Democracy & Reform

Policy Analysis on Democracy & Reform

Twenty Years Under King Mohammed VI (Part 1): Domestic Developments

America’s oldest Arab ally has made significant economic progress since 1999, but grievances regarding social issues and political reform continue to pose a challenge.

Jul 25, 2019

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Sarah Feuer
Reda Ayadi

Brief Analysis

Sanctions on Iraqi Political Figures: Shaping the Impact and Message

The United States is now designating politicians who place personal or Iranian interests above the needs of the Iraqi people, but these efforts could go awry if locals don’t understand the justification or consequences.

Jul 19, 2019

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Michael Knights

Brief Analysis

Iraqi Kurdistan’s New Government

After months of delay, the new cabinet must get up to speed quickly in order to put KRG-federal relations on solid legal ground, curtail Iranian influence, and unify the Peshmerga.

Jul 11, 2019

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Bilal Wahab

Video

Brief Analysis

Iran's Disinformation against Religious Minorities

What are the consequences of the Iranian government's massive, systematic campaign to spread disinformation about religious minorities through social and traditional media? Watch an in-depth conversation with leading scholars.

Jul 10, 2019

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Simin Kargar
Azadeh Pourzand
Hamid Gharagozloo

Articles & Testimony

An Underdog Challenges Erdogan

The president, a former Istanbul mayor, has a rival in the current one.

Jul 9, 2019

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Soner Cagaptay

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

Brief Analysis

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

Supported by the

Project Fikra: Defeating Extremism through the Power of Ideas

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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Catherine Cleveland is The Washington Institute's Croft-Wagner Family Senior Fellow and managing editor of Fikra Forum.

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Ben Fishman is the Steven D. Levy Senior Fellow in the Linda and Tony Rubin Program on Arab Politics at The Washington Institute, where he focuses on North Africa.

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