Policy Analysis

This weekend, Egypt's Islamist president Muhammad Morsi unilaterally amended the interim constitution that had been approved by 77 percent of voters during a public referendum in March 2011. Although these changes may eventually be challenged in the High Constitutional Court (HCC), the absence of a parliament and military leaders capable

Shortly after Saturday's earthquake in Iran's East Azerbaijan province, the U.S. government issued a condolence statement that was notable for arriving a few hours before any comment on the matter by Supreme Leader Ali Khamenei. For his part, President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad has yet to issue a statement on the tragedy

Hizballah has leveraged its worldwide network of members and sympathizers to secure financial, logistical, and other types of support. Procurement of goods ranging from weapons to dual-use items (e.g., night-vision goggles and clock timers) is a critical component of these efforts. In Canada, Hizballah has long maintained a robust network

Clinton's trip may be a way of conveying U.S. determination to prevent the Syria crisis from sucking the region into disaster.

By supporting the massacres in Syria over the past sixteen months, Hassan Nasrallah and Hezbollah engendered the hatred of millions of Sunnis next door, who will almost assuredly hold a grudge after Assad's ouster.

Over the past few months, more than fifty Islamists have been arrested across the United Arab Emirates, a major oil producer and U.S. ally. The country's attorney-general stated this week that the detainees, all thought to be UAE citizens, had "revealed plans to jeopardize the security of the state" and

Action on Iran's domestic brutality can prevent the Islamic Republic from labeling sanctions as something they are not intended to be: an attack on the Iranian public.

The true measure of progress in Syria and, perhaps, the Middle East is whether the revolution undermines the use of fear as a tool of governance.

An Iraqi court's decision to release an indicted senior Hizballah figure could lead to more terrorist attacks on Americans.

On August 1, 2012, Prof. Mohammed S. Dajani Daoudi addressed a Policy Forum at The Washington Institute. Founder and director of the American Studies Graduate Program and a professor of politics and international relations at al-Quds University in Jerusalem, he served as a Washington Institute visiting fellow this summer. His

Yesterday's deadly attack in the Sinai Peninsula, in which militants killed sixteen Egyptian soldiers while wounding seven others, was as predictable as it was devastating. Since last year's revolution, terrorists have worked continuously to manufacture tensions between Egypt and Israel, attacking the gas pipeline to Israel and Jordan fifteen times

With its initial attempts at building bridges in Cairo having backfired, the Obama administration is looking for new ways to improve America's image in Egypt.

On July 31, David Crist and Ambassador James Jeffrey addressed a Policy Forum at The Washington Institute. Dr. Crist, a senior historian for the U.S. government and a special advisor to the head of U.S. Central Command, is author of the new book The Twilight War: The Secret History of

Since the beginning of the Syrian uprising, Washington has repeatedly demanded that Bashar al-Assad desist from employing the most brutal tactics against his own people, only to see the regime use them anyway. With the recent assassination of four senior Syrian officials amid reports that the regime is moving its

From 2005 to 2008, Iraq fell into a sectarian civil war that almost destroyed the country, and only in the past few years has it been able to claw itself out of that situation. Many Americans are unaware of what security is like in today's Iraq because the news is

A sudden political shift among Syria's three million Kurds, who now control much of the country's border with Turkey, provides an opportunity for the United States to better coordinate its policy with regional allies and to encourage the Syrian opposition to respect minority rights.

On July 25, Washington Institute Ziegler distinguished fellow David Makovsky, who recently returned from a trip to Israel and Ramallah, was joined in a Policy Forum by Institute Next Generation fellow Eric Trager, who spent much of June and July conducting extensive research in Egypt. The following is a rapporteur's

During a recent trip to Antakya and Istanbul, David Pollock and a European delegation met with more than 100 Syrian opposition figures to discuss border controls, involvement of the Muslim Brotherhood, and ways in which the United States can assist the opposition.

The fact that it took Tunisia’s Constituent Assembly (CA) six months to draft the preamble to Tunisia’s new constitution is indicative of the document’s controversial nature; few debates have proven to be more divisive within the constitution’s drafting committee than the preamble’s references to Tunisia’s “Arab-Islamic identity.” As the first