Gulf & Energy Policy

Amid uncertain leadership and growing domestic criticism in Saudi Arabia, Washington should press Riyadh to tolerate greater political participation, accelerate the succession discussion, and prevent Iran from exploiting the situation.

Young activists will likely be important agents of structural reform in the small Gulf states, and Washington should make more effort to engage them.

Bahrain's appointment of the reconciliation-minded crown prince as first deputy prime minister is a sign of progress, despite the potential for opposition from royal hardliners and overreaction in Washington.

Other moves would do more than a carrier presence could to push Tehran toward a diplomatic solution.

Islamists are bankrolling terrorist groups across the Middle East and calling it aid work.

President Saleh's solution to Yemen's "civil-military problematic" (to borrow Peter Feaver's phrase) was to build powerful praetorian units and place his relatives in command of them, a counterproductive approach that ultimately increased the risk that Saleh faced. During Yemen's Arab Spring uprisings, sections of the armed forces not controlled by

Barring an across-the-board change in Tehran's strategic goals, the Iranian people's readiness for regime change, or the scope and immediacy of the Iranian threat to the United States, there is little reason to believe that a policy based exclusively on military action or rapprochement is viable. Therefore, the most reasonable

Yemen needs increased and refocused military aid to continue the long fight against adaptive al-Qaeda forces.

The replacement of a long-serving provincial governor is likely related to security concerns regarding the area's Shiite majority.