Policy Analysis

Washington must at minimum take a clear position with regard to Damascus and human rights -- which could prove a key point of consensus in the international response to the regime's brutal suppression of Syrian demands for democratic reform.

On April 13, 2011, J. Scott Carpenter, Keston Family fellow and director of Project Fikra: Defeating Extremism through the Power of Ideas at The Washington Institute, testified before the U.S. House of Representatives Committee on Foreign Affairs, Subcommittee on the Middle East and South Asia. The following is an excerpt

On April 11, 2011, J. Scott Carpenter, Dina Guirguis, David Schenker, and Robert Satloff addressed a special Policy Forum luncheon at The Washington Institute. Ms. Guirguis is a Keston Family research fellow with Project Fikra: Defeating Extremism through the Power of Ideas. Mr. Schenker is the Aufzien fellow and director

On April 13, 2011, Washington Institute executive director Robert Satloff testified at a U.S. House of Representatives panel on the Muslim Brotherhood's role in Egypt following the end of the Mubarak regime. I believe deep concern about the Muslim Brotherhood's potential emergence as a major player and even power-broker is

The authors contend that the primary motive behind the AKP's stance toward the Arab regimes is not money, but rather the desire to show solidarity with certain anti-American regimes and distaste for pro-American ones.

If the recent political movements in the Arab world lead to more free and liberal societies, this will promise the decline of Iranian influence in the region. For the current Iranian regime, democracy is no longer threatening only at home, but also abroad.

Although the Papyrus Revolution was a remarkable accomplishment for the Egyptian people, the ongoing transition has spurred trepidation as well as hope in the United States. Past transfers of power in Cairo have led to dramatic policy shifts, giving Washington little reason to believe that the latest leadership change will

During the U.S. invasion of Iraq, Syria's Assad regime was helping insurgents to cross the border and kill Americans. In response to the Syrian provocation, the Bush administration considered a broad range of policy options. But one family of options always remained off the table: regime change or any combination of pressures that might destabilize Damascus. At the Department of Defense, we held a dissenting view.

On April 11, President Obama dispatched his national security advisor, Tom Donilon, on a three-day trip to Saudi Arabia and the United Arab Emirates (UAE). During the trip, the United States will likely discuss the crises in Egypt, Libya, Yemen, and Syria, as well as the situation in Bahrain, where

Although traditional efforts to combat terror financing by "seizing and freezing" terrorist assets have been effective, as terrorist groups continue to evolve and additional transnational threats arise, a Bletchley Park-style financial intelligence will be increasingly called upon to connect the dots and prevent attacks.

In a remarkable April 1 article published in the Washington Post, Judge Richard Goldstone -- chairman of the UN fact-finding mission that investigated the military conflict in Gaza in 2008-2009 -- expressed regret for some of the most damning findings against Israel in his mission's report. His article declares that

On April 3, Michael Singh presented a paper at a conference in Brussels on "Democratic Change in the Arab Region: State Policy and the Dynamics of the Civil Society," organized by the Euro-Mediterranean Foundation of Support to Human Rights Defenders (EMHRF). Examining the history of U.S. democracy promotion efforts by

China has arrived in the Greater Middle East and appears determined to stay awhile. Over the past decade, deeming energy security too important to be left to market forces alone, Beijing has prioritized the issue as a matter of national security. From new pipeline and infrastructure projects to increased naval

Incitement to violence, long a secondary issue in Israeli-Palestinian diplomacy, has returned to the front burner. About a year ago, the Israeli government began publishing an "incitement index" that tracked Palestinian Authority (PA) statements and publications. Then, on March 11 of this year, the Fogel family was massacred in the

Strong U.S.-Turkish relations are not to be taken for granted, at least while the Justice and Development Party (AKP) remains in power. So, how is the U.S. to meet the dual challenge of the AKP's increasingly ideological foreign policy agenda and parallel Turkish anti-Americanism?

The former head of Israeli military intelligence delivered the fourth annual Zeev Schiff Memorial Lecture on Middle East Security.

While the Turkish Justice and Development Party's (AKP's) record on democracy and foreign policy is less than perfectly in accord with European or U.S. preferences, the Turkish opposition has often appeared even worse, given its chauvinistic nationalism, shortsightedness, and anti-Western views. Signs indicate, however, that this dynamic is changing. Since

On March 28, 2010, Robert Satloff, Osman Koruturk, and Soner Cagaptay addressed a special Policy Forum luncheon at The Washington Institute to discuss the foreign policy views of Turkey's main opposition party, the Republican People's Party (CHP). Dr. Satloff is the Institute's executive director. Ambassador Koruturk is the CHP's vice

The small Persian Gulf state of Qatar is emerging as a significant international player in the Libyan crisis and a crucial supporter of U.S. policy. But its relationship with the United States has often been difficult, and its standing in the rest of the Arab world is questionable. For Washington

Although the Muslim Brotherhood favors Egypt's new political parties law, some intellectuals and liberal parties are questioning whether it represents a substantial improvement on the old one.