Policy Analysis

Understanding the relationship between the Houthis and Yemen’s northern tribes helps clarify the limited nature of the relationship, while demonstrating the lasting harm Houthis have made to traditional tribal structures.

During the first half of 2020, global markets saw a significant decline in crude oil prices as a result of the coronavirus pandemic. Though the price of crude oil has since stabilized at a little less than $40 a barrel, crude oil remains at just 40 percent of what it

Failed international cooperation and an increase in dam construction is threatening Iraq's security.

Sudan’s inclusion on the terrorism list has ended after President Trump signed an order to remove Sudan from the State Department’s list of state sponsors of terrorism on October 23, 2020. That decision followed Sudan’s formal agreement to take steps towards normalization with Israel in the wake of four-way talks

Neither Moscow nor Ankara is interested in genuine peace; they are using the disputed region to their own ends, and Russia remains the only actor who can talk to all sides.

Given how attuned Netanyahu’s government is to political vicissitudes in Washington, the U.S. election results will likely determine whether Israel continues its trend of approving more construction outside the security barrier.

Though the recent normalization deal between Israel and several Arab states certainly poses a new challenge to Iran, it is the unique combination of the past year’s events that is pushing the Islamic Republic towards an existential crisis.

The Iraqi government has recently released a white paper detailing economic and financial reforms meant to lift the country out of its current economic straits. The White Paper for Economic Reforms—written by the Crisis Cell for Financial and Fiscal Reforms, established in May to manage the country’s fiscal reforms—largely proposes

Before the coronavirus pandemic, I had travelled to northeastern Syria twice in twelve months. On my most recent trip in Manbij, I found myself walking wide-eyed into a hardware store like any I would have frequented at home in the United States. Various electrical conduits and fittings for outlet boxes

The EU has repeatedly gotten its policy toward Ankara wrong, inadvertently helping Erdogan at key points during the rise of his illiberal movement while creating preventable tensions over various regional and domestic issues.

For starters, he would have used the new ties with Gulf states as a bridge to the Palestinians, not a bypass road.

Jakarta’s domestic politics make normalization unlikely despite years of positive signals, but the United States should nevertheless urge it to consider incremental, mutually beneficial steps toward rapprochement with Jerusalem.

Recent polling of Arab youth demonstrates the frustration that young Arabs continue to feel with their governments and at the lack of opportunities available to them, a decade after the Arab spring.

U.S.-European cooperation in the Middle East may not rank high in American voters’ minds, but the issue will demand close policy attention in the months ahead. If Joe Biden defeats Donald Trump, European leaders should not allow their undoubted relief to lapse into complacency. And if Trump prevails, they should

The latest deal shows how firm U.S. pressure, quiet contacts with Israel, and domestic political breakthroughs can help Arab governments advance normalization even in the face of popular opposition and past military conflict.

History may be repeating itself as Tehran develops new, smaller, and more secure Iraqi cells reminiscent of the formation of KH itself.

On announcing the recent framework for Lebanese negotiations with Israel, mediated by the United States under the auspices of the UN, the Lebanese Speaker of Parliament Nabih Berri used language that marked a sharp departure from decades of vitriolic discourse aimed at the “Zionist Entity.” Berri repeatedly spoke of the

Ayatollah Khamenei is wholly focused on preserving the political system he has so painstakingly built, but trends suggest a shaky Iranian future regardless of who wins the U.S. election.

While Iraqi elites seem to see the announcement of early elections as a major development, polling reveals that Iraqi public opinion is less optimistic about the moves ability to promise major change.

The circumstances of the latest attack give credence to President Macron’s recent speech on the need for reengaging disenfranchised neighborhoods and defending secular principles in order to fight hate speech and jihadist violence.