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Military & Security

Policy Analysis on Military & Security

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Threat to air
Maps & Graphics
Brief Analysis
Assessing Militia Threats to Coalition Aircraft
Such threats are almost certainly information operations intended to demonstrate resolve and restrict coalition freedom of movement, not precursors to real attacks that could draw heavy U.S. retaliation.
Jul 6, 2021
◆
  • Crispin Smith
  • Hamdi Malik
◆ Militia Spotlight
Toofan
Maps & Graphics
Brief Analysis
Militias Parade Under the PMF Banner (Part 2): Ground Combat Systems
Tehran has bolstered the ground combat capabilities of its proxy militias within the PMF, though the equipment rarely sees combat employment.
Jul 3, 2021
◆
  • Farzin Nadimi
  • Michael Knights
◆ Militia Spotlight
Mohajer drone
Maps & Graphics
Brief Analysis
Militias Parade Under the PMF Banner (Part 1): Drone Systems
Drone systems paraded in Camp Ashraf were a show of strength, including the debut of new types of Iranian-provided airframes and control vehicles.
Jul 3, 2021
◆
  • Farzin Nadimi
  • Michael Knights
◆ Militia Spotlight
Articles & Testimony
Biden Wants to Leave the Middle East, But He’s in a Vicious Bombing Cycle in Iraq
Caught between aggressive Tehran-backed militias and a skeptical Congress, the administration needs a better approach.
Jul 2, 2021
◆
  • Michael Knights
Brief Analysis
Deterring Militias in Iraq: What Works and What Doesn’t
Striking back one time in twelve will not stop Iranian proxy attacks, so Washington must consider more consistent and painful retaliation in order to protect Americans in the Middle East.
Jun 28, 2021
◆
  • Michael Knights
Figure 1: Rocket and drone attacks on coalition "points of presence".
Maps & Graphics
Brief Analysis
Iraq’s Drone and Rocket Epidemic, By the Numbers
Attacks on coalition points of presence are increasing in quantity and quality, making U.S. fatalities increasingly likely unless deterrence is restored.
Jun 27, 2021
◆
  • Michael Knights
  • Crispin Smith
◆ Militia Spotlight
Articles & Testimony
Have We Already Failed to Ensure That Iran ‘Never Gets a Nuclear Weapon’?
Such weapons have spread surprisingly slowly since the end of World War II, but this template may be changing amid unsustainable ambiguity over the future of Tehran’s program.
Jun 25, 2021
◆
  • Simon Henderson
Accidental Allies cover
In-Depth Reports
Accidental Allies:
The US–Syrian Democratic Forces Partnership Against the Islamic State
To some, America's partnership with the SDF exemplified an economy-of-force effort that minimized U.S. casualties and wrested control of northeast Syria from the Islamic State. To others, it was a cautionary tale about a U.S. military hoodwinked into working with a terrorist group.
Jun 22, 2021
◆
  • Michael Knights
  • Wladimir van Wilgenburg
Brief Analysis
Making Libya’s Berlin Process Work
To break the political deadlock, begin the withdrawal of disruptive foreign forces, and deploy ceasefire monitors, U.S. officials will need to hold some hard conversations with the UN envoy and all of the international and local actors on the ground.
Jun 21, 2021
◆
  • Ben Fishman
  • Anas El Gomati
PMF
Maps & Graphics
Brief Analysis
The Iraqi Muqawama Are Feeling Isolated and Threatened
The brazen approach taken by "resistance" factions in recent weeks was designed to undermine the government, but it is now coming back to hurt them.
Jun 19, 2021
◆
  • Hamdi Malik
◆ Militia Spotlight
Video
Brief Analysis
The Last Vote? Obstacles to Renewing UN Cross-Border Assistance in Syria
Amid talk of a potential new Security Council resolution, veteran diplomats and aid practitioners debate the future of humanitarian assistance to needy Syrians.
Jun 16, 2021
◆
  • James Jeffrey
  • Basma Alloush
  • Carsten Wieland
Brief Analysis
Sword of Jerusalem vs. Guardian of the Walls: Gaza and the Next Lebanon War
The military particulars of the clash between Hamas and IDF doctrines reveal much common ground with potential future conflicts involving the other members of Iran’s “axis of resistance.”
Jun 15, 2021
◆
  • Assaf Orion
Iran's navy commander speaks in front of a map
Brief Analysis
Iran’s Atlantic Voyage: Implications of Naval Deployments to Venezuela or Syria
The maiden voyage may just be a token political and training mission to boost morale—or the first step in sending long-range missiles, drones, fast-attack boats, and other materiel to Tehran’s allies in the Caribbean or Mediterranean.
Jun 15, 2021
◆
  • Farzin Nadimi
Figure 1: Qais al-Khazali’s interview with iNEWS TV, June 1, 2021
Maps & Graphics
Brief Analysis
Qais al-Khazali's Show of Independence
The militia leader is positioning himself as Iran's equal and close partner, aspiring to comparisons with Hassan Nasrallah and Abdul-Malik al-Houthi.
Jun 14, 2021
◆
  • Hamdi Malik
◆ Militia Spotlight
Articles & Testimony
The Mediterranean Should Be on Joe Biden’s Mind When He Meets Putin
Despite its consistent rhetoric toward Moscow, the administration has not yet demonstrated its strategic understanding that ceding too much operating space to Russia will hurt U.S. efforts to confront China.
Jun 14, 2021
◆
  • Anna Borshchevskaya
Brief Analysis
Russia Signals Biden with Attack on Syrian Jihadist Group
Washington is no ally of HTS, but it should realize that Russian strikes against the group are aimed squarely at foiling U.S. objectives in Geneva, including the effort to maintain cross-border aid.
Jun 11, 2021
◆
  • Aaron Y. Zelin
Iraq's Federal Supreme Court building
Brief Analysis
Iraq’s Judiciary Weak Link
Regardless of the executive branch’s willingness to confront militia abuses, true rule of law cannot take hold unless judges are protected from intimidation and corruption.
Jun 10, 2021
◆
  • Michael Knights
Brief Analysis
Preserving the Lebanese Armed Forces Amid State Decline
Although continued pressure on the country’s political elites is necessary, the U.S. government needs to find more immediate ways of helping soldiers and citizens by making creative use of State, Defense, and congressional authorities.
Jun 9, 2021
◆
  • David Schenker
  • Grant Rumley
Middle East PolicyCast 78 Cover
Audio
Brief Analysis
Podcast: A Military and Political Assessment of the Gaza Conflict
In this episode of the Middle East PolicyCast podcast, Grant Rumley & Neri Zilber share their assessments of the factors that sparked and escalated the May 2021 Gaza conflict and share advice for policymakers who seek to prevent the renewal of major violence between Hamas and Israel.
Jun 7, 2021
◆
  • Grant Rumley
  • Neri Zilber
◆ Middle East PolicyCast
Qais in military attire
Maps & Graphics
Brief Analysis
Qais al-Khazali Doubles Down on His Muqawama Membership
The militia leader has not hesitated to provide court-quality evidence that he and his movement Asaib Ahl al-Haq are actively involved in attacks on U.S. forces.
Jun 7, 2021
◆
  • Hamdi Malik
  • Michael Knights
  • Crispin Smith
◆ Militia Spotlight

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Supported by the

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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