U.S. Policy

Besides reopening the debate about proper use of the strategic reserve, the decision is not guaranteed to sway Washington’s tussle with Moscow and Riyadh.

The career of Iran's last pre-revolution ambassador to the United States offers both an example and a warning to American policymakers and diplomats today.

Fearing a Western-inspired overthrow, Tehran has intensified enforcement of morality laws, purged professors from universities, and poured billions of dollars into the creation of a separate national intranet.

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.

In addition to continuing the discussion of withheld U.S. funding, Secretary Blinken’s team should focus on steering Cairo toward productive steps in Ethiopia, Sudan, Libya, Lebanon, and Syria.

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.

Washington and Ankara have significant diplomatic and security incentives for considering the deal, while rejecting it outright would likely hasten Erdogan’s drift into Putin’s orbit.

Questions about the viability of the Iraqi security forces—brought into sharp focus by the U.S. withdrawal from Afghanistan—require a data-led analysis of where the forces are today and what mix of U.S., NATO, and European efforts can help them thrive in the future.

Should protests grow more destabilizing, the United States will need to balance its values and interests regarding bilateral ties, the popular movement in question, broader regional dynamics, and competition with Russia or China.