Policy Analysis

The Washington Institute's Simon Henderson and Cipher Brief's Bennett Seftel met to discuss key areas of Saudi-China cooperation, the ways in which increased bilateral relations affect China's role in the Middle East, and ties between China and Iran.

June 15, 2017 Surprising results from a highly credible new survey in the West Bank and Gaza conducted May 16-26, 2017, demonstrate that Palestinians are often more moderate than their leaders on short-term political issues -- such as "pay for slay" bonuses for terrorists, a U.S. embassy move to Jerusalem

The Institute's leading Russia expert outlines the best means of tempering Moscow's influence in the region, recommending a more active U.S. military and diplomatic role while explaining why Putin will never be a reliable partner there.

June 15, 2017 Does Qatar fund terrorism? Certainly. It is an argument based on an accusation that is applicable to Saudi Arabia, the United Arab Emirates, Egypt, Iran, Turkey, Russia, and the United States. As long as there is no agreed-upon definition of terrorism, any and all governments that provide

Doha is overdue in aggressively targeting terror financiers, but addressing the latest batch of regional al-Qaeda designations could go a long way toward easing Gulf tensions.

June 14, 2017 The intersection of views and interpretations, a lack of understanding of the issue, confusion regarding language or how to distinguish between different meanings along with less visible reasons, have all created confusion about terms relating to Islam and what it means to be a Muslim. Due to

The de facto leaders of Saudi Arabia and the UAE know how to change positions as pressures demand, but getting it wrong in Qatar, Yemen, and other regional hotspots could have dreadful consequences.

If Washington fails to press Russia diplomatically and raise the military costs on Hezbollah, a wider confrontation may erupt between U.S. and Iranian proxies in Syria.

June 13, 2017 At the beginning of May, the UN High Commissioner for Human Rights Zeid Raad al-Hussein expressed concerns over Egypt’s policies to combat extremism, highlighting that a state of emergency, the massive numbers of detentions, and arbitrary arrest facilitate radicalization. Meantime, the Libyan President Fayez al-Sarraj and General

June 13, 2017 “I just want to let everybody know that we are strongly supporting President Sisi; he has done a fantastic job in a very difficult situation. We stand with Egypt, and we support the people of Egypt.” With these words, the U.S. President Donald Trump welcomed his Egyptian

Pressing circumstances have pushed the Jordanian business community to set aside ideological objections and become more open to major projects with Israel.

A panel of distinguished scholars and former U.S. officials discusses what Washington can learn from the Johnson administration's ambiguous role in a war that reshaped the modern Middle East.

A sustainable reset will require greater consultation prior to policy initiatives, a greater willingness among GCC states to work together, and a U.S. willingness to reassume a leadership role by fashioning security policy frameworks for its partners.

A former Treasury official describes how the group has continued to expand its criminal and operational activities worldwide despite the changes wrought by the Syria war and Iran nuclear accord.

For almost a century, Kurdish national aspirations were thwarted by geo-strategic considerations in which regional and international actors were complicit. Kurdish identity was mostly denied, marginalized, and disparaged, with dominant irredentist formulae — Arab, Iranian, and Turkish — stipulated as more suitable alternatives. In the newly independent North Africa of

New polling data indicates that West Bank and Gaza residents are not as hostile to President Trump's posture as Americans probably assume.

Since I started researching and polling public opinion in Iraq in 2003, I cannot remember more interesting findings than the ones from the recent nationwide survey conducted a few weeks ago. In general - and as a rule since 2003 - hundreds of previous quantitative and qualitative studies have shown

Considering the current regional situation, the country's first serious terrorist attacks in many years could have major implications for Tehran's policies at home and abroad.

At a forum held by the Washington-based Arabia Foundation, a noted Gulf expert discusses persistent questions surrounding the kingdom's role in supporting terrorism.

To prevent escalation and preserve American interests in the Gulf, Washington should consider various steps on the diplomatic, military, energy, and counterterrorism fronts.