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Military & Security

Policy Analysis on Military & Security

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Baquer Namazi, a dual U.S.-Iranian citizen who had been imprisoned in Iran, shakes hands with an Omani official in Muscat - source: Reuters
Brief Analysis
The Latest Chapter in Iran’s Hostage Diplomacy
U.S. policymakers should be careful about concluding that Tehran’s decision to relax restrictions on two detained American citizens has anything to do with the nuclear talks.
Oct 6, 2022
◆
  • Henry Rome
Smoke is seen at a Saudi oil facility in Abqaiq, 2019 - source: Reuters
Brief Analysis
Will a Sense of Revenge Spur Iran to Attack Saudi Arabia?
While the regime doubles down on its domestic crackdown, it has increased its threatening rhetoric abroad as well, potentially drawing U.S. assets into a new round of military escalation reminiscent of summer 2019.
Oct 4, 2022
◆
  • Farzin Nadimi
AWH graphic
Maps & Graphics
Brief Analysis
Iraqi Militia Group Makes Credible New Threat Against the Gulf States
The facade group in question tends to follow through on its warnings, so its latest rhetoric about using developments in Yemen as cause for new attacks should be taken seriously.
Oct 3, 2022
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  • Hamdi Malik
  • Michael Knights
◆ Militia Spotlight
Jordan-Syria Border
Fikra Forum
Fikra Forum
The Captagon War: Smuggling on the Jordanian-Syrian Border
As drug smuggling increases across Jordan’s border with Syria, Jordanian authorities need to seek solutions in both the security and social spheres.
Sep 30, 2022
◆
  • Saud Al-Sharafat
A woman at the Al-Hawl (or Al-Hol) detention camp in Syria - source: Reuters
Brief Analysis
Detention Facilities in Syria, Iraq Remain Vulnerable to Islamic State Attacks
An attempted suicide operation against al-Hawl camp highlights the ongoing risks posed by indefinite detention of foreigners associated with IS.
Sep 29, 2022
◆
  • Devorah Margolin
A souvenir plate depicting Russian President Putin and Crimea - source: Reuters
Articles & Testimony
The Internal Forces Pushing Putin’s Escalation in the War with Ukraine
The partial mobilization suggests that he is more afraid of regime hardliners than the Russian public.
Sep 24, 2022
◆
  • Anna Borshchevskaya
Brief Analysis
For Hezbollah, a Maritime Border Deal Is a Way to Avoid War
Hezbollah leaders are not ready to act on their many threats of major escalation, so Washington and its allies should prevent the group from reaping the nascent agreement’s reputational and financial benefits.
Sep 23, 2022
◆
  • Hanin Ghaddar
Video
Brief Analysis
Israeli National Security on the Eve of Yet Another Election
A Forum in Memory of Zeev Schiff
Watch an expert forum on the new realities of the Middle East and Israel's strategic position amid deepening ties with Arab countries, Iran's regional ambitions, Palestinian political crisis, and renewed great-power competition.
Sep 22, 2022
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  • Amos Gilead
  • Ephraim Sneh
  • Ehud Yaari
  • Amos Yadlin
◆ Zeev Schiff Memorial Lectures
Articles & Testimony
Regional Security Cooperation Partnerships in the Middle East
The Abraham Accords have substantially increased the region’s options for countering Iranian threats, but the past performance of Arab coalitions should make policymakers cautious about expecting too much from new alliances.
Sep 21, 2022
◆
  • David Schenker
MEES map showing Israeli and Lebanese maritime border claims in the East Mediterranean.
Maps & Graphics
Brief Analysis
Israel’s Karish Gas Field: Diplomatic Opportunity or Casus Belli?
Seven experts examine how the fraught decision to start production might affect Beirut’s negotiating stance, Hezbollah’s military calculus, U.S.-Israel relations, and other factors.
Sep 20, 2022
◆
  • Simon Henderson
  • Hanin Ghaddar
  • Matthew Levitt
  • Ehud Yaari
  • David Makovsky
  • David Schenker
  • Andrew J. Tabler
mohammed bin salman
Fikra Forum
Fikra Forum
Pragmatic Re-Balancing: the Saudi Dual Outreach to Israel and Iran
While the Middle East remains littered with flashpoints, Saudi Arabia is reaching out to Israel and Iran in an attempt to defuse simmering tensions and build consensus, with the Kingdom shifting from a confrontational to fence-mending approach.
Sep 20, 2022
◆
  • Leonardo Jacopo Maria Mazzucco
The Iranian catamaran missile corvette Shahid Soleimani on its launch in 2022
Brief Analysis
New Iranian Warship Signals Longer Maritime Reach, More Aggressive Strategy
Although Tehran tends to exaggerate its naval achievements and blue-water capabilities, the heavy investments it has made in this sector are yielding regionally significant progress.
Sep 16, 2022
◆
  • Farzin Nadimi
Assad and Khamenei
Fikra Forum
Fikra Forum
Despite Airstrikes, Iran Continues to Permeate Western Syria
Efforts to counter Iran in Syria are solely focused on Iran’s military presence in the country, and have ignored the soft-power, cultural spheres of influence being developed by Iran as a long-term strategy.
Sep 14, 2022
◆
  • Omar Abu Layla
Fair-Observer-Arab-NATO-Middle-East-politics-Iran-news-GCC-news
Fikra Forum
Fikra Forum
The Middle East NATO: From Fiction to Fact
In light of increased regional tensions, the idea of a Middle East NATO is becoming more and more realistic, this time with the possibility of Israeli-Arab cooperation.
Sep 14, 2022
◆
  • Mohamed Chtatou
Nujaba Warethun
Maps & Graphics
Brief Analysis
Profile: Al-Warithuun
Al-Warithuun is a "resistance" brand with a recurring connection to kinetic operations that are directed by Iran's Qods Force but intended to be deniable.
Sep 13, 2022
◆
  • Michael Knights
  • Hamdi Malik
  • Crispin Smith
◆ Militia Spotlight: Profiles
Iraq protestor flag
Fikra Forum
Fikra Forum
What’s Next for Iraq After al-Sadr’s Withdrawal from the Political Process?
Violent protests broke out after al-Sadr announced his withdrawal from Iraqi politics, but this is unlikely to be the end of al-Sadr's political maneuvering.
Sep 12, 2022
◆
  • Azhar Al-Rubaie
Articles & Testimony
A New Iran Deal Won’t Prevent an Iranian Bomb
Tehran’s program is far more advanced than in 2015, so only a credible threat of force will stop the regime from crossing the nuclear weapons threshold.
Sep 9, 2022
◆
  • Dennis Ross
cyber security
Fikra Forum
Fikra Forum
What Cyber Attacks Against Ukraine Can Teach Israel
Israel must look to the war in Ukraine for insight into potential cyber attacks and security strategies ahead of the November legislative elections.
Sep 8, 2022
◆
  • Ophir Barel
U.S. Navy image of an Iranian vessel attempting to capture a U.S. naval drone - source: Department of Defense
Brief Analysis
Iranian Seizures Raise Questions About Unmanned Maritime Operations
More trouble may await U.S. vessels unless officials work resolutely to protect them and establish effective guidelines for their safe operation.
Sep 7, 2022
◆
  • Farzin Nadimi
Brief Analysis
How Turkey Views Russian Naval Access to the Black Sea
Despite supporting Ukraine militarily, President Erdogan has crucial political and economic reasons for preserving good ties with Moscow, so he is unlikely to take any actions in the Black Sea that are not strictly laid out in the Montreux Convention.
Sep 2, 2022
◆
  • Soner Cagaptay

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Military and Security Studies Program

The Washington Institute's Military and Security Studies Program has established itself as an unrivaled source of reliable, incisive, and forward-looking analysis concerning several of the most critical national-security challenges facing the United States today: The U.S. military role in the Middle East, Iran's nuclear program and its proxy armies, the ongoing conflict is in Iraq, Lebanon, Syria, and Yemen, the regional proliferation of missiles and weapons of mass destruction, the security dimensions of the Arab-Israeli conflict, and many other security issues on the frontline of the U.S. policymaking agenda.

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Featured experts

Michael Eisenstadt
Michael Eisenstadt
Michael Eisenstadt is the Kahn Senior Fellow and director of The Washington Institute's Military and Security Studies Program.
Michael Knights
Michael Knights
Michael Knights is the Jill and Jay Bernstein Senior Fellow at The Washington Institute and cofounder of the Militia Spotlight platform, which offers in-depth analysis of developments related to Iran-backed militias.
Grant Rumley
Grant Rumley
Grant Rumley is the Meisel-Goldberger Senior Fellow and Director of the Diane and Guilford Glazer Foundation Program on Great Power Competition and the Middle East at the Washington Institute for Near East Policy.
Elizabeth Dent - source: The Washington Institute
Elizabeth Dent
Elizabeth Dent is a Senior Fellow at the Washington Institute for Near East Policy, where she focuses on U.S. foreign and defense policy toward the Gulf states, Iraq, and Syria.
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