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Military & Security

Policy Analysis on Military & Security

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Secretary of State Antony Blinken shakes hands with Bahraini crown prince and prime minister Salman bin Hamad al-Khalifa - source: Department of State
Brief Analysis
One Year of the U.S.-Bahrain C-SIPA: Signs of Progress, Regional Potential
The progress the two partners have made through C-SIPA offers a fresh model for future U.S. cooperation with other Middle East countries in the security, economic, and technology sectors.
Aug 21, 2024
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  • Elizabeth Dent
Brief Analysis
The Pros and Cons of Salvaging (or Ditching) UNIFIL
Given the current lack of viable security alternatives on the Israel-Lebanon border, Washington may try to patch up UNIFIL’s many deficiencies—but it must do so with a clear understanding that the force has repeatedly failed its mission and squandered its credibility.
Aug 20, 2024
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  • David Schenker
  • Assaf Orion
Diyala governor Adnan al-Jaber with U.S.-designated terrorist Qais al-Khazali.
Maps & Graphics
Brief Analysis
Diyala Governorship Shows Badr Leaning on Maliki to Remain Competitive
As Militia Spotlight previewed, the tussle in Diyala shows that Badr's slow political descent is encouraging various militias and tribal elements to scramble for power.
Aug 19, 2024
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  • Michael Knights
  • Ameer al-Kaabi
◆ Militia Spotlight
Asad attack
Maps & Graphics
Brief Analysis
Militias Signal De-Escalation with the U.S., Return to Cosmetic Israel Strikes
The self-styled Iraqi "resistance" has hinted at a desire to end the tit-for-tat sequence of strikes with the United States and return to cost-free counter-Israel operations.
Aug 18, 2024
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  • Hamdi Malik
  • Michael Knights
◆ Militia Spotlight
Brief Analysis
Countering Iran in East Syria Means Moderating the SDF
Groups supported by Iran and the Assad regime have found some local traction due in part to grievances against the Kurdish-led SDF’s governance strategy in Arab tribal areas.
Aug 16, 2024
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  • Andrew J. Tabler
President Joe Biden gestures while speaking - source: White House
Articles & Testimony
There Is Still Time to Stop a Wider War in the Middle East
Because the landscape has shifted since April, the Biden administration’s previous script for preventing irreversible escalation may no longer work.
Aug 15, 2024
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  • Dana Stroul
◆ Risks and Opportunities in the Post-April 13 Middle East
Photo of a woman walking in front of a mural that shows missiles being launched from Iran.
Video
Brief Analysis
On the Brink? The Potential for a Broader Conflict in the Middle East
An Israeli general and two former U.S. officials discuss the prospects of an imminent Iranian attack and what can be done to deter it.
Aug 14, 2024
◆
  • Amir Eshel
  • David M. Satterfield
  • Dana Stroul
An unexploded missile fired by an Israeli aircraft lies among the rubble, amid the ongoing conflict between Israel and Hamas, in the northern Gaza Strip - source: Reuters
Brief Analysis
Explosive Remnants: Gaza’s Literal Ticking Bomb
Reconstruction can’t happen until thousands of dud bombs and other explosives are cleared from the urban rubble—a task that faces formidable shortfalls in funding, manpower, and other resources.
Aug 12, 2024
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  • Andrew G. Clemmensen
The US Navy carrier Abraham Lincoln sails alongside an escort destroyer - source: U.S. Navy
Brief Analysis
Only a Credible Offensive Threat Can Deter Iran from Climbing the Escalation Ladder
Amid a flurry of U.S. military deployments and allied diplomacy, it is uncertain if an embarrassed Tehran will attack Israel, but one thing is clear: allowing it to do so again without meaningful consequences would set a dangerous precedent.
Aug 9, 2024
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  • Farzin Nadimi
Iraqi cabinet meeting, August 6, 2024
Maps & Graphics
Brief Analysis
Extent of Terrorist and Militia Fuel Oil Diversion Exposed in Iraq
A mechanism for diverting Iraqi government oil to militias through non-operational factories was recently exposed, creating a panic shutdown of asphalt plants run by Iran-backed terrorists.
Aug 7, 2024
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  • Michael Knights
◆ Militia Spotlight
Articles & Testimony
Hezbollah’s Deadly Rockets Aren’t the Most Serious Threat to Israel’s Northern Border
The 30,000-strong militia has ground forces massed along the frontier, preventing evacuated Israelis from returning home and increasing the risk of a war that both sides would rather postpone for now.
Aug 6, 2024
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  • Matthew Levitt
Houthi colonel Hussein Abdullah Mastour, killed by the US in Iraq on July 30, 2024
Maps & Graphics
Brief Analysis
Houthi Missile Forces Colonel Killed at Iraqi Government Base in Jurf al-Sakhar
A senior missile specialist from Yemen was killed alongside Iraqi members of Kataib Hezbollah, underlining the government's cooperation with domestic and foreign terrorist groups.
Aug 6, 2024
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  • Michael Knights
  • Ameer al-Kaabi
◆ Militia Spotlight
Rocket truck used to attack US forces at Al-Asad, Iraq, Aug 5, 2024
Maps & Graphics
Brief Analysis
What to Make of Recent Attacks on Coalition Bases in Iraq and Syria?
The strikes are not yet numerous enough to form a definitive pattern, but they probably reflect deep militia divisions over whether to renew anti-coalition attacks in earnest amid the Gaza war.
Aug 5, 2024
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  • Michael Knights
  • Crispin Smith
◆ Militia Spotlight
Iraqi flag
Articles & Testimony
Shia Jihadist State Capture in Iraq
In this chapter from the Jihadist Governance and Statecraft compilation, Michael Knights explores the scope and nature of jihadist governance in Iraq.
Aug 5, 2024
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  • Michael Knights
◆ Jihadist Governance and Statecraft
Almustafa uni
Maps & Graphics
Brief Analysis
Profile: Al-Mustafa International University-Iraq
Far from a normal educational institution, al-Mustafa is the Iraqi branch of a U.S.-sanctioned Iranian entity that seeks to groom the next generation of Iraqi clerics, missionaries, pro-Iran political representatives, and pro-Iran militia members.
Aug 5, 2024
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  • Hamdi Malik
◆ Militia Spotlight: Profiles
Turkman hashd
Maps & Graphics
Brief Analysis
Militia Schisms: The Dissolution of the PMF Northern Axis
The fall (for now) of a senior Turkmen protege of Abu Mahdi al-Muhandis is a reminder that fortunes, favor, and factions are always shifting within the Iran-backed "resistance" scene.
Aug 5, 2024
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  • Michael Knights
  • Alex Almeida
◆ Militia Spotlight
Screenshot excerpt of a StoryMap covering maritime attacks in the Middle East.
Maps & Graphics
Articles & Testimony
Tracking Maritime Attacks in the Middle East Since 2019
An interactive map showing the extent to which Houthi forces, their Iranian military patrons, and other actors have been targeting vessels in regional waterways for years, including well before the Hamas-Israel war.
Aug 3, 2024
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  • Noam Raydan
  • Farzin Nadimi
◆ Maritime Spotlight
Russian president Vladimir Putin inspects a rifle while touring an arms factory in 2014 - source: Reuters
Brief Analysis
Countering Russia’s Strategy of Arming Anti-American Proxies
From rumored Houthi missile upgrades to Libyan arms deliveries by the ton, Moscow is doing all it can to empower hostile forces and undermine stability in the Middle East.
Aug 2, 2024
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  • Anna Borshchevskaya
Brief Analysis
Hezbollah’s Retaliation Options and the U.S. Diplomatic Role
Regardless of how the group responds to Israel’s latest leadership strike, its desperation to stop the bleeding will create big diplomatic opportunities for the United States and its partners—if done right.
Aug 1, 2024
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  • Hanin Ghaddar
Yezidi women and children at a refugee camp in Iraq - source: Reuters
Video
Brief Analysis
Countering the Islamic State's Gendered Violence and Minority Persecution
To mark the tenth anniversary of the genocide against the Yezidi people, three experts discuss the Islamic State’s minority atrocities, its systematic use of gendered violence, and the related challenges of repatriation.
Aug 1, 2024
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  • Gina Vale
  • Devorah Margolin
  • Pari Ibrahim
◆ Counterterrorism Lecture Series

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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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