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- Policy AnalysisThe Arabian Peninsula and The GulfUS Foreign Policy
Will Trump’s Gulf Trip Exacerbate or Mitigate the Arab World’s Three Plagues?
May 22, 2025Rami G. KhouriThe lasting effects of US President Donald Trump’s visit to the Gulf region may only become clear in the year ahead, making any suggestions of profound changes…
- Policy AnalysisSaudi ArabiaUS Foreign Policy
Deals Without Guarantees: Trump’s Gulf Visit and the Future of US–Saudi Relations
May 22, 2025The Unit for Political StudiesOn May 13, US President Donald Trump began a four-day tour of Gulf countries, during which he traveled to Saudi Arabia, Qatar, and the United Arab Emirates (UA…
- Policy AnalysisYemenUS Foreign Policy
Implications of the US-Houthi Ceasefire Deal
May 21, 2025Gregory AftandilianPresident Donald Trump’s surprise announcement on May 6 of a ceasefire deal with Yemen’s Houthis—in which the militant group pledged not to target American shi…
- Intern CornerPalestine/IsraelUS Foreign Policy
Occupation Funded, Development Denied: How American Aid Cuts Affect the West Bank
May 16, 2025Adriana HashemOn his first day back in the White House, President Donald Trump made his opening moves to dismantle the fiscal and ideological foundations of American foreign…
- Policy AnalysisLebanonJustice, Equality, and Human Rights
Resumption of Beirut Port Blast Investigation Offers Lebanon New Hope
May 15, 2025Patricia KaramNearly five years after the devastating explosion at the Port of Beirut that killed some 220 people, injured some 7,000, and left a large portion of the city i…
- ViewpointSaudi ArabiaUS Foreign Policy
President Trump Does Business in Saudi Arabia
May 13, 2025Imad K. HarbIn front of a packed hall hosting an investment forum in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia, US President Donald Trump spoke of an ironclad American-Saudi relationship that …
- ViewpointIranUS Foreign Policy
Already Focused on Iran, Congress Looks at a New Phase in US-Iran Relations
May 9, 2025Ethan Mayer-RichLawmakers returned to Washington after a short break away from the Capitol. Their two-week recess coincided with major developments in the Middle East. The Uni…
- Policy AnalysisPalestine/IsraelDemocracy and Governance
Has Netanyahu’s Government Become More Cohesive and Stable?
May 8, 2025Mtanes ShihadehIsraeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has worked in recent weeks to put his government coalition in order, reintegrating Foreign Minister Gideon Saar and h…
- Policy AnalysisIranUS Foreign Policy
Changing GCC Outlook Toward US-Iran Talks
May 7, 2025Kristian Coates UlrichsenLeaders of the six GCC states have worked assiduously since 2021 to repair and rebuild ties with Iran as part of a ‘de-risking’ strategy designed to take the s…
- Policy AnalysisPalestine/IsraelIsraeli War Tactics and Genocide
Israeli Practices in the Occupied West Bank: A Prelude to Annexation
May 7, 2025Jonathan KuttabWhile world attention has focused on the Israeli war on the Gaza Strip for the past year and a half, significant events in the occupied West Bank have gone les…
- Policy AnalysisThe Arabian Peninsula and The GulfUS Foreign Policy
US Policy and Gulf Arab Interests: More Clash, Less Harmony
May 6, 2025Jim KraneGulf sovereign wealth funds are grappling with zig-zagging share valuations, while the falling oil price—compounded by a falling dollar—is throttling capital f…
- Policy AnalysisUS Foreign Policy
Restructuring the US Department of State: The De-prioritization of Human Rights?
May 2, 2025Annelle ShelineOn April 22, Secretary of State Marco Rubio announced a proposed “comprehensive reorganization plan” of the US Department of State. The information that he pos…
- Policy AnalysisPalestine/IsraelConflicts and Conflict Resolution
Israel’s False Paramedics Story Exemplifies Its Information War Against Palestinians
May 1, 2025Yara M. AsiOver the past 18 months, a seemingly unending stream of horrific stories has emerged from Gaza, publicized across social media and in humanitarian reports.Thes…
- Policy AnalysisUS Foreign Policy
One Hundred Days of Trump’s Foreign Policy: US Reputation and the World Order Take a Hit
Apr 29, 2025Charles W. DunneThe onslaught of US President Donald Trump’s “America First” foreign policy has surprised the world with its depth and ferocity.
- Policy AnalysisSaudi ArabiaUS Foreign Policy
Trump’s Upcoming Trip to Saudi Arabia Amid Regional Uncertainties
Apr 25, 2025Gregory AftandilianPresident Donald Trump plans to make Saudi Arabia the first country he will visit during his second term in office—after his visit to the Vatican to take part …
- ViewpointLebanonConflicts and Conflict Resolution
Legacies of Lebanon’s 1975-1990 Civil War
Apr 25, 2025Imad K. HarbOn April 13, 2025, the Lebanese, to the day, commemorated the 50th anniversary of the start of Lebanon’s 1975-1990 civil war that, with hindsight, can be seen …
- Policy AnalysisIranUS Foreign Policy
Trump Might Go for a Nuclear Deal Without a Larger Middle East Strategy
Apr 22, 2025Daniel BrumbergOver the last week, Iran hardliners in Washington have issued dire warnings about the Trump administration’s launching of nuclear talks with Iran. Iranian lead…
- Policy AnalysisPalestine/IsraelThe War on Gaza
A Calculus of Conflict: Netanyahu’s Political Survival Through Extended War
Apr 16, 2025Thair Abu RasAfter nearly two months of ceasefire, the Israeli government resumed its genocidal campaign in Gaza in March 2025. The Israeli government’s decision was not su…
- Policy AnalysisSudanConflicts and Conflict Resolution
Is Sudan Approaching a Resolution of Its Two-Year Crisis?
Apr 15, 2025Imad K. HarbSudan’s ‘war of the generals’ between the Commander of the Sudanese Armed Forces (SAF) Abdel Fattah al-Burhan and the leader of the Rapid Support Forces (RSF) …
- ViewpointEducation and Development
Where Are Our College Leaders? The Danger of Anticipatory Obedience in Higher Education
Apr 9, 2025Tariq HabashSince October 7, 2023, American colleges and universities have repeatedly found themselves at the center of escalating political pressure amid student activism…
- Policy AnalysisSaudi ArabiaRegional Relations and Geopolitics
Saudi Arabia’s Calculated Re-engagement in Syria and Lebanon
Apr 8, 2025Unit for Political StudiesOn March 28, the Syrian and Lebanese defense ministers signed an agreement in Jeddah, Saudi Arabia, affirming the importance of demarcating borders between the…
- Policy AnalysisSyriaDemocracy and Governance
Challenges Facing Syria’s Constitutional Declaration
Apr 4, 2025Radwan ZiadehFollowing the fall of Bashar al-Assad's regime on December 8, 2024, Syria’s new administration announced on January 29, 2025, the appointment of Ahmed al-Shara…
- ViewpointUS Domestic Politics and Elections
Special Elections: What They Portend
Apr 4, 2025Ethan Mayer-RichOn April 1, the United States closely followed special elections in Florida and Wisconsin. Under ordinary circumstances, an April election to fill two House se…
- ViewpointPalestine/IsraelUS Domestic Politics and Elections
The United States Is a Frontline in the Palestine vs. Israel Conflict
Apr 3, 2025Rami G. KhouriIn the past year—especially over the last two months—unprecedented developments in the Middle East and the United States have pulled the Palestinian struggle f…
- Policy AnalysisPalestine/IsraelInternational Law
Denying Genocide through Terminological Hairsplitting
Apr 1, 2025Azmi BisharaGenocide is a denial of the right of existence of entire human groups, as homicide is the denial of the right to live of individual human beings; such denial o…
- Policy AnalysisTurkeyDemocracy and Governance
The Arrest of Ekrem Imamoglu: A Critical Turning Point in Turkey’s Politics
Mar 29, 2025Salim ÇevikTurkey's political landscape has undergone a dramatic shift with the recent arrest of Istanbul Mayor Ekrem Imamoglu, President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan's most form…
- Policy AnalysisLibyaConflicts and Conflict Resolution
Libya’s Deep Divisions Show No Sign of Abating
Mar 27, 2025Gregory AftandilianLibya has fallen off the international radar screen as other crises in the region—the Israel-Hamas and Israel-Hezbollah wars, the Sudanese civil war, and the c…
- Policy AnalysisIranUS Foreign Policy
Trump’s Impulse-Driven Middle East Policy Creates Dangers and Opportunities
Mar 27, 2025Daniel BrumbergA recent report by a pro-Israel think tank in Washington cautions against making any deal with Iran that does not provide for the total dismantlement of Tehran…
- Policy AnalysisYemenConflicts and Conflict Resolution
A Decade after the Saudi Military Intervention in Yemen: An Assessment
Mar 25, 2025Afrah NasserExactly a decade ago, Saudi Arabia announced the launch of a military intervention in Yemen, promising to lead a coalition of more than 10 nations—although som…
- ViewpointPalestine/IsraelUS Foreign Policy
Does Trump Still Want to “Clean Out” the Gaza Strip?
Mar 25, 2025Khalil E. JahshanAs the January 15, 2025 ceasefire agreement that had brought limited calm to Gaza fell apart in early March when Israel resumed its air and land military onsla…
- Policy AnalysisUS Foreign Policy
What Trump’s Aid Cuts Mean for the Middle East and North Africa
Mar 21, 2025Amy HawthorneAlthough the Trump administration exempted Israel’s $3.3 billion and Egypt’s $1.3 billion in annual foreign military financing (FMF)—the majority of US assista…
- ViewpointSyriaDemocracy and Governance
Timeline of the Recent Sectarian Strife on Syria’s Coast
Mar 19, 2025Radwan ZiadehOn March 6, loyalists to Syria’s former President Bashar al-Assad attacked the new government’s troops in the coastal areas of Syria where Assad’s Alawite sect…
- Policy AnalysisPalestine/IsraelConflicts and Conflict Resolution
Israel’s Center-Right and Leftist Parties Have Always Supported Displacing Gaza’s Palestinians
Mar 12, 2025Mtanes ShihadehIntroductionDuring his meeting with Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu on February 4, US President Donald Trump announced a plan to displace the residen…
- Policy AnalysisTurkeyDemocracy and Governance
A New Phase in Turkey’s Kurdish Conflict: Ocalan’s Call and Its Implications
Mar 12, 2025Salim ÇevikOn February 27, 2025, Abdullah Ocalan, the imprisoned leader of the Kurdistan Workers’ Party (PKK), made a historic call, through a letter, for the organizatio…
- ViewpointPalestine/IsraelUS Foreign Policy
Trump Sidesteps Congress, Giving Billions to Israel
Mar 7, 2025Ethan Mayer-RichFor the second time in six weeks, the Trump administration has bypassed Congress to send Israel billions of dollars of weaponry. Continued US military support …
- Policy AnalysisIraqEnergy and Economics
Geopolitical Dynamics Surrounding Iraq’s Ambitious Development Road Project
Mar 5, 2025Giorgio CafieroLeveraging its geography and resources to serve as an economic bridge between Asia and Europe is not a new concept for Iraq. In the 1980s, the country promoted…
- From our AffiliatesSecurity and Defense
The Beautification of War: Digital Communications, Public Indifference, Rebel Journalism, and Civilian Resistance in the Age of Meta Wars
Mar 3, 2025John KeaneDigital communications technologies are nowadays enabling not only frightening transformations of the modes and weapons of warfare but also, paradoxically, med…
- Policy AnalysisEgyptUS Foreign Policy
Trump’s Favorite Dictator Feels the Heat
Feb 28, 2025Imad K. HarbUS President Donald Trump appears to have developed different ideas about Egyptian President Abdel Fattah el-Sisi upon whom he bestowed the moniker “favorite d…
- Policy AnalysisPalestine/IsraelJustice, Equality, and Human Rights
The Lessons from Gaza Manifest in the West Bank: Israel’s Escalating Threats to Palestinian Life
Feb 26, 2025Yara M. AsiPalestinian fatalities from Israeli military actions and settler violence have reached unprecedented heights since October 2023.
- ViewpointPalestine/IsraelUS Domestic Politics and Elections
The Crackdown on Pro-Palestine Activism Intensifies in the United States
Feb 26, 2025Ethan Mayer-RichThe new Trump administration has made it clear that repressing pro-Palestine activism is a priority. Trump issued an executive order that the White House said …
- ViewpointPalestine/IsraelConflicts and Conflict Resolution
Recent Arab Moves Deserve Bold Follow-Up
Feb 21, 2025Rami G. KhouriFour key political actors in the Middle East have recently made surprising moves that offered hints of how Arab states and non-state actors can collectively en…
- Policy AnalysisSaudi ArabiaUS Foreign Policy
Normalization and Displacement: Saudi Arabia and Trump’s Gaza Proposal
Feb 20, 2025The Unit for Political StudiesSaudi Arabia is deeply concerned about the risks that Trump’s Gaza project poses to Egypt and Jordan and are uneasy about repeated American and Israeli stateme…
- ViewpointJordanUS Foreign Policy
An Existential Oval Office Moment for Jordan—and All Arabs
Feb 14, 2025Rami G. KhouriThe scene in the White House on February 11 was startling. King Abdullah II of Jordan listened to President Donald Trump ramble on about how the United States …
- ViewpointPalestine/IsraelUS Foreign Policy
The Gaza War and the Future of Democracy in the United States and Israel
Feb 14, 2025Daniel BrumbergIn a way that few could have predicted a few short weeks ago, the fate of democracy in the United States (and in some ways Israel) has now been irrevocably tie…
- ViewpointUS Foreign Policy
Trump’s First Three Weeks in Office: Signs of Disruption and Chaos
Feb 13, 2025Khalil E. JahshanIn his first few weeks back in office, Donald J. Trump delivered his characteristic ‘shock and confusion’ tactics by unleashing dozens of draconian and vindict…
- Policy AnalysisUS Foreign Policy
Trump’s Second-Term Foreign Policy: Highly Centralized, and Highly Personal
Feb 12, 2025Charles W. DunneThe late US secretary of defense Donald Rumsfeld once famously explained his taxonomy of information in typically gnomic terms. “There are known knowns,” he sa…
- Policy AnalysisThe Arabian Peninsula and The GulfUS Foreign Policy
Trump II and American-Gulf Relations
Feb 11, 2025Kristian Coates UlrichsenDonald Trump re-entered the White House on January 20 as the first president to serve a non-consecutive second term since Grover Cleveland in 1893. Any expecta…
- ViewpointPalestine/IsraelUS Foreign Policy
The Drama, Delusion, and Dangers of Trump’s Gaza Plan
Feb 6, 2025Rami G. KhouriDonald Trump displayed his usual combination of disruption and delusion with his proposal for the US to take over the Gaza Strip after displacing its Palestini…
- Policy AnalysisUS Domestic Politics and Elections
Trump’s Executive Orders and Actions Upend Policies at Home and Abroad
Feb 6, 2025Gregory AftandilianPresident Donald Trump’s first two weeks in office were marked by his signing of a dizzying array of executive orders, both to fulfill his campaign pledges and…
- Policy AnalysisLebanonDemocracy and Governance
Out With the Old, In With the New: Is There a New Hope for Lebanon?
Feb 6, 2025Patricia KaramFollowing a surprising appointment as Lebanon’s new prime minister, independent jurist, academic, and former diplomat Nawaf Salam, finds himself enmeshed in th…
- ViewpointSyriaRegional Relations and Geopolitics
Revolutionary Legitimacy in Syria: Sharaa as President
Feb 4, 2025Radwan ZiadehIn all transitional periods, it is important to move quickly from revolutionary legitimacy to representative legitimacy, which Syria’s new authorities did by a…
- Policy AnalysisPalestine/IsraelInternational Law
The Slowdown in Enforcing International Law
Jan 29, 2025Jonathan KuttabInternational law has helped govern the behavior of states for hundreds of years. Early principles like the prohibition on poisoning wells (rooted in just war …
- Policy AnalysisSyriaJustice, Equality, and Human Rights
Liberation from the “Human Slaughterhouse”: A Dark History of Imprisonment in Syria
Jan 28, 2025Yara M. AsiAssad's regime imprisoned more than 150,000 people, including some 5,000 children. Multiple reports have emerged of horrific torture, neglect, and murder insid…
- Policy AnalysisPalestine/IsraelUS Foreign Policy
Trump Will Not Stop Israel from Snatching Defeat from the Jaws of Victory
Jan 24, 2025Daniel BrumbergSeveral observers of the Middle East have suggested that President Donald Trump’s “transactional” instincts could impel him to push for a wider Palestinian-Isr…
- Policy AnalysisSyriaRegional Relations and Geopolitics
Regime Change in Syria and Stabilization: The Limits of Turkey’s Unilateral Action
Jan 24, 2025Salim ÇevikTurkey has played a pivotal role in Syria’s conflict, significantly shaping the trajectory of opposition groups, particularly Hay’at Tahrir al-Sham (HTS). With…
- Policy AnalysisSyriaRegional Relations and Geopolitics
Egypt Remains Cool to the New Syrian Government
Jan 23, 2025Gregory AftandilianThe Egyptian regime of Abdel Fattah el-Sisi looks upon the recent developments in Syria with a good deal of trepidation. That the Islamist rebel armed group, H…
- ViewpointPalestine/IsraelConflicts and Conflict Resolution
Incoherent Ceasefire Deal in Gaza Guaranteed to Fail
Jan 21, 2025Khalil E. JahshanAfter fifteen months of brutal military hostilities in the Gaza Strip, Hamas and Israel finally announced their acceptance of a multi-phased and gradual ceasef…
- Policy AnalysisSyriaMigrants, Refugees, and IDPs
Political Change and the Fate of Syria’s Refugees Around the World
Jan 16, 2025Heba GowayedOn December 8, the Syrian armed resistance group Hay’at Tahrir al-Sham (HTS) brought the Assad regime to an abrupt end after more than 54 years of brutal rule.…
- ViewpointLebanonDemocracy and Governance
The Emergence of Lebanon’s Third Republic
Jan 16, 2025Imad K. HarbThe election on January 9, 2025, of the Lebanese Army Commander Joseph Aoun as the fourteenth president of Lebanon can very well be the inauguration of the Leb…
- Policy AnalysisThe Arab World
How Will 2025 Be Different in the Middle East? Perspectives on the New Year
Jan 15, 2025Khalil E. Jahshan Daniel Brumberg Dana El Kurd Imad K. Harb Patricia Karam Nabeel A. Khoury Yousef Munayyer Annelle ShelineThe monumental events that took place in the Middle East in 2024 augur radical changes in the region’s geopolitical environment. Israel’s ongoing genocidal war…
- Intern CornerPalestine/IsraelProtests and Activism
The Ongoing Suppression of Pro-Palestinian Advocacy in the United States
Jan 8, 2025Selma KarameOn October 15, 2024, the United States and Canada jointly announced terrorist sanctions against the Vancouver-based NGO Samidoun Palestinian Prisoner Solidarit…
- Policy AnalysisLebanonDemocracy and Governance
Lebanon’s Post-Hezbollah “Day After”
Jan 7, 2025Patricia KaramThe surprising fall of the brutal regime of Bashar al-Assad in Syria on the heel of Hezbollah’s spectacular losses and, with it, the tremendous weakening of Ir…
- Policy AnalysisLebanonGlobal Health and Health Policy
Lebanon’s Health System: Decades of Struggle and a Year of Israeli Attacks
Jan 2, 2025Yara M. AsiOn September 17 and 18, 2024, a coordinated Israeli attack turned pagers and walkie-talkies in Lebanon into explosive devices, killing at least 42 people and i…
- Policy AnalysisSyriaUS Foreign Policy
Damascus Falls, and So Does US Policy
Jan 2, 2025Charles W. DunneWith a presidential transition imminent, US policy on Syria, not to mention the broader Middle East, is in limbo.
- ViewpointPalestine/IsraelInternational Law
Israel, Syria, and International Law
Dec 26, 2024Jonathan KuttabThe fall of Bashar al-Assad’s regime in Syria has provided Israel with yet more opportunities to brazenly tear apart the fabric of international legal norms, f…
- Policy AnalysisSyriaRegional Relations and Geopolitics
Turkey and the Transition to a Post-Assad Regime in Syria
Dec 20, 2024Salim ÇevikTurkey's intervention in Syria and its approach to the post-Assad era reflects a complex interplay of short and long-term objectives shaped by domestic politic…