Maps and Multimedia

The Taliban has learned that it can reap substantial international rewards without budging on key security and human rights issues, but Washington can still exert pressure on crucial soft spots such as UN credentialing, Treasury Department licensing, and Central Asian project financing.

Any postwar system must preserve the “transit passage” regime, enable ships to safely resume use of the original IMO route, and reject mandatory fees, veto rights, or other Iranian tactics for exerting permanent control over one of the world’s most critical energy chokepoints.

Former officials and advisors discuss the newly announced Palestinian legislative elections in light of Hamas’s leadership change, Israel’s political imperatives, growing violence in the West Bank, and the prospects for jump-starting the Trump administration’s stalled transition plan in Gaza.

Former senior U.S. defense officials join a Russia expert to discuss how the Iran crisis is shaping Moscow’s military, political, and economic ambitions in the region.

Watch an expert preview of next month's NATO summit in Ankara as the alliance deals with lingering tensions from Ukraine, Iran, and other crises.

Constricted traffic patterns, escalating warnings, uncertain mine threats, and a new drone attack all suggest that Tehran has no intention of willingly going back to business as usual in the Strait of Hormuz, regardless of diplomatic breakthroughs.

Three experts discuss the terms, gaps, and wider regional implications of the new MOU, including how it is being received inside the Gulf states and Iran.

Three experts discuss the fallout from the latest military strikes, along with the potential contours and implications of a newly announced agreement to halt the fighting and reopen the Strait of Hormuz.

As a landmark tool for monitoring the group’s activity hits another sobering milestone, U.S. officials cannot let regional crises completely overshadow important shifts in jihadist threats around the world.

Asian market realities and the ongoing risks to energy investments inside Syria may put a damper on any large-scale infrastructure plans, though Damascus can better its prospects through further stabilization and reform efforts.

U.S. and Israeli experts discuss the potential obstacles to progress in upcoming rounds of negotiations, and explain why keeping the Lebanon track separate from the Iran talks would be wise.

Tehran has upended traditional maritime arrangements in the Strait of Hormuz and remains in the driver’s seat despite U.S. pressure, so authorities cannot expect to reverse this shift quickly even if the war ends soon.

Three experts explore the regional and global implications of Russian and Chinese support for Tehran, including how much this assistance actually affects U.S. efforts to weaken the regime’s capabilities and bring the crisis to an end.

Amid major diplomatic milestones and major international security threats, three experts explore what it will take to achieve success on multiple negotiating tracks at once.

Human rights experts diagnose the current public mood in Iran and discuss how foreign governments can help counter the regime’s growing use of internet blackouts and other digital repression tools.

Three former U.S. policy practitioners experienced in negotiating with Iran discuss what kind of agreement is possible, what each side may require to make it happen, and how officials in Washington, Israel, the Gulf states, and Europe should address emerging differences in their objectives.

A trio of leading regional journalists discuss how Emiratis, Israelis, and Jordanians are weathering the Iran crisis, what outcomes they are rooting for, and how their relations with Washington and each other might evolve as a result.

If Washington wants to calm the markets and reach its other energy objectives more quickly, it will have to find a way of de-escalating a shipping crisis that Tehran is clearly taking advantage of in the Strait of Hormuz and beyond.

Three experts examine how Moscow, Beijing, and European capitals are navigating the crisis and what their choices reveal about the future of the global order.

Three experts discuss how Hezbollah, the Yemeni Houthis, and pro-Iran militias in Iraq have reacted to the war so far, outlining steps Washington and its regional partners can take to keep them from escalating further.