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Syria: The Case for "The Devil We Don't Know"

The Obama administration's announcement yesterday specifically sanctioning Syrian President Bashar al-Asad begins to clear the fog that has clouded policy toward this pivotal country since the outbreak of mass protests weeks ago. As U.S. and international leaders have grappled with popular uprisings across the Middle East, the tension between moral

Amos Yadlin
Robert Satloff

President Obama's Delicate Pivot: From Abbottabad to the Arab "Winds of Change"

After appropriately exulting in the daring raid against Usama bin Laden, President Obama will connect that success to a broader theme -- the Arab "winds of change" -- whose prospects for success are certainly no greater than the 50/50 odds originally given for the Abbottabad mission. In so doing, the

Robert Satloff

Articles & Testimony

Why a Case-by-Case Strategy Is Not Going to Work in the Middle East

When administration officials insist that each country and each revolution in the Middle East is different and must thus be handled differently, they are correct. Case-by-case action is often wise. Case-by-case strategy is not.

Michael Singh

Articles & Testimony

Turkey's New Relationship with NATO: Implications for Washington

Ever since the Justice and Development Party (AKP) assumed power in Ankara in 2002, Turkey has grown gradually cold toward cooperating with the West in the Middle East. Now, the AKP is increasingly taking issue with NATO.

Soner Cagaptay

In-Depth Reports

When the Dust Settles: The Middle East, Circa 2016

On May 13, 2011, Robin Wright, Robert Kagan, and Martin Kramer addressed The Washington Institute's 2011 Soref Symposium. Ms. Wright, a distinguished journalist who has reported from more than 140 countries, is a senior fellow at the United States Institute of Peace and a distinguished scholar at the Woodrow Wilson

Robin Wright
Robert Kagan
Martin Kramer

In-Depth Reports

The Arab Spring: Implications for America and the Middle East

On May 13, 2011, Hisham Kassem, Maj. Gen. Amos Yadlin, and Amb. James Larocco addressed The Washington Institute's 2011 Soref Symposium. Mr. Kassem, former publisher of al-Masry al-Youm, is an independent journalist and one of Egypt's most prominent democracy activists. Maj. Gen. Yadlin is the Kay fellow at The Washington

Hisham Kassem
Amos Yadlin
James Larocco

In-Depth Reports

Michael Stein Address on U.S. Middle East Policy

On May 12, 2011, National Security Advisor Thomas E. Donilon delivered the Michael Stein Address on U.S. Middle East Policy at The Washington Institute's 2011 Soref Symposium. Mr. Donilon is national security advisor to President Obama, a post he has held since October 2010. During the Clinton administration, he served

Thomas Donilon

In-Depth Reports

Responsible Partnership:

The Iraqi National Security Sector after 2011

Despite being overshadowed by tumult elsewhere in the region, the December 2011 deadline for U.S. military withdrawal from Iraq looms ever closer. And although Baghdad has made notable progress on many fronts, its security forces and related civilian ministries continue to show troubling gaps in both capabilities and decisionmaking, leaving

Barak Salmoni

Articles & Testimony

Welcome to Abbottabad, Pakistan

Pakistan's embarrassment at being shown as having provided sanctuary to the world's most wanted terrorist is likely to prompt diplomatic, military, political, and public responses.

Simon Henderson

Usama bin Laden: A Post-Mortem

Nearly ten years after the attacks of September 11, and a year to the day after the failed Times Square bomb plot, U.S. Special Forces killed al-Qaeda chief Usama bin Laden in a safe house some forty miles north of Islamabad, Pakistan.

Matthew Levitt

Articles & Testimony

The Long View: The Middle East Needs More Israels

The Arab Spring may well produce a few more strong, reliable, democratic, pro-American allies in the Middle East, but until that moment arrives, Washington would be wise to strengthen and protect the only such ally it has in the region.

Robert Satloff

In-Depth Reports

Iran's Influence in Iraq:

Countering Tehran's Whole-of-Government Approach

Since the overthrow of Saddam Hussein's regime in 2003, Iran has tried to establish itself as the key external power broker in Iraq by exploiting ties with key parties, arming and training militias, and exerting economic, religious, and informational influence. Although these efforts have yielded mixed results thus far, the

Michael Eisenstadt
Michael Knights
Ahmed Ali

Washington and the UAE Discuss Iran

Sheikh Muhammad's visit is an opportunity for the White House to clarify its views on Iran, which the Gulf Arab countries do not see as being subject to the standards of universal political freedoms otherwise espoused by Washington.

Simon Henderson

Syria: One Step Forward, One Step Back

Washington should immediately warn the Asad regime that any resort to large-scale violent suppression of protestors will be met with immediate measures by the United States and the international community.

Andrew J. Tabler

Articles & Testimony

Twisting Assad's Arm

The key to dealing with the Assad regime is to always keep your options open and be prepared to walk away with no obligations. Only by making clear when it will do so, and what will be the consequences, will Washington ever have a hope of getting a straight answer out of the Syrian president.

Andrew J. Tabler

Articles & Testimony

Crossing Thresholds for Peace Process

Unless Netanyahu and Abbas cross historic threshold over the next month, the prospects for peace are likely to slide backward just as so much of the Middle East is trying to surge forward.

David Makovsky

Articles & Testimony

Outraged in Riyadh

King Abdullah thinks the Obama administration's love of universal freedoms is naive and inappropriate for conservative Gulf Arab states like Saudi Arabia and Bahrain, especially when the real concern is Iran.

Simon Henderson

The Post-9/11 FBI: The Bureau's Response to Evolving Threats

Read prepared remarks by the FBI's counterterrorism chief on how the Bureau assess the global terrorist threat ten years after 9/11 and how it is organizing its efforts.

Mark F. Giuliano

◆ Counterterrorism Lecture Series

Syria Teeters on the Edge

Washington must at minimum take a clear position with regard to Damascus and human rights -- which could prove a key point of consensus in the international response to the regime's brutal suppression of Syrian demands for democratic reform.

David Schenker
Andrew J. Tabler

Articles & Testimony

Shifting Sands: Political Transitions in the Middle East

On April 13, 2011, J. Scott Carpenter, Keston Family fellow and director of Project Fikra: Defeating Extremism through the Power of Ideas at The Washington Institute, testified before the U.S. House of Representatives Committee on Foreign Affairs, Subcommittee on the Middle East and South Asia. The following is an excerpt

J. Scott Carpenter

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Supported by the

Diane and Guilford Glazer Foundation Program on Great Power Competition and the Middle East

The Diane and Guilford Glazer Foundation Program on Great Power Competition and the Middle East focuses on the region as a setting for heightened competition between the United States and other world powers, such as China and Russia.

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Robert Satloff - source: The Washington Institute

Robert Satloff is the Segal Executive Director of The Washington Institute, a post he assumed in January 1993.

Ambassador Dennis Ross

Dennis Ross, a former special assistant to President Barack Obama, is the counselor and William Davidson Distinguished Fellow at The Washington Institute.

Michael Singh

Michael Singh is the Managing Director and Lane-Swig Senior Fellow at The Washington Institute.

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