Policy Analysis

Two weeks ago, Turkish authorities released the Syrian brigadier general Ahmed Rahal—who had originally defected from the Syrian regime—after months of detention that observers claim is due to his strong and public critique of the Syrian National Army and the policies of Turkish-backed forces in the liberated areas. Rahal’s detention

كان ذلك احتفال بذكرى الحرب العالمية الأولى

Remembering the late Palestinian official's long institutional memory and wide-ranging role in decades of peace diplomacy.

On August 27, the government of Prime Minister Mustafa al-Kadhimi formed a committee to investigate major cases of corruption in Iraq, acknowledging the ongoing frustration among Iraqis with the rampant corruption that has plagued the country.

In a speech last week, Egyptian President Abdel Fattah el-Sisi argued for Muslims worldwide to celebrate the birthday of Prophet Muhammad by being polite like the Prophet and taking the example of his good ethics toward “all the others.” This appeared to be an implicit message on Muslim-Jewish relations during

A veteran Israeli official explains how the next administration will differ from its predecessors and why immediate consultations between Biden and Netanyahu’s teams are crucial.

Experts from the Gulf, Egypt, Turkey, and Israel respond to the initial voting results and discuss factors that may help or hinder the next administration.

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

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.

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.

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.