Policy Analysis

While the regime doubles down on its domestic crackdown, it has increased its threatening rhetoric abroad as well, potentially drawing U.S. assets into a new round of military escalation reminiscent of summer 2019.

The oil cartel’s reported plan to cut production could roil global markets, U.S.-Gulf relations, and American voter sentiment.

The facade group in question tends to follow through on its warnings, so its latest rhetoric about using developments in Yemen as cause for new attacks should be taken seriously.

As drug smuggling increases across Jordan’s border with Syria, Jordanian authorities need to seek solutions in both the security and social spheres.

By targeting celebs and financially coopting the clergy, the regime has revealed a great deal about what it sees as its greatest vulnerabilities.

With elections in the balance, Erdoğan is playing a risky game of international normalizations in the hope that the Turkish electorate will approve of economic ties and immigrant solutions.

An attempted suicide operation against al-Hawl camp highlights the ongoing risks posed by indefinite detention of foreigners associated with IS.

The most recent wave of protests in Iran appears more unified and determined, suggesting it may be the start of something much bigger.

The vote and the events leading up to it reflect a system in near-paralysis rather than an example for neighbors to emulate.

The unrest has shown that many young people are not only rejecting the regime, but also steering away from long-time actors such as the clergy, reformers, and dissident politicians inside and outside the country.

Although the country currently lacks the unity and rule of law needed to safely pursue a process as fraught as amending the constitution, there are several alternatives that could get it on the path to systemic reform.

The transfer further boosts his son’s authority and could even be a prelude to an unprecedented abdication.

Palestinians felt that Biden’s visit did little to aid the Palestinian cause, despite attempts by the Palestinian Authority to portray the trip as a success.

The partial mobilization suggests that he is more afraid of regime hardliners than the Russian public.

Tehran's program continues to gallop ahead, and the United States is doing very little about it.

Hezbollah leaders are not ready to act on their many threats of major escalation, so Washington and its allies should prevent the group from reaping the nascent agreement’s reputational and financial benefits.

Watch an expert forum on the new realities of the Middle East and Israel's strategic position amid deepening ties with Arab countries, Iran's regional ambitions, Palestinian political crisis, and renewed great-power competition.

The Abraham Accords have substantially increased the region’s options for countering Iranian threats, but the past performance of Arab coalitions should make policymakers cautious about expecting too much from new alliances.

The first in a series of Washington Institute articles about the upcoming vote discusses how the rival coalitions are shaping up, why extremists are gaining ground on the right, and which policy issues are most likely to steer the national debate.

Various governments have made good use of last year’s unprecedented IMF allocation, but the Ukraine war, ongoing debt issues, and other economic problems are a reminder that the region cannot sidestep deeper reforms indefinitely.