Policy Analysis

The president's visit will likely aim to upgrade the U.S.-Saudi counterterrorism alliance, place Washington firmly in the Sunni-led Gulf camp against Iran, and deepen bilateral economic ties.

The Kurdish question in Syria has long been a point of contention between the United States and Turkey. Throughout former president Barack Obama’s time in office, the primary determinant shaping U.S. strategy against ISIS was a reliance on Kurdish forces. This furtive reliance existed despite Turkish refusal to allow the

As Iranians prepare to go to the polls, three experts discuss how the current campaign compares to past ones and what the outcome might mean for U.S. interests.

Syria and Lebanon have always had a contentious border, but the Syrian war -- and its different factions -- have made it far more complex than before.

Three Saudi summits in two days could provide powerful images of Washington's new relationship with the region, but key differences on terrorism, Iran, and Arab-Israeli peace will still need to be overcome.

World leaders need to be clear-eyed about the false facade of Iranian democracy, focusing instead on the regime's chronic regional meddling, terror sponsorship, and human rights abuses.

With Islamic ideology losing its seductive influence, the only way to prolong the regime's life is to reform the economy -- a difficult prospect given the president's weakness and the continued interference of powerful, unaccountable entities.

The upcoming regional tour is an opportunity to begin correcting Washington's flawed foreign policy.

To maintain its dominant position and stay true to its ideological roots, the PYD is pushing socialist policies on a skeptical Rojava populace, with uncertain consequences for the future of the Syrian Kurdish zone.

Washington won't achieve foreign policy successes without better diplomacy, and the first step is to understand what diplomacy can and can't do.

A review of a new book by Itamar Rabinovich, the late prime minister's ambassador to Washington, who details why Rabin preferred peace with Assad over the Palestinians.

Erdogan has always wanted to take revenge on the system that repeatedly persecuted Turkey's Islamist movement, his first political home.

Erdogan may be willing to give President Trump a free hand in Raqqa, but only if Washington supports Turkish action against the PKK in Sinjar and continues the conversation on Fethullah Gulen.

Cairo has demonstrated a stunning lack of will to eradicate ISIS from Egyptian territory and has been losing ground against a virulent but numerically small insurgency in the Sinai.

The administration's plan to retake Raqqa from the Islamic State could further inflame tensions with Turkey and Iran.

The atmospherics surrounding the summit could not have gone better for the Palestinian leader, but reviving substantive peace discussions will require more-concrete follow-on measures.

There is still time to offset the gains that Iran’s proxies have made in the past three years, but only if Baghdad continues resisting the creation of a permanent, well-funded security institution that operates outside the Iraqi chain of command.

May 8, 2017 I had not been to Qamishli for twenty years. As a Ph.D. student at the French Institute for the Near East, I went with two friends in the late 1990s to explore northeast Syria. This journey led us to Raqqa, Deir al-Zour, Hasaka, and Qamishli. Since 1997

The West's relationship with Ankara will become increasingly cold as long as populist leaders on both sides continue polarizing their constituents with anti-Muslim and anti-Western rhetoric.

Watch an in-depth conversation with two intimate observers of the Trump administration on new directions in American Middle East policy.