Policy Analysis

Working alongside Russian forces will likely enhance the group's ongoing shift toward a more offensive-minded strategy, with significant implications for the planning and conduct of any future conflicts against Israel.

Efforts to defeat the Islamic State cannot succeed without making clear to the group's adepts that their vision for society has no chance of remaining an effective battle cry in the long term, much less becoming a functioning state.

Rouhani's election pledge to improve the economy by resolving the nuclear issue is not working particularly well because of the many domestic policy challenges.

Veteran Palestinian and Israeli policymakers respond to a new study on how Western governments can help preserve the viability of a two-state solution without launching broad, risky diplomatic campaigns aimed at forcing direct bilateral talks.

Despite moving some forces away from Mosul under pressure from Baghdad, Turkey still retains a robust cross-border presence that could help counter any PKK or Islamic State hostilities in northern Iraq.

To have any hope of deterring, limiting, or winning the coming conflicts in the Middle East, Washington needs to widen its view beyond the Islamic State in the manner that regional states are already doing.

If Iran's disregard for Chapter VII measures and other international injunctions is ignored, it cannot be long before Tehran treats the nuclear deal the same way.

The Institute's Fromer-Wexler Fellow contributes to a BBC roundtable on the question 'Is Saudi Arabia to blame for the Islamic State?'

While the onus of change is on Libyans themselves, the international community must also take a stand against the various extremist political movements impeding a peaceful solution, whether they are Islamist or 'liberal.'

While Turkey's numerical advantages and other factors would seemingly give it the upper hand in limited clashes with Russia, Moscow could bring overwhelming force to bear if the conflict escalated -- a development that would invite NATO intervention.

Recent talks have yielded encouraging dialogue and a plan, but the sticky challenge of Assad’s fate remains.

The traditional American ally states in the Middle East do not have the strength to tackle the twin challenges of ISIS and Iran on their own, yet Washington remains more or less AWOL while its main partners fixate on domestic discord.

Three experts discuss what polls conducted inside the group's territory tell us about its political strength, ability to govern, and appeal beyond Iraq and Syria.

The finance ministers gathering at the UN this week should focus on taking actionable steps against the Islamic State's backdoor funding schemes, some of which involve continued access to the international banking system.

Tehran and its main proxy have increased the tempo and scope of their malign activities on the continent, so Washington and its allies need to devote the requisite resources to countering what has become a clear and present danger.

Two prominent Muslim intellectuals discuss how to strengthen moderation within Islam and counter the radical ideology that has emerged in its name.

While the Sisi government's increasingly repressive trajectory remains a concern, the ongoing deterioration of Egypt's internal security is the more immediate threat, and U.S. policy should be adjusted accordingly.

Although Algerians are lukewarm to the prospect of a managed succession, they are even less willing to believe that true multiparty democracy could flourish in the current environment.

Compared to where it was a year ago, the group is far stronger in the south and is gaining steam even as it faces large-scale military campaigns against its forces in the north.

Hamas has long sought to stymie Egyptian control over the peninsula and keep its weapons smuggling routes open, but its latest opportunistic gamble on local jihadists carries wider dangers that should be nipped in the bud by sponsors Turkey and Qatar.