Policy Analysis

Helping Erdogan take the city could greatly decrease the civilian death toll and preserve U.S.-Turkish cooperation in Syria, but Washington will still need to decide what to do with the Kurds, its other key ally against the Islamic State.

After making important gains on Mosul's eastern side and reestablishing security and basic services for some displaced civilians, Iraqi forces will likely need to regroup before tackling the rest of the city.

The post-Aleppo lull on the western front is likely just an excuse for Russia to rotate new forces and equipment into Syria and prepare for the next major offensive.

Iran and Russia may find a way to push past their strategic differences and make the ceasefire work, but it will be much more difficult to forge agreements on Syria's other intractable issues at the upcoming peace conference.

By advising its Syrian affiliate to coopt other armed groups, avoid alienating the locals, and (for now) eschew international terrorism, al-Qaeda is laying the foundation for a permanent base in the heart of the Levant.

In this essay, eleventh in a series exploring non-Islamist reform actors post-Arab Spring, analyst Mohamed Eljarh explores the prospects for governance in a deeply fragmented, polarized Libya.

Stabilizing post-ISIS Iraq will require economic reform in addition to any political settlement.

Eastern Syria holds major hydrocarbon and agricultural resources that make it a vital asset in Assad's quest for regime self-sufficiency, and a potentially powerful source of U.S. leverage against him.

The new administration must restore intimacy and common purpose to the bilateral partnership.

The perpetrators of the ongoing string of major terrorist attacks are obvious, but Turkey's bitterly divided pro- and anti-Erdogan camps refuse to focus on the foreign and domestic policy factors underlying the violence.

The secretary's latest remarks beg the question: at a time when Israelis and Palestinians are clearly unable to strike a grand deal, why not put ideology aside, jettison the administration's all-or-nothing approach, and lay out more modest parameters on settlements, incitement, and other concrete issues?

These new sanctions the Obama administration announced Thursday in response to Moscow's hacking efforts to influence the U.S. presidential election are hardly the first against Russia -- and neither is the expulsion of 35 diplomats suspected as spies. They nonetheless send a strong message and show the U.S. is taking

The generous relocation deal and proposed outpost legalization bill have drawn fire for appeasing settlers, who seem to believe that the Trump administration will give them even more leverage to expand their presence in the West Bank.

The legal consequences of UNSCR 2334 may be significant, while the impact on U.S.-Israeli relations and future peacemaking efforts could be profound.

Moscow still aims to undermine the very values that hold the West together, but the United States and its allies have not mustered the moral and strategic clarity needed to stave off this threat.

Making the concept of Israeli-Palestinian land swaps harder to implement is probably not the legacy President Obama wants, yet it may be one he has just made more likely.

The Washington Institute's Anna Borshchevskaya and Cipher Brief's Leone Lakhani review Moscow's 2016 track record on the Syria war, Iran, and other Middle East-related issues.

Peace in the Middle East will not be accomplished through a UN vote, but rather through the renewal of U.S. leadership in the region and the rebuilding of trust with America's partners there.

Establishing safe zones, pursuing a tougher line of negotiation with Russia, and limiting Iran's destabilizing presence are the best ways of addressing the country's de facto partition.

The heavy presence of pro-Iranian and pro-Syrian ministers is troubling, but Hariri and his allies can still preserve Lebanon's sovereignty by pushing for a balanced electoral law and a timely parliamentary ballot.