Democracy & Reform

Policy Analysis on Democracy & Reform

Tunisian police guard the site of a terrorist attack - soucre: Reuters

Tunisia Keeps Calm and Carries On After Latest Terrorist Attack

Links between this attack and older jihadist networks underscore the complex nature of Tunisian radicalization, even if suspicious government data trends seem to suggest the problem is diminishing.

Jul 3, 2019

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Aaron Y. Zelin

Video

Brief Analysis

The Istanbul Revote: What Happens Next?

Four experts discuss the opposition's landslide victory and its implications for Turkish politics generally and President Erdogan's future specifically.

Jun 26, 2019

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Soner Cagaptay
Lisel Hintz
Kemal Kirisci
Alan Makovsky

Articles & Testimony

Erdogan’s Presidential System Isn’t Working. The Istanbul Election Shows Why.

Turkey is too diverse demographically, too big economically, and too complicated politically to be governed from a presidential palace.

Jun 24, 2019

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Soner Cagaptay

Brief Analysis

Resolving the PA Funding Crisis, But Not in Bahrain

Rather than pinning false hopes on the Manama conference, the international community should focus on reforming the Paris Protocol and convincing the Palestinians to resume revenue transfers from Israel.

Jun 24, 2019

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Katherine Bauer

Video

Brief Analysis

Assad's Thinking: How Did Syria Get Here, and Where Does the Regime Want to Go Now?

Former American and French ambassadors discuss the regime's calculus and preview the upcoming U.S.-Russia summit in Jerusalem. Watch video or read a summary.

Jun 21, 2019

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Michel Duclos
Robert Ford

Brief Analysis

Now That Morsi Is Gone, Sisi Should Ease His Crackdown

The resilient Muslim Brotherhood is only feeding off Cairo’s repression campaign, which cannot ensure stability indefinitely given the government’s failures on other fronts.

Jun 21, 2019

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Barak Barfi

Brief Analysis

Death of Divisive Morsi Could Unite Egypt’s Opposition

Jun 20, 2019

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Haisam Hassanein

Articles & Testimony

Don’t Dismiss the Bahrain Conference. It Can Help Palestinians.

Emphasizing stabilization efforts now while at least mentioning Palestinian statehood just might give the Trump peace plan a chance later.

Jun 19, 2019

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Dennis Ross

In-Depth Reports

Erdogan's Empire: Turkey and the Politics of the Middle East

The president has sought to restore Turkey's Ottoman-era reach and break ranks with traditional Western allies, but such an approach carries heavy risk of isolation, strategic miscalculation, and lost opportunities for the Turkish people.

Jun 10, 2019

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Soner Cagaptay

Brief Analysis

The Race for Istanbul: Erdogan’s Plan A and B

Although massive state resources have been mobilized against Imamoglu, the opposition candidate has taken up the mantle of the underdog who could challenge the status quo nationally, just as Erdogan himself did two decades ago.

Jun 10, 2019

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Soner Cagaptay

Brief Analysis

Ramadan Soap Operas Contradict Sisi’s Outreach to Israel

Despite Egypt’s warming relations with the Israeli government, the country’s airwaves and movie theaters are still rife with bellicose and anti-Semitic content.

Jun 7, 2019

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Haisam Hassanein

Articles & Testimony

U.S. Warns Sudan—and Perhaps the Saudis—About Cracking Down on Protesters

As international players compete to ease or exploit the crisis, Washington is seemingly pressuring Riyadh to end its support for brutal warlords like General Dagalo.

Jun 6, 2019

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Simon Henderson

Brief Analysis

Iraqi Kurdistan Chooses a New President, But Internal Rifts Deepen

The latest step toward ending the KRG’s political gridlock obscures more-worrisome Kurdish divisions, many of which threaten wider U.S.-Iraqi security and economic interests.

May 30, 2019

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Bilal Wahab

Turkish president Erdogan - Source: Reuters

Articles & Testimony

Erdogan’s Failure on the Nile

How Turkey’s president went from being a regional Islamist leader in the Arab Spring to sharing Qatar’s role as the Middle East’s odd man out.

May 28, 2019

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Soner Cagaptay

Iran's Supreme Leader Ali Khamenei delivers public remarks.

Brief Analysis

‘No War, No Negotiation’ Is Iran’s Stance

By holding fast to his defiant approach while stopping just short of war, Khamenei may be hoping to stall until the next U.S. and Iranian election cycles.

May 21, 2019

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Mehdi Khalaji

Articles & Testimony

Saudi Prince's Scorecard on New 'Vision' Looks Good—With Caveats

Change is certainly happening in the kingdom, but it hasn’t been smooth, and doesn’t look like it will be so in the future either.

May 12, 2019

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Simon Henderson

Brief Analysis

Why Erdogan Will Win in Istanbul, and What This Means for Turkish Democracy

Despite the opposition’s resilience, the president can use any number of legal, political, or foreign policy tools to ensure his candidate wins this time around, no matter the reputational costs.

May 7, 2019

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Soner Cagaptay

Brief Analysis

Khamenei’s Breaking Point: How to Get Iran Back to the Negotiating Table

The chances of extracting substantial concessions from the current regime are not great, but the odds fall to zero if Washington withholds security assurances or waits for the inevitably chaotic transition period.

May 2, 2019

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Mehdi Khalaji

President Donald Trump meeting with King Salman in Saudi Arabia in 2017 - source: Reuters

Articles & Testimony

The U.S. and Saudi Arabia Can’t Get a Divorce

Even amid growing exasperation over Riyadh’s behavior, realities on the ground and in the global economy show why the relationship is still crucial.

May 1, 2019

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Dennis Ross

Maps & Graphics

Brief Analysis

Making Sense of Iraq's PMF Arrests

By highlighting the hypocrisy of recent ‘housecleaning’ campaigns, Washington can show the Iraqi public that Iran’s Shia militia networks offer no genuine solution to rampant corruption.

Apr 26, 2019

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Phillip Smyth

Supported by the

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Fikra n. [Arabic] "Idea"

The Washington Institute's Project Fikra is a multiyear program of research, publication, and network-building designed to generate policy ideas for promoting positive change and countering the spread of extremism in the Middle East.

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