Policy Analysis

Policy Analysis
LebanonDemocracy and Governance
A First-Year Assessment of Lebanon’s Governing Coalition
Feb 4, 2026Patricia Karam
In January 2025, President Joseph Aoun took the oath of office and in his inaugural address declared the start of a “new era.” The government then began to rec…
Policy Analysis
QatarThe War on Gaza
Israel’s Smearing Campaign against Qatar: Latent Motives and Objectives
Feb 3, 2026The Unit for Political Studies
Since the outbreak of the Israeli war on Gaza, analysts, governments, and media outlets have debated Qatar’s involvement with Hamas and its wider role in Middl…
Policy Analysis
SyriaDemocracy and Governance
Syria’s New Order: Centralization by External Consent
Jan 29, 2026Salim Çevik
On January 8, 2026, Syrian interim government forces moved into two neighborhoods in Aleppo controlled by the Syrian Democratic Forces (SDF), the US-backed coa…
Policy Analysis
EgyptRegional Relations and Geopolitics
Egypt: Partnering with Saudi Arabia on Security in the Red Sea and Gulf of Aden
Jan 27, 2026Gregory Aftandilian
Despite its extensive economic relations with the United Arab Emirates (UAE), Egypt appears to be hitching its wagon to Saudi Arabia in the kingdom’s dispute w…
Policy Analysis
The Arabian Peninsula and The GulfEnergy and Economics
A US Capture of Venezuelan Oil Could Come at OPEC’s Expense
Jan 23, 2026Jim Krane
The Organization of Petroleum Exporting Countries (OPEC) has a checkered relationship with American oil companies. In the 1970s, OPEC member states pushed the …
Policy Analysis
The Arabian Peninsula and The GulfUS Foreign Policy
The Trump Administration and the Fracturing Saudi-UAE Alliance
Jan 21, 2026Giorgio Cafiero
The historically close alliance between Saudi Arabia and the United Arab Emirates (UAE) is under strain because of diverging strategic priorities and competiti…
Policy Analysis
Palestine/IsraelUS Foreign Policy
International Law and the Trump Board of Peace Charter
Jan 21, 2026Brian Brivati
President Donald Trump’s Board of Peace (BoP) and the National Committee for the Administration of Gaza (NCAG) raise several international significant legal is…
Policy Analysis
IranProtests and Activism
Iran’s Rebellion Will Transform Iran’s Islamic Republic for Better or Worse
Jan 14, 2026Daniel Brumberg
As the popular rebellion in Iran accelerates, the country’s sclerotic autocracy is fighting for survival. The reported deaths of at least 2,000 protesters and …
Collective Analysis
The Arab World
The Legacies of the Middle East in 2025 Are Likely to Repeat in 2026
Jan 6, 2026Yara M. Asi Daniel Brumberg Elobaid Elobaid Samia Errazzouki Imad K. Harb Marwan Kabalan Nabeel A. Khoury Laurie King Assal Rad Rend Al-Rahim Mtanes Shihadeh
In 2025, the Middle East and North Africa saw Israel’s genocidal war on Palestinians and destabilizing military attacks across the wider region, Sudan’s unsalu…
Intern Corner
MauritaniaUS Foreign Policy
The Trump Administration May Worsen Racial and Political Tensions in Mauritania
Jan 2, 2026Marwa Elessawy
On July 9, 2025, the Trump administration hosted the leaders of Gabon, Guinea-Bissau, Liberia, Mauritania, and Senegal at a White House summit. The summit aime…
Policy Analysis
Palestine/IsraelUS Foreign Policy
American Evangelicals’ Declining Support for Israel
Dec 31, 2025Jonathan Kuttab
Evangelical Christian support for Israel and its policies has long been one of the bedrock factors behind backing for Israel in the United States. Such support…
Policy Analysis
YemenConflicts and Conflict Resolution
The Reality and Threats of the STC’s Takeover of Eastern Yemen
Dec 29, 2025Nabeel A. Khoury
Two superpowers, the United States and the Soviet Union, dominated the greater Middle East during the days of the Cold War. What happened from the Levant down …