Policy Analysis

In this fifth of several daily videos from Washington Institute scholars, Elizabeth Dent shares details of deals reached or announced in Abu Dhabi on the third day of President Trump's May 2025 trip to the Gulf region.

The two leaders raised a wide array of crucial proposals, giving Secretary Rubio and the rest of the Trump team unprecedented room to set the terms for a mutually beneficial post-sanctions relationship.

In this third of several daily videos from Washington Institute scholars, David Schenker examines the implications of discussions at the Gulf Cooperation Council summit in Riyadh on the second day of President Trump's May 2025 trip to the Gulf region.

In this fourth of several daily videos from Washington Institute scholars, Simon Henderson presents details of economic and diplomatic initiatives involving Qatar on the second day of President Trump's May 2025 trip to the Gulf region.

Israel sees its next operation in Gaza as a means to decisively damage Hamas’s military and governance capabilities while freeing the rest of the hostages, but the plan might also produce a lengthy occupation and expanded guerrilla warfare.

Until now, Iran’s supreme leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei had been happy with the comparisons his hard-core supporters make between him and Ali ibn Abi Talib—Shia Islam’s first divinely ordained Imam. Ironically, this insistence on Khamenei’s infallability, combined with the current acquiescence to strategic flexibility or policy concession, is eroding that sense of trust with Khamenei’s core base of hardline supporters.

Maintaining the trip’s momentum and atmosphere could prove challenging as he travels to other stops and then returns to Washington.

In this second of several daily videos from Washington Institute scholars, Ambassador Dennis Ross reviews activity on the first day of President Trump's May 2025 trip to the Gulf region.

The recent flare-up of violence in southern Syria has once again exposed the fragility of the country’s post-Assad order and minority communities’ underlying fears that the current government is unwilling or incapable of establishing a government that ensures minority rights or ensuring the safety of all Syrians against militia factions.

In this first of several daily videos from Washington Institute scholars, Dana Stroul previews the destinations and agendas of President Trump's May 2025 trip to the Gulf region.

Experts and former diplomats discuss what Gulf leaders are expecting from the trip, including which regional issues they are most keen on adding to the planned slate of business talks.

Now that Libya has become an outright kleptocracy—with billions missing from the public treasury and national politics frozen—the Trump administration may need to throw a sanctions “grenade” into the mix.

The militia continues to battle with the PMF secretary-general, this time highlighting his alleged promotion of Turkish interests in the hope of undermining him.

Watch or read an in-depth conversation with three experts who have spent weeks on the ground in Syria and met with the interim authorities who toppled the Assad regime.

With signs of fewer Iraqis prioritizing their national identity, Iraqis are likely to see another elections cycle shaped by subnational identities in the upcoming parliamentary elections.

The president is expected to focus on big investment deals and arms sales during his Gulf tour, but he also needs to address some urgent security issues if he wants to come home with a win.

Regime officials and the Supreme Leader himself have signaled a willingness to make unprecedented concessions, but taking advantage of this opening will require careful U.S. messaging on counterterrorism, regional deterrence, and human rights.

After a stunning blow to their mutual Iranian enemy, Israel and Turkey should use close defense and intelligence dialogue to navigate Syria’s extraordinary period of flux and craft a new regional order.

As the U.S. administration shifts towards an economics-first approach to foreign policy, Jordan will need to find ways to emphasize the benefits of the two countries' decades-long broader strategic relationship in public messaging—both for its own national security interests and as a way to assuage public concerns.

Terrorist organizations are exploiting Iraq’s energy sector to the tune of billions of dollars per year, raising the need for more intensive efforts to trace how revenues are routed into oil “voucher” programs and other diversion schemes.