Policy Analysis

On the thirtieth anniversary of the establishment of the Arab Maghreb Union, one cannot help but wonder about the lessons learned from the failure of this project of Maghreb integration. The union was a coherent, fully-fledged geographic and regional block that included more than a hundred million people from the

Despite its relatively small size, Yemen is one of the most populous areas in the Arabian Peninsula, with a population of over 28 million. The number of people affected by the war in Yemen is correspondingly large: according to some estimates, more than 20 million people need humanitarian assistance and

Those who favor helping the Saudis develop their nuclear industry are running up against skeptics who fear Riyadh cannot be trusted with such capabilities.

Resuming conditional aid to the PA is the best way to bolster peace diplomacy, or help ensure stability if the process founders.

Tehran can be expected to continue its provocations amid Western pressure on its missile activities, issuing further threats against U.S. allies and showing off new systems.

If the Trump administration wants its peace plan to have any chance of success, it must announce soon that it will oppose any unilateral steps toward annexation.

Like any other country, Syria has its fair share of local quirks; almost every region is at the receiving end of bawdy jokes or even outright mockery. The same holds true for Idlib, whose inhabitants enjoy the rather dubious reputation—at least in Damascus—of being stubborn, somewhat backwards, and receptive to

In the Israeli elections scheduled for April 9, the old left-right fault lines will no longer apply. They have yielded to a center-right split, mirroring an increasingly conservative electorate, with recent data suggesting 63 percent of Israeli Jews identify with the political right. This makes the path for the centrist

During a trip to the Kawergosk Syrian refugee camp in the Erbil governorate of the Kurdistan region of Iraq (KRI) to interview refugees on their employability skills, I came across a list of over a dozen registered, underaged divorcees. In some of these cases, adolescents as young as sixteen had

A recent spate of high-level regional visits may pave the way for Moscow to entrench itself from the East Mediterranean to the Gulf of Aden, with help from the Gulf states.

Over the past month, Algeria has witnessed the largest protests in its modern history as millions contested the announced fifth term of current president Abdelaziz Bouteflika. For many, this was a turning point, and in some ways this reaction was expected in light of the increasing socioeconomic problems and political

Despite their treaty’s rock-solid record on preventing armed conflict, the two countries still hold fundamentally different views on further normalization.

Northeastern Syria is often described as a “clan-based society” due to its large number of Arab tribes. These tribes are transnational, extending beyond Syria’s borders to include Jordan, Iraq, and the Gulf. Until recently, analysis of the Syrian uprising often prioritized the sectarian dimension over the tribal one. Yet the

After Turkey’s July 2016 failed military uprising, the leadership initiated purges and reforms aimed at ensuring the military’s future loyalty, but raising questions about the operational efficiency and effectiveness of the newly configured Turkish Armed Forces. Two subsequent cross-border operations into northern Syria provide valuable insight: Operation Euphrates Shield, lasting

Historically a reliable indicator of Khamenei’s thinking, the Supreme Leader’s annual Mashhad address focused mainly on foreign policy, especially why the West should not be trusted, along with his usual call for Iran to develop its non-oil economy.

Sadat and Begin gambled everything, and the bet continues to pay off despite the dearth of normalization between the two societies.

Three experts on countering violent extremism discuss a new book and offer ideas for how government, civil society, business, and citizens can act on this persistent policy challenge.

President Trump’s recent Golan announcement and photo-op with Netanyahu could draw more voters to the beleaguered prime minister’s side.

A little-publicized fact about Iran is its ethnic diversity: though Turks and Persians are the largest ethnic groups within Iran, Iran’s eight major non-Persian ethnicities represent approximately half of the country’s total population. Each of these minority groups—Ahwazis, Kurds, Turks, Balochis, Turkmen, Qashqais, Caspeans, and the Lor tribes—collectively account for

In the wake of the multiple Arab uprisings since the Tunisian fruit seller Muhammad Bouazizi’s heroic act of self-immolation, few instances of democracy have actually emerged. Since 2011, many Arabs have looked back nostalgically at the ‘good old days’ of pre-Arab Spring dictatorships, when daily bread, safety, and stability seemed