Policy Analysis

An image of imperial greatness is a matter of political survival to Vladimir Putin, which helps explain his aggressive efforts to fill any vacuum America may leave in the region.

Tehran continues to maintain significant drone forces at a base in western Syria, giving them dangerously easy access to the Israeli border and raising the risk of escalation.

Washington should boost practical incentives to GCC partners on all sides of the Qatar dispute in an effort to save the Gulf union and U.S. strategic interests tied to it.

Hardliners will take comfort in the government's latest nuclear warnings to Washington, but the rhetoric could backfire if more Iranians come to believe that costly new projects hold little economic benefit for them.

The summit could yield tentative agreements on any number of issues, from Arab-Israeli peacemaking to energy and arms deals.

As Baghdad prepares to send large back payments to Tehran, any misappropriation could threaten the flow of electricity to Iraq and bolster sanctioned entities in Iran.

Why were the doors of peace with Israel closed? Why were they surrounded by walls casting accusations of treason and unbelief at all those who draw near, even though all the divinely-revealed scriptures – the Torah, the New Testament, and the Quran – confirm that the Jews are an authentic

The Supreme Leader's latest Nowruz speech signaled concern about the regime's political legitimacy while remaining notably silent on the nuclear deal.

Last February, Turkish pro-government sources proudly boasted that Turkish Foreign Minister Mevlüt Çavuşoğlu had pledged the most money towards Iraqi reconstruction of the regional powers while attending the Kuwait International Conference for the Reconstruction of Iraq. The three-day event brought together civil society representatives, high-level government officials, and NGOs, raising

The widening rift between religious traditionalists and "hybrid-postmodernists" could undermine the regime's guiding principle of Islamism.

In his latest piece on Saudi Crown Prince Muhammad bin Salman and Israel, a Saudi writer and General Manager of the Middle East Center for Strategic and Legal Studies in Jeddah Abdulhameed Hakeem tries to wash Saudi Arabia's hands of the long history of animosity toward Israel. Instead, he holds

In addition to preventing the entry of smuggled Iranian air-defense systems, Washington should work with the Saudi-led coalition to blunt the impact of evolving Houthi SAM tactics.

The kingdom's discovery of a huge new oil field could change the economic and political fortunes of a key Gulf ally.

The recent clashes were intended as the first salvo in a longer-term border confrontation, so the potential for escalation is high.

Although any attempts at coordinated action will be hampered by historical rivalries and modern disagreements, Moscow and Tehran can still use the Ankara meeting to harm U.S. interests in Syria.

Mike Pompeo and John Bolton will have ample opportunity to punish Iran through sanctions and other moves, but simply articulating clear, achievable U.S. goals could prove a formidable challenge.

Tehran seems to believe that President Trump will kill the deal next month, so it may start prepping its dormant nuclear facilities, sowing division between U.S. allies, or courting other global powers.

The spike in violence and threats of new sanctions will only exacerbate months of simmering tensions between Hamas and the Palestinian Authority.

The president now has all the time he needs to continue restocking the political system with handpicked youths while snuffing out the opposition for good.

Far from making Washington look tough, abandoning the JCPOA would ignore the real threat and empower Iran to continue seeking regional hegemony.