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Military & Security

Policy Analysis on Military & Security

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Articles & Testimony
Iran’s Nukes: This Time the Wolf Is Here
Given the regime’s considerable technical progress, even a good deal would only buy time rather than resolving the long-term nuclear threat.
Dec 10, 2021
◆
  • David Pollock
Akram speech
Maps & Graphics
Brief Analysis
Akram Kaabi's Revealing Speech
Kaabi has long been Iran's chosen man in the self-styled Iraqi "resistance," and his latest remarks seemed like an attempt to seize control of militia public messaging.
Dec 9, 2021
◆
  • Crispin Smith
  • Michael Knights
◆ Militia Spotlight
An Egyptian guard inspects bomb damage near the Gaza border in Sinai
Brief Analysis
Egypt’s Counterinsurgency Success in Sinai
The military’s shift to tribal engagement has helped reduce jihadist attacks, but Cairo’s lagging efforts on development and human rights could leave the peninsula open to a future resurgence.
Dec 9, 2021
◆
  • Ido Levy
US Army soldiers fire artillery in Syria
Brief Analysis
The Future of al-Tanf Garrison in Syria
The remote U.S. base remains a relatively low-cost, high-impact tool for preventing an Islamic State resurgence, disrupting hostile Iranian activity, and exerting leverage over Syria’s long-term outlook.
Dec 6, 2021
◆
  • Grant Rumley
  • David Schenker
U.S. and Iranian flags
Articles & Testimony
Why Israel (Sort of) Misses the Iran Deal
Given the nuclear program’s advancement under the U.S. maximum pressure policy, a raft of Israeli officials now say the JCPOA was better than nothing—but rejoining it will be difficult.
Dec 6, 2021
◆
  • Neri Zilber
Brief Analysis
A New Chance at Kingmaking for Iraqi Kurds
With militias on the back foot, the United States should lean on Kurdish and Iraqi leaders to find unity of purpose in confronting the destabilizing actions of pro-Iran groups.
Dec 1, 2021
◆
  • Bilal Wahab
KSS recruitment numbers
Maps & Graphics
Brief Analysis
A Fake KSS Recruitment Drive
Kataib Sayyid al-Shuhada may have exaggerated its recruiting numbers, but the episode points to militias' desperation to look potent and regain leverage by threatening to destabilize Iraq in early 2022.
Nov 27, 2021
◆
  • Hamdi Malik
  • Michael Knights
◆ Militia Spotlight
Iranian and international negotiators participate in nuclear talks in Vienna, 2021.
Brief Analysis
Reading Through Iran’s Nuclear Demands
Tehran has maintained its stringent line of insisting that Washington lift all sanctions, verify their removal, and provide future guarantees before it will lift a finger on resuming compliance with the JCPOA.
Nov 24, 2021
◆
  • Omer Carmi
Brief Analysis
A Close Encounter of the Propaganda Kind in the Gulf
Despite more structured international maritime security measures, a recent encounter between Iranian and U.S. naval forces reiterated the potential for miscalculation, especially under a more assertive government in Tehran.
Nov 22, 2021
◆
  • Farzin Nadimi
AK image
Maps & Graphics
Brief Analysis
Ashab al-Kahf's Takeover of the Convoy Strategy
Militia attacks on supply convoys are experiencing a (likely temporary) lull, and the sub-group Ashab al-Kahf appears to have taken the lead.
Nov 22, 2021
◆
  • Michael Knights
  • Crispin Smith
◆ Militia Spotlight
Fake image of MC-12W Liberty over Baghdad concurrent with Nov 7 attack
Maps & Graphics
Brief Analysis
Militia Technical Disinformation and the Nov. 7 Drone Attack
To deflect responsibility for the assassination attempt on Iraq’s prime minister, self-styled "resistance" groups have assembled a dodgy dossier of convincing-looking disinformation.
Nov 17, 2021
◆
  • Anwar al-Zamani
  • Michael Knights
◆ Militia Spotlight
A Turkish soldier stands guard at a rally. Image source: Reuters
Brief Analysis
Turkey vs. the YPG: What’s Next?
As Ankara and Moscow mull a potential exchange of Syria border incursions for Idlib concessions, Erdogan risks endangering his intertwined goals of improving Turkey’s economy and minimizing tensions with Washington.
Nov 16, 2021
◆
  • Soner Cagaptay
Articles & Testimony
Helping Syria’s Kurds Weigh Their Options
By reassuring its Kurdish allies via temporary diplomatic, military, and economic measures, Washington can gain greater leverage over Russia and other players at acceptably low risk and cost.
Nov 15, 2021
◆
  • David Pollock
Sabereen logo
Maps & Graphics
Brief Analysis
Sabereen News Criticizes Iran for Lack of Support
Elements of Asaib Ahl al-Haq and Kataib Hezbollah are seemingly trying to extract domestic and Iranian support for more forceful pushback against their recent political isolation.
Nov 13, 2021
◆
  • Hamdi Malik
  • Crispin Smith
  • Michael Knights
◆ Militia Spotlight
Video
Brief Analysis
The Future of Putin's War in Syria
A former U.S. ambassador to Russia joins two experts for a discussion on what the six-year intervention can tell us about Moscow’s broader foreign policy.
Nov 8, 2021
◆
  • Anna Borshchevskaya
  • Lester Grau
  • Michael McFaul
Quadcopters in Syria and Iraq, 2019-2021
Maps & Graphics
Brief Analysis
Muqawama Meltdown, Part 2: Drone Attack on the Prime Minister
Militias followed up Qais al-Khazali's threats against Kadhimi by attacking his residence, shattering the narrative of victimhood they had been building through protests.
Nov 7, 2021
◆
  • Crispin Smith
  • Michael Knights
  • Hamdi Malik
◆ Militia Spotlight
Sit-in tent, Baghdad, November 6, 2021
Maps & Graphics
Brief Analysis
Muqawama Meltdown, Part 1: Protesting the Election
In the wake of their failed election campaigns and other recent setbacks, militias sought to deepen their claims of victimhood and politically damage Prime Minister Kadhimi with protests.
Nov 7, 2021
◆
  • Crispin Smith
  • Hamdi Malik
  • Michael Knights
◆ Militia Spotlight
Articles & Testimony
Biden Needs a Plan B for Yemen If Houthis Win
Ending the war under the current circumstances will generate new problems unless further steps are taken to interdict weapons smuggling and bolster security in Saudi Arabia and the Red Sea.
Nov 4, 2021
◆
  • David Schenker
Putin's War in Syria book cover
In-Depth Reports
Putin's War in Syria
Russian Foreign Policy and the Price of America's Absence
The Russian leader defied expectations of a quixotic, costly outcome for his country’s 2015 intervention in Syria. As it actually played out, explains Anna Borshchevskaya in her recently published book, Russia leveraged the conflict and U.S. inaction to position itself as a leading power in the Middle East.
November 4, 2021
◆
  • Anna Borshchevskaya
Rocket
Maps & Graphics
Brief Analysis
Militia Rocket Attacks on the Iraqi National Intelligence Service
Such attacks are a specialized subset of violent militia actions, with the most recent incident likely undertaken by Asaib Ahl al-Haq.
Nov 2, 2021
◆
  • Michael Knights
◆ Militia Spotlight

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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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