southern Yemen’s complicated history led to the development and strengthening of AQAP, and

A detailed public opinion poll from last month shows that most West Bank and Gaza Palestinians approve of Jordan’s King Abdullah, look to his country for help, and want it to play a major role in their future–though just a small minority favor a future confederation with Jordan. On other

While divisive, former Israeli Minister of Justice Ayelet Shaked is a force to be reckoned with. Since 2012, when she joined the religious, right-wing Jewish Home party as its first secular member, Shaked has positioned herself as a champion for conservative causes and developed a reputation for tenacity, hawkishness, and

The international community was caught off-guard by the almost miraculous, peaceful, youth-driven revolution in Sudan, which successfully triggered the overthrow of a brutal dictator. A country so-often overlooked by the rest of the world suddenly dominated news outlets, took over social media, and grabbed the attention of governments around the