Policy Analysis

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  • Policy Analysis
    TunisiaDemocracy and Governance

    Repression and Judicial Struggles in Kais Saied’s Tunisia

    Jul 3, 2025The Unit for Political Studies

    Almost four years into President Kais Saied’s imposition of one-man-rule in Tunisia, his effort pivots around a process of “executive aggrandizement” that is d…

  • Policy Analysis
    Saudi ArabiaConflicts and Conflict Resolution

    Israel-Iran Confrontation Tests Saudi Arabia’s Quest for Neutrality

    Jul 2, 2025The Unit for Political Studies

    Overnight on June 21-22, American military aircraft launched strikes on three nuclear facilities inside Iran, most notably the fortified Fordow plant. To reach…

  • Policy Analysis
    IranConflicts and Conflict Resolution

    The GCC States and the US-Iran Dance Near the Abyss

    Jul 2, 2025Kristian Coates Ulrichsen

    Years of shadowboxing and increasingly direct skirmishing between Israel and Iran erupted into 12 days of conflict that began in the early hours of June 13 and…

  • Policy Analysis
    IraqRegional Relations and Geopolitics

    Pragmatism Shapes Iraq’s Position Toward Post-Assad Syria

    Jul 1, 2025Giorgio Cafiero

    Sharing a 375-mile border with Syria, Iraq has high stakes in its neighbor’s successful transition following the December 2024 fall of Bashar al-Assad’s regime…

  • Policy Analysis
    SyriaIdentity Politics and Sectarianization

    Syrian Kurds Attempt to Maneuver Amid New Realities

    Jun 27, 2025Gregory Aftandilian

    Syrian Kurds face new realities that have put their experiment in autonomy in serious doubt. Although in March 2025 they signed an agreement with the new Syria…

  • Policy Analysis
    IranUS Foreign Policy

    Perspectives on the US Attack on Iran and Its Repercussions 

    Jun 23, 2025Charles W. Dunne Imad K. Harb Khalil E. Jahshan Tamara Kharroub Assal Rad Annelle Sheline Kristian Coates Ulrichsen

    After waiting for a week following Israel’s June 13 attack on Iran, US President Donald Trump decided to involve the United States directly in the Israeli-Iran…

  • Policy Analysis
    Palestine/IsraelIsraeli War Tactics and Genocide

    Hunger in Gaza and the Ongoing Weaponization of Aid

    Jun 20, 2025Yara M. Asi

    “Hunger slowly crushes you. It feels like dying alone in a desert that no foot has ever touched. I cannot sleep properly or sit still long enough to read. I fe…

  • Policy Analysis
    TurkeyRegional Relations and Geopolitics

    Turkey’s Repositioning in the Middle East’s Emerging Order

    Jun 17, 2025Salim Çevik

    The Middle East has undergone a profound upheaval following the October 7, 2023, Hamas attack on Israel and the fall of the Assad regime in Syria in December 2…

  • Policy Analysis
    US Foreign Policy

    Trump’s Cuts Badly Affect Promoting International Democracy and Human Rights

    Jun 16, 2025Charles W. Dunne

    The Trump administration’s swift demolition of key governmental and government-funded institutions promoting democracy abroad is a clear attack not just on imp…

  • Policy Analysis
    YemenConflicts and Conflict Resolution

    Yemen’s Houthi Movement Reconsidered

    Jun 12, 2025Nabeel A. Khoury

    In January 2019, this author posed the question, “can one make peace with the Houthis of Yemen?” In the six years since, the Houthis, also known as Ansar Allah…

  • From our Affiliates
    Palestine/IsraelThe War on Gaza

    Transformations in European Attitudes toward the Genocidal War on Gaza

    Jun 4, 2025The Unit for Political Studies

    Recent weeks have seen a remarkable shift in European policy on Gaza. After more than 18 months of support for, silence on, or, at the very least, turning a bl…

  • Policy Analysis
    LevantJustice, Equality, and Human Rights

    Israel’s Justice System and the Genocidal War on Gaza

    May 30, 2025Nareman Shehadeh-Zoabi

    IntroductionDespite attempts to portray it as liberal, many consider the justice system in Israel to be part of Israel’s illiberal political system.  This is b…