Policy Analysis

A former counterterrorism official outlines what governments are doing to address the threat of militants returning home from Syria and Iraq.

To decrease the likelihood of terrorist attacks, governments should complement traditional CT with de-securitized tools on the front and back end of the radicalization process.

April 27, 2017 Women in Saudi Arabia, like women all over the world, demand respect, equal rights, and to not be treated as second-class citizens. The highly-debated freedom to drive is but one of their requests, alongside their personal ambitions and a genuine desire to contribute to every area of

Although the Palestinian leader is hesitant to discuss tougher U.S. requests and may be unable to deliver on them immediately, President Trump should make firm demands on difficult issues while offering to work with him on meeting them.

The Trump administration should treat the Gulf's quiet security coordination with Israel as a chance to counter Iranian and jihadist threats in the region, perhaps even parlaying it into progress on the Palestinian issue.

Across the Middle East, authoritarianism has found new life in the struggle against ever more radicalized militant groups in a landscape of dire threat. And entrenched in place is the skewed dynamic that simultaneously doomed autocracies to collapse following the Arab Spring uprisings while casting doubt on the long-term prospects

04/26/17 Last month, the governor of Kirkuk, Najmaldin Karim, raised the Kurdistan flag in the province, causing uproar inside Iraq and across the region. The Iraqi parliament denounced the unilateral decision, dismissing it as unconstitutional. The Kirkuk province itself was quick to condemn the action as well and asked for

By encouraging Algiers to develop a more comprehensive approach to the persistent extremist threat in the south and east, Washington can also help manage the crises in Libya and Mali.

The emergence and legitimization of the Popular Mobilization Units (PMU or Hashd al-Shaabi) represent a continued phenomenon in modern Iraqi history: a weak state and divided armies. For democracy to emerge, the army has to be united and neutral so that it can provide a space for competition among various

In a world of rising tensions between Russia and the United States, the Middle East and Europe, Sunnis and Shiites, Islamism and liberalism, Turkey is at the epicenter. And at the heart of Turkey is its right-wing populist president, Recep Tayyip Erdogan. Since 2002, Erdogan has consolidated his hold on

Royal rivalries, oil uncertainties, and premature optimism about reform initiatives could jeopardize the kingdom's hopes for transformative economic change.

Given the many factors militating against a U.S.-Egypt trade deal, Washington should instead push for the Egyptians to avail themselves of existing mechanisms, especially the Qualifying Industrial Zones.

Although allies are calling for escalation, Washington should limit itself to incremental diplomatic and military steps in order to avoid humanitarian catastrophes and other unintended consequences.

Read a summary or watch video of an in-depth conversation regarding Turkey's recent referendum, which has further consolidated Erdogan's hold on power but also signaled deep internal divisions.

To take a strong step forward on a major ongoing conflict, the president should listen closely to a U.S. ally and make a clear statement in support of Libya's unity government and the UN-sponsored peace process.

On January 27, 2017, President Donald Trump issued an executive order suspending the U.S. Refugee Admissions Program, indefinitely prohibiting all Syrian refugees from entering the United States and banning immigrants from seven Muslim-majority countries: Syria, Iraq, Iran, Libya, Sudan, Somalia, and Yemen. The executive order unleashed a storm of criticism

Under increasing pressure from regional wars and more than a million refugees, Amman is ratcheting up taxes on ordinary citizens to bridge the budget gap.

As the Nuri mosque, the place where ISIS leader Abu Bakr al-Baghdad declared his caliphate in 2014, appears in the crosshairs of advancing Iraqi troops, the military defeat of the Islamic State in Iraq and Syria (ISIS) in the Iraqi theater looks virtually certain. But as the end of the

While 'warm' peace should remain the ultimate goal, a cold, flawed peace is infinitely preferable to no peace at all, and Israel has already struck such accords with other Arab governments.

Without an organized opposition, Erdogan's expanded powers may end Turkish democracy.