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Military & Security

Policy Analysis on Military & Security

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Brief Analysis
Iran Signals a Toughened Stance by Adding to Its Naval Arsenal
The regime may eventually use larger vessels to project power beyond the Gulf, but even its more modest recent additions portend further confrontations and weapons proliferation in local waters.
Jun 18, 2020
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  • Farzin Nadimi
Brief Analysis
Russia’s Military Activity in the East Mediterranean Echoes Its Approach to Syria
Although Moscow would face many challenges if it tries to establish permanent offensive and A2AD capabilities in Libya like it has in Syria, its covert actions thus far show a commitment to playing the long game against NATO in the East Mediterranean.
Jun 17, 2020
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  • Anna Borshchevskaya
Brief Analysis
Middle East Mega-Trends, COVID-19, and Beyond:
Views from France
A leading scholar of Islam explores the region’s crises and their effects on Western policy, assessing what has changed since the Arab Spring.
Jun 12, 2020
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  • Gilles Kepel
Video
Brief Analysis
Lebanon's Bumpy Road to an IMF Deal:
Implications for U.S. Policy
A former senior Lebanese official joins two experts to discuss the country's growing financial crisis and the deep institutional problems it must address in order to meet IMF reform requirements.
Jun 10, 2020
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  • Maroun Hitti
  • Jessica Obeid
  • Sami Nader Sami Nader
Video
Brief Analysis
Iran's Asymmetric Naval Response to 'Maximum Pressure'
Three veteran observers of Iranian naval forces and doctrines assess the country's ability to punch above its weight in the Persian Gulf.
Jun 10, 2020
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  • Michael Connell
  • Farzin Nadimi
  • John Miller
Brief Analysis
Hashd Reforms in Iraq Conceal More Than They Reveal
The reform measures called for by PMF leaders are so opaque that they could enable militia consolidation masquerading as security sector improvements.
Jun 9, 2020
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  • Michael Knights
  • Hamdi Malik
Maps & Graphics
In-Depth Reports
Taking Back the Neighborhood:
The IRGC Provincial Guard's Mission to Re-Islamize Iran
In 2008, the IRGC established a new branch that remains little known or studied today: the Provincial Guard. Operating in all of Iran's thirty-one provinces plus Tehran city, the IRGC-PG carries out the regime's revolutionary aims at the local level, inculcating conservative religious values, shaping educational curricula, and even sponsoring
Jun 4, 2020
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  • Saeid Golkar
Articles & Testimony
Iran Continues Its Nuclear Work, But Is It Weapons Grade?
An upcoming IAEA report will give Washington and Europe more clarity on where the nuclear program stands and whether united Western efforts to contain it are still possible.
Jun 1, 2020
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  • Simon Henderson
Video
Brief Analysis
The Islamic State's Resurgence in the COVID Era?
From Defeat to Renewal in Iraq and Syria
Two experts assess the recent attack patterns and future prospects of a group that once seemed on the cusp of defeat in both countries.
May 29, 2020
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  • Aaron Y. Zelin
  • Michael Knights
Video
Brief Analysis
The Future of Iraq's Popular Mobilization Forces
Three experts examine one of the most sensitive problems facing Iraq's new prime minister: the future of militias that were mobilized to fight the Islamic State but have since balked at subsuming themselves to the government's authority.
May 28, 2020
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  • Michael Knights
  • Hamdi Malik
  • Aymenn Jawad Al-Tamimi
Maps & Graphics
In-Depth Reports
Avoiding an Epic Mistake:
The Case for Continuing the U.S. Mission in Sinai
For almost four decades, the Multinational Force & Observers has protected Israel-Egypt peace and anchored stability in the Sinai Peninsula, but a new Pentagon initiative could end the American contribution by late next year. Defense Secretary Mark Esper has indicated that all military endeavors must now fall within a National
May 27, 2020
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  • Assaf Orion
  • Denis Thompson
Articles & Testimony
Remaining and Expanding: The Recovery of Islamic State Operations in Iraq in 2019-2020
Two security experts comb incident data from the past year to explain how the group is resurging and what factors are most likely to accelerate this troubling trend.
May 26, 2020
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  • Michael Knights
United Nations headquarters building in New York - source: Reuters
Video
Brief Analysis
Can the UN Still Save Syria?
Views from a Former Special Envoy
Is it too late for the UN to counter the Assad regime and its allies on their abuses or to salvage cross-border mechanisms for humanitarian aid? Former UN special envoy Staffan de Mistura joined a virtual Policy Forum to probe the prospects.
May 25, 2020
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  • Staffan de Mistura
Brief Analysis
Kadhimi as Commander-in-Chief: First Steps in Iraqi Security Sector Reform
After his promising start, the new prime minister needs time and latitude to stamp his authority on the country’s security sector, even as militia rockets fall in Baghdad.
May 19, 2020
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  • Michael Knights
Brief Analysis
Growing Tensions in South Syria Signal More Regime Attacks
Given the Syrian army’s recent deployments in Deraa and Russia’s half-hearted attempts to halt them, the situation may soon lead to renewed shelling of civilian areas and myriad complications for Israel and Jordan.
May 18, 2020
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  • Ehud Yaari
Maps & Graphics
In-Depth Reports
Green Without Borders:
The Operational Benefits of Hezbollah's Environmental NGO
In this illuminating Policy Note -- complete with detailed maps and satellite imagery -- Matthew Levitt and Samantha Stern tell the story of the Lebanese NGO Green Without Borders and explain why the mandate for the UN Interim Force in Lebanon must be reworked.
May 14, 2020
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  • Matthew Levitt
  • Samantha Stern
Articles & Testimony
Has Trump Finally Lost Patience with the Saudis?
Whatever combination of factors spurred the latest withdrawal of U.S. military equipment from the kingdom, the administration is tempting fate given Iran’s ongoing challenges and shifting tactics in the Gulf.
May 8, 2020
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  • Simon Henderson
Brief Analysis
What Turned the Battle for Tripoli?
A boost in Turkish drones and air defense systems enabled forces in Tripoli to establish local air superiority and ease pressure on the capital, leaving each side’s foreign patrons with tough choices about whether to escalate further or take steps to halt the fighting.
May 6, 2020
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  • Ben Fishman
  • Conor Hiney
Brief Analysis
Lebanon's Crises Offer a Chance to Address Hezbollah Violations in the South
The UN’s latest report makes clear that the dangerous situation will not improve on its own, compelling the international community to find new ways of addressing the group’s violations and the role that the Lebanese government and military play in enabling them.
May 5, 2020
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  • Assaf Orion
Maps & Graphics
In-Depth Reports
Iran's Evolving Approach to Asymmetric Naval Warfare:
Strategy and Capabilities in the Persian Gulf
A military expert offers historical context and present-day specifics on Iran's naval activities in the Gulf, using maps and other graphics to outline its capabilities and intentions during a perilously unstable time.
Apr 24, 2020
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  • Farzin Nadimi

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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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