U.S. Policy

In deciding whether to cooperate with Russia militarily, the U.S. administration must consider the Kremlin's ties to Iran and its Shiite proxies, and the associated risks of fueling future Sunni jihadist movements.

Symbolic gestures from Washington can be especially effective in a region where context is often more important than substance, and whose conflicts are based around perceptions of those contexts.

Short-term benefits aside, America's partners in the Middle East will all suffer in the end if estrangement from the region becomes the norm of U.S. foreign policy.

While ignoring Turkey's concerns and going all in with the Syrian Kurds may seem like the best military option for defeating ISIS, bringing Ankara into the fold for a multilateral campaign is the best way of avoiding bigger problems down the road.

Syria Paper Explains How to Fight Terror, Stop Refugee Flow... In this new Transition 2017 paper, Institute expert Andrew J. Tabler argues that Syria remains de facto partitioned, making the establishment of safe zones in non-Assad-controlled areas the Trump administration's most expedient course of action. Moreover, it would further Washington's

As the Trump administration prepares to revise its controversial entry restrictions, a sampling of quotes from officials around the region indicates that certain provisions will be a hard sell abroad.

An updated look at the immediate military issues and longer-term 'day after' concerns that the Trump administration should focus on as the campaign to retake Mosul continues.

The president's 'one state' comment may have been offhand, and the idea is a nonstarter in any case, but the two leaders did seem to agree in principle on a mechanism that would likely limit settlement activity.

A former Treasury official outlines the various steps Washington can take to support its stated goal of curbing provocative Iranian behavior such as ballistic missile tests, military interventionism, illicit financing, and terror sponsorship.