Policy Analysis

With ISIS and Iran both threatening to upset the state system in the Middle East, Washington needs to adjust its approach accordingly.

Initial public statements by Iranian officials emphasize that the United States and its partners have accepted an outcome in which Tehran need not change course.

In addition to its political importance, the EU decision to keep blacklisting Hamas is legally significant in shaping how donor nations move forward on rebuilding Gaza.

The Yemen intervention and other recent actions show how concerned the Gulf states are about the Iranian threat, though an even greater challenge may emerge from their severe tactics against domestic dissent.

Although the newly released terms cover more ground than skeptics had feared, significant questions linger on almost every major issue, particularly with regard to enforcement.

No negotiations with the Iranians are easy. The difficulty in producing the framework understanding is a reminder that filling in the details will also prove to be an ordeal. While the framework includes important limitations on the Iranian program, the Iranians will resist the scope of the verification that the

If we want to keep the Iranians from cheating, the issue of responses and consequences needs to be clear.

By issuing blanket calls for the lifting of all sanctions, Tehran may undermine efforts to forge, implement, and enforce a viable nuclear deal.

Read a collection of Counterterrorism Lectures from November 2013-May 2014.

"Don't stop history! Nobody will be able to fight the divine decrees, nor delay the day when it rises. This world has changed and the world has evolved." Only one week after President Hosni Mubarak's resignation was announced in 2011, Sheikh Yusuf al-Qaradawi delivered those words during a powerful speech

Rather than questioning the motivations of skeptics, the Obama administration should demonstrate that it has compelling answers to their concerns about a nuclear deal's potential vulnerabilities, including on breakout time, verification, and response to violations.

Although not the catastrophe it could have been, the defeat holds major implications for the regime's strategy in Idlib province, its willingness to hold precarious positions elsewhere in Syria, and its dependence on foreign forces.

Although Washington's strategy in Yemen has largely unraveled, U.S. officials have several options for building on the current pan-Arab intervention, bolstering the Hadi government, and addressing the causes of instability in the country.

A pan-Arab coalition with a patchy record steps up as Yemen falls apart and U.S. policy remains unclear... Read the full article on the Wall Street Journal website.

With reports that Washington and its partners may reach a nuclear accord with Iran in the coming days, a former senior IAEA safeguards official answers the most pressing questions about Tehran's program and how the agreement might affect its capabilities.

A key element, if not the key element, in the nuclear negotiations with Iran, appears to be the number and type of centrifuges which Iran will be able to retain. Curiously, part of the discussion can be illustrated using a children's top. High-speed centrifuges are used to enrich uranium. "Enriching"

Cairo's entry into the conflict represents an important opportunity to clarify U.S. policy toward Egypt, improve tense bilateral relations, and bolster Gulf security interests.

Washington can play a valuable behind-the-scenes role in Operation Decisive Storm, maximizing the chance that U.S. allies can prevent a Houthi takeover.

With a new king and a young, untested defense minister, Riyadh has plunged headlong into war in Yemen, with nothing less at stake than the kingdom's leadership of the Arab world.

At a time when easy choices no longer exist in the Middle East, Washington's decision to intervene militarily is a sound one, but only if the administration recognizes Iraq's current political and security realities.