Policy Analysis

Recent polling shows that a majority of Iraqis anticipate that elections will lead to increased security and political problems as militias and dominant factors are expected to maintain control.

Reinvesting in civilian capabilities, sharing the burden with other actors, and assessing the widening ideological scope of the extremist threat will be central to any effective program of action.

Instead of continuing to work with corrupt Lebanese state institutions, the United States should pursue opportunities with the business community and civil society, whose members are eager to separate themselves from the group.

U.S. military deployments create the strong alliances and local partnerships that the president said he wants.

Yet the photo of an informal meeting among the Saudi, Qatari, and UAE leaders also suggests their uncertainty about American support.

In a region where publics are clamoring for healthcare, housing, jobs, and freedom of expression, progress toward electoral democracy need not always be the top priority.

With influential billionaire Aziz Akhannouch announced as the new head of government, the former Moroccan prime minister and his party—the PJD—are grappling with a significant loss of power.

The SDF has made remarkable progress in its anti-IS operations while Assad’s forces have stagnated, but the coalition and its local partners must still prepare for a renewed terrorist threat on their exposed southern flank.

The high-tech force will explore human-machine teaming concepts in waters near Iran, but questions remain about whether the United States is prepared to defend those assets when necessary.

Algeria’s new elections law threatens to derail progress on women’s participation in country politics and leadership.

The Russian/Chinese-led bloc is expected to approve Iran’s accession this week amid uncertainty over President Raisi’s foreign posture and ongoing turmoil in Afghanistan.

Two drones were intercepted in a mission that Sabereen News dedicated to “reminding the Americans of the September 11 attacks."

The international community needs to pay more attention to developments in Najaf, where Sistani-backed groups are forcefully pushing back against Iran but still face the longer-term question of who will continue his message.

The senior KH member now leads a new political movement that is competing with other Iran-backed militia factions for votes in the coming election.

The welcome visit indicates that Egypt-Israel ties can thrive post-Netanyahu, potentially expanding from the security domain to economic and civil affairs.

As Washington recalibrates its costly strategy against violent extremists, its goal should be to reduce terrorism to a low-level threat that law enforcement can handle.

Although Biden may not see Russia as his top priority, Moscow’s proxy military activities in the Mediterranean are directly aimed at diluting Washington’s leverage in the Middle East, Africa, and Europe.

As Iraq’s electoral coalitions campaign for parliament spots, old alliances and political players are likely to prevent the elections from leading to major changes in Iraq’s political sphere.

A footnote in one decade of jihadist history can become a major mobilizer for terrorists and foreign fighters in subsequent years, and few cases illustrate this problem better than the Tunisian operatives involved in the 2001 murder of an Afghan rebel leader.

New polling data reveals generational consensus and only slight sectarian discord among Bahrainis.