Policy Analysis

The military elite who decide much of Pakistan's foreign policy view Afghan stabilization efforts as a strategic opportunity for arch rival India to encircle them.

After the June 13 meeting between Iranian supreme leader Ayatollah Khamenei and Japanese Prime Minister Abe failed to yield fruitful results, it has become clear that the United States and Iran have reached a deadlock without much of a solution on the horizon. Nevertheless, it is widely agreed among observers

The United States is now designating politicians who place personal or Iranian interests above the needs of the Iraqi people, but these efforts could go awry if locals don’t understand the justification or consequences.

If the PKK is confirmed as the perpetrator, Ankara will almost surely launch retaliation in Iraq or Syria, and Washington will have little choice but to stand aside.

Egypt and Turkey are the two largest countries in the eastern Mediterranean; along with Iran, they make up nearly half of the total population of the Middle East. The two states also possess what are considered the two strongest conventional military powers in the Middle East. Moreover, Cairo and Ankara

On July 2, the Turkish army reportedly shelled Kurdish forces in the Northern Aleppo region of Tel Rifaat, following a similar incident in mid-June where the Turkish Defense Ministry reported killing ten Kurdish soldiers in retaliation for the death of a Turkish soldier. These recent intermittent skirmishes reflect how Tel

A delegation of the American Task Force for Lebanon (ATFL) just returned from a trip to Lebanon, where it met with over a hundred representatives of government, business, civil society, and academia while also visiting a Syrian refugee settlement in the Bekaa Valley. During the trip, I and other members

In a time where the balance of the Middle East is in flux, regional leaders and the international community alike should be closely following the relationship between Turkey and Iran. While the relationship between Teheran and Ankara has historically been troubled, mutual interests have sprouted newfound cooperation between the two

Attempts by the de facto leader of the United Arab Emirates, Muhammad bin Zayed al-Nahyan, to consolidate power and pursue an activist regional policy have drawn criticism from other emirates, including Dubai. If a compromise candidate eventually emerges to lead the UAE, it could reshape the country’s posture in the region as well as relations with the United States.

Seeing that the president wants out of “endless Middle East wars,” Tehran seems to think that raising the pressure might get him to back off.

Recent Iranian rhetoric and actions point to further retaliation, but taking that route may lead to the same strategic miscalculations and international intervention that cost the country so dearly in the 1980s.

After months of delay, the new cabinet must get up to speed quickly in order to put KRG-federal relations on solid legal ground, curtail Iranian influence, and unify the Peshmerga.

What are the consequences of the Iranian government's massive, systematic campaign to spread disinformation about religious minorities through social and traditional media? Watch an in-depth conversation with leading scholars.

If Tehran agrees to extend the JCPOA’s sunset provisions and curtail its activity in Syria and Lebanon, Washington may be willing to lift the nuclear sanctions and create a special-purpose vehicle.

At the end of June, the United Arab Emirates (UAE) used a combination of leaks and statements to communicate that it was beginning to fold its large military intervention in support of the internationally-recognized—if rather undeserving—government of Yemen. With the UAE only just having signaled its intention to drawdown in

Iranian cyber actors are showing signs of battlespace preparation, so the United States should heed the lessons of past attacks and bolster its defensive posture.

How have relations between NATO allies Turkey and the United States come to the brink of historic crisis?

The president, a former Istanbul mayor, has a rival in the current one.

The coming weeks will show whether real changes have occurred, or whether the Iraqi government is instead trying to save face by claiming success.

The Oval Office meeting between President Trump and Emir Tamim could have many agenda items, but the regional tension with Tehran will be foremost.