Policy Analysis

The latest exchanges of missiles between Iran and Israel inside Syria are a vivid symptom—but not the root cause—of the looming specter of large-scale armed conflict in that theater. In fact, quite apart from this week’s U.S. decision to withdraw from the Iran nuclear deal, other recent regional and international

The administration doesn’t seem to have a day-after strategy for drawing the Europeans back into the fold after essentially rejecting months of negotiations with them.

A closer look at the local security changes, turnout obstacles, sectarian divisions, and other factors that could determine the shape of Iraq’s next government.

The latest clash indicates that Tehran has underestimated how far the IDF will go to prevent Iranian military entrenchment on its northeast border.

Now that the nuclear deal is off, Iran’s next steps will be shaped at least in part by the technical capabilities of its enrichment program and related efforts.

What the United States really needs is a new Iran policy, not just a nuclear policy—and the will to roll up its sleeves and carry it out.

This time around, a total pullout could draw U.S. allies Israel, Turkey, and even Saudi Arabia into confused combat against Assad’s alliance, without an American referee.

Hezbollah has made further strides toward remaking state institutions in its image, but the international community can still slow the group's momentum by pressuring its domestic political enablers.

In an ideal world, Israel, as a Jewish majority state holding on and developing the age-old Jewish civil and spiritual traditions, and home to a thriving Arab community, would sit next to a Palestinian state, home to its Arab majority and to an integrated Jewish community of citizens and residents

Since the death of Kuwait’s first tyrant in 1915, Mubarak, Kuwait has been ruled by two of his sons Jaber and Salem and their descendants. The harmonious alternation between Jaber and Salem, branches of the ruling family stood until 2006 when Saad al-Abdullah ruled Kuwait for nine days and was

Historically, outside pressure on Iran has been most effective when Washington acts with its allies rather than on its own, and the recent intelligence revelations support the former path.

Read a transcript or watch video of His Excellency Sheikh Mohammad Al-Issa's remarks on his vision for the future of the Islamic world.

Political hypocrisy and multiple-, not just double-, standards are nothing new in the Middle East, against which Soz makes an impassioned case. Kurds of the region have been on the receiving end of this, exacerbated by lack of accountable governance, respect for human rights and lingering historical resentments. Comparing Israel’s

For decades, Kurds have been accused of support for Israel and opposition to the Palestinian cause. But besides the ethnic dispute, the real issue between Kurds and Arabs is that one side wants to drag the other into participating in its wars. At the same time, Turkish and Iranian media

Withdrawal alone doesn’t offer a means of keeping Iran from nuclear weapons, responding to reactions from friends and adversaries, or clarifying the administration’s wider regional objectives.

A guide to the key jargon and technical minutiae underlying Netanyahu’s troubling accusations against Iran.

His unexpected approach is probably a consequence of the simple judgment that the bickering leaders have a more important issue to focus on: Iran.

The group has been conducting propaganda campaigns and violence against democratic processes throughout the region, so it may try to back up its latest warnings with attacks in Tunisia’s vulnerable interior.

A panel of experts and policymakers grapples with the weighty implications of Turkey's early elections at home and its military intervention in Syria's Afrin pocket.

Despite the recent escalation, the United States has options for preventing, or at least limiting the scope of, a regional showdown in Syria.