Policy Analysis

The wider network appears to have moved on somewhat from Zawahiri and the central leadership, hoping to carry the banner against ISIS while continuing the fight against its local and global enemies.

Washington's efforts to increase security assistance are helpful, but Lebanon will remain a priority target for ISIS and other Sunni terrorist groups so long as Hezbollah continues fighting for the Assad regime in Syria.

As bilateral security cooperation comes under increasing pressure, a new PA police initiative shows why it needs to be protected and prioritized going forward.

Whether ISIS holds on in Yarmouk or not, its southward expansion is a further sign that fighting the group in Iraq and eastern Syria will not be enough.

U.S. airpower, regular Iraqi troops, and local fighters constitute the model for rolling back ISIS in Anbar and Mosul.

Augmenting the planned force could help address intensifying threats posed by ISIS, along with Iran-backed militias and the Assad regime.

Islam offers both Christians and Jews a broad scope of religious freedoms and protections, and minority rights are also considered a religious and moral obligation.

Heeding fears over Iranian subversion and the security of the vital Bab al-Mandab Strait, the United States and other countries have been drawn into a longstanding Saudi-Yemeni dispute whose deep roots may not be fully appreciated.

As the West struggles to navigate Islam's major sectarian cleavage, it can learn from the Ottoman Empire's historical experience with Protestant-Catholic wars.

The Assad regime and Hezbollah back Iran's view of the announced parameters, but most other Arab officials and commentators are openly skeptical.

The Supreme Leader expressed skepticism that any progress was made at Lausanne and warned about barriers to resolving the nuclear impasse.

The revolution that toppled the regime of Muammar al-Qadhafi has brought Libya the exact opposite of stability. Since November 2014 alone, almost a half-million Libyans have been displaced, some for the fourth or fifth time. The Islamic State has recently entered the country, intensifying the climate of violent extremism. A

Iran needs a nuclear deal to provide daylight for its stricken economy, but if the supreme leader senses that the impending agreement falls short of that, he may impose new redlines that effectively close down the discussions.

If Ankara and Washington can manage the complications surrounding various domestic and foreign issues, particularly in Syria, then the coming months hold promise for reviving the bilateral relationship.

The Palestinian Authority may have avoided an immediate, devastating crisis following Israel's recent decision to resume the transfer of tax revenues, but the failure of the Palestinian-Israeli peace process, and the unwillingness of the PA to exercise representative good governance, have created a dynamic that will continue to erode the

In recent days, the U.S. Government reshuffled the Middle Eastern deck dramatically, signing a framework agreement with Iran but also buttressing America's traditional regional allies -- supporting the Saudi-led Arab force in Yemen, lifting arms delivery constraints on Egypt, launching air strikes against ISIS in Tikrit after Iran's effort there

By canceling a weapons financing system that had long served as a signal of Egypt's privileged relationship with Washington, the president might have closed the book on any chance for closer ties during his term.

Volcanic changes in the region are under way, with the outbreak of Sunni-Shiite wars in Iraq, Syria, and Yemen, unprecedented tension between Washington and Israel, and U.S.-Iranian nuclear talks that appear on the verge of breakthrough. Watch an expert discussion of these challenges and the future of U.S. policy in the region.

If Washington and its negotiating partners do not adjust their approach, the talks could be remembered not as a signature foreign policy accomplishment, but as a case study of a powerful country playing a strong hand poorly.

Over the past two years, global attention has shifted to Syria and Iraq with the rise of Jabhat al-Nusra and the return of the Islamic State of Iraq and al-Sham (ISIS). However, nearly one thousand miles to the west, Ansar al-Sharia in Libya (ASL) has continued its work of facilitating