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Palestine/IsraelUS Foreign PolicyDoes 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 Analysis
Education and DevelopmentWhat 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…
- Viewpoint
LevantUS Foreign PolicyTrump 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 Analysis
EgyptUS Foreign PolicyTrump’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…
- Viewpoint
Palestine/IsraelConflicts and Conflict ResolutionRecent 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 Analysis
LevantRegional Relations and GeopoliticsNormalization 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…
- Viewpoint
JordanUS Foreign PolicyAn 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 …
- Viewpoint
LevantUS Foreign PolicyThe 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…
- Viewpoint
US Foreign PolicyTrump’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 Analysis
US Foreign PolicyTrump’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 Analysis
The Arabian Peninsula and The GulfUS Foreign PolicyTrump 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…
- Viewpoint
Palestine/IsraelUS Foreign PolicyThe 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 Analysis
US Domestic Politics and ElectionsTrump’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 Analysis
Palestine/IsraelUS Foreign PolicyTrump 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 Analysis
LevantUS Foreign PolicyDamascus 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.
- Policy Analysis
SyriaConflicts and Conflict ResolutionSyria’s Kurds Facing Dangerous Headwinds
Dec 18, 2024Gregory AftandilianThe rapid collapse of the Assad regime by Hay’at Tahrir al-Sham (HTS) fighters has put Syrian Kurds of the Syrian Democratic Forces (SDF) and their autonomous …
- Policy Analysis
YemenUS Foreign PolicyRecalibrating US Engagement in Yemen Under a New Trump Administration
Dec 11, 2024Afrah NasserThe military escalation between the United States and the Iran-backed Houthi movement in Yemen has significant implications for Yemen’s future. As the Houthis …
- Policy Analysis
IranUS Foreign PolicyTrump and Company Return to the Folly of “Maximum Pressure” on Iran
Dec 5, 2024Daniel BrumbergWhen it comes to US Iran policy, simple yet profound realities merit repeating. One of these is that economic sanctions are a tactic, not a strategy. Indeed, u…
- Policy Analysis
TurkeyUS Foreign PolicyTrump’s Election and Future of Turkish-American Relations
Dec 4, 2024Salim ÇevikTurkish President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan expressed clear satisfaction with the election of Donald Trump as president of the United States, quickly congratulating…
- Viewpoint
US Foreign PolicyA Preview of Trump’s National Security Team
Nov 19, 2024Ethan Mayer-RichJust two weeks have passed since President-elect Donald Trump won the election, and his new administration is already taking shape. Trump’s selections for his …
- Policy Analysis
US Foreign PolicyForeign Policy in the Second Trump Administration Takes Shape
Nov 19, 2024Nabeel A. KhouryThe foundations of President-elect Donald Trump’s foreign policy are now taking shape. He has nominated Senator Marco Rubio (R-FL), as secretary of state, form…
- Policy Analysis
Saudi ArabiaUS Foreign PolicySaudi Arabia and Trump: Expectations and Challenges Ahead
Nov 14, 2024The Unit for Political StudiesOn November 5, former President Donald Trump successfully reclaimed the White House, achieving a decisive victory over his Democratic opponent, Vice President …
- Viewpoint
US Domestic Politics and ElectionsTrump’s Middle East Team Will Have to Deal with His Unpredictability and Narcissism
Nov 8, 2024Daniel BrumbergIt is very hard to predict the foreign policy that president-elect Donald Trump will pursue because he is deeply and pathologically unpredictable. On both the …
- Policy Analysis
The Arab WorldUS Foreign PolicyA Second Trump Administration: Potential Policy Toward the Middle East
Nov 5, 2024Charles W. DunneThe November 5 presidential election is likely to have major implications for US foreign policy, as it pits a centrist and robust internationalist candidate (V…
- Viewpoint
Palestine/IsraelUS Domestic Politics and ElectionsHarris and the Arab-American Vote: Election Day Approaches
Oct 31, 2024Ethan Mayer-RichThe continued peripheralization of Arab-American voices has made it clear that to Harris and her campaign, just as Palestinian lives may not matter as much as …
- Policy Analysis
Palestine/IsraelUS Foreign PolicyThe Israel/Palestine Stain on Biden’s Foreign Policy Legacy
Oct 23, 2024Gregory AftandilianEvery US president wants to leave office with a positive legacy. Some do so to draw attention away from a scandal; others hope that the history books will trea…
- Policy Analysis
US Domestic Politics and ElectionsForeign Policy’s Impact on the November Presidential Election
Sep 25, 2024Gregory AftandilianUS presidential elections are usually decided on domestic issues, especially the economy. A candidate’s resting his or her presidential laurels on a foreign po…
- Policy Analysis
Palestine/IsraelUS Foreign PolicyGaza, the American Elections, and the Fallout of a Disaster
Sep 19, 2024Charles W. DunneThe United States, sometimes considered the adult in the room when arbitrating international conflicts, has proved to be more of an adolescent when it came to …
- Policy Analysis
YemenUS Foreign PolicyAssessing GCC Perspectives on American-British Strikes Against Yemen’s Houthis
Sep 11, 2024Giorgio CafieroSince last November, Yemen’s Ansar Allah movement, commonly known as the Houthis, has been attacking commercial and merchant vessels in the Gulf of Aden and th…
- Viewpoint
Palestine/IsraelUS Foreign PolicyNetanyahu’s Demagoguery Before Congress over the Gaza War
Jul 31, 2024Khalil E. JahshanIn his convoluted and divisive presentation, Netanyahu made an emotional attempt at rallying American support behind his puttering ten-month military campaign …
- Policy AnalysisLevantUS Domestic Politics and Elections
If Biden Drops Out, Where Do Democrats Go on Israel-Gaza War?
Jul 17, 2024Ethan Mayer-RichOn the heels of a disappointing presidential debate performance, much has been made of whether the Democratic Party will replace Joe Biden on the ticket this N…
- Policy Analysis
US Domestic Politics and ElectionsThe Biden-Trump Presidential Debate: Implications and Prospects
Jul 4, 2024Arab Center for Research and Policy StudiesOn Thursday, June 27, 2024, US President and Democratic Party nominee Joe Biden and former President and Republican Party nominee Donald Trump held their first…
- Policy Analysis
Saudi ArabiaDiplomacy and NegotiationsDifficulties Facing a US-Saudi Security Agreement
Jun 25, 2024Kristian Coates UlrichsenThe search for a US-brokered Saudi-Israeli deal to normalize relations has assumed outsized significance in the administration’s approach to the Middle East.
- Viewpoint
LevantDiplomacy and NegotiationsDesperately Seeking Support for Biden’s Plan on Gaza
Jun 18, 2024Khalil E. JahshanSecretary of State Antony J. Blinken just concluded another intensive diplomatic trip to the Middle East, his eighth to the region since the beginning of the G…
- Policy Analysis
LevantDiplomacy and NegotiationsBiden’s Warmed-over Ceasefire Proposal
Jun 6, 2024Khalil E. JahshanIn the midst of what the White House touted to supporters as a significant update of his administration’s diplomatic efforts regarding the eight-month-old unab…
- Policy Analysis
LevantDiplomacy and NegotiationsBiden’s Gaza Announcement: What to Make of the Bizarre Spectacle
Jun 4, 2024Yousef MunayyerOn May 31, President Joe Biden announced what he described as a “comprehensive new proposal” offered by Israel for ending the war in Gaza that would be “a road…
- Policy Analysis
UAERegional Relations and GeopoliticsUAE Restricts US Military Strikes from Its Territory
May 22, 2024Gregory AftandilianFearing an attack by Iran or its allied militias in the region, the United Arab Emirates (UAE) has restricted US military aircraft from targeting these proxy g…
- Viewpoint
LevantThe War on GazaWhitewashing Biden’s Policy on Gaza
May 21, 2024Khalil E. JahshanOn May 13, National Security Advisor Jake Sullivan addressed the media in the White House press room on current developments in the Middle East, focusing on th…
- Policy Analysis
LevantRegional Implications and GeopoliticsThe Gaza Crisis Pushes Washington and Riyadh Closer
May 15, 2024Daniel BrumbergHamas’s May 6 acceptance of a hostage deal proposed by Egypt and Qatar was surely designed to induce the White House to pressure Israel to produce a counteroff…
- Policy Analysis
LevantThe War on GazaThe Gaza War Still Can Decide the American Presidential Election
Apr 24, 2024Gregory AftandilianLatest polls indicate that President Joe Biden and former President Donald Trump are in a dead heat in the presidential race at this point in the campaign, whi…
- Policy Analysis
LebanonConflicts and Conflict ResolutionHezbollah-Israel War Is Becoming Inevitable, and the United States May Not Prevent It
Apr 10, 2024Patricia KaramPatricia Karam evaluates the possibility of a war between Hezbollah and Israel that would be a major escalation in the Middle East as the United States tries t…
- Policy Analysis
LevantPublic Opinion, Protest, and DebateGaza, Biden, and an American Intifada
Mar 27, 2024Charles W. DunneAs Israel’s devastating Gaza invasion wears on, tensions between President Joe Biden and Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu are spiking, endangering the…
- Policy Analysis
Saudi ArabiaRegional Relations and GeopoliticsSaudi Arabia May Be Taking Center Stage in Post-Gaza Peace
Feb 28, 2024Kristian Coates UlrichsenWith Israel’s war on Gaza in its fifth month amid ongoing international pressure for a ceasefire, Saudi Arabia has become the focus of much attention over what…
- Policy AnalysisYemenUS Foreign Policy
Instead of Houthi Designation, the United States Should Embrace a Comprehensive Approach
Feb 28, 2024Afrah NasserOn January 17, the United States designated the Houthis in Yemen, also known as Ansar Allah, as a Specially Designated Global Terrorist (SDGT) in response to t…
- Policy Analysis
LevantUS Foreign PolicyUS Troops to Stay in Syria and Iraq but Perhaps Not for Long
Feb 22, 2024Gregory AftandilianIn recent weeks, there have been meetings in Washington and in Baghdad about the presence in Iraq and Syria of US troops, whose official mandate is to aid loca…
- Viewpoint
LevantInternational Law and International BodiesCongress Works to Give More Aid to Israel, None for UNRWA
Feb 16, 2024Ethan Mayer-RichOn February 13, the Senate voted 70-29 to pass a $95.3 billion national security supplemental package (H.R.815) to provide additional security assistance to Uk…
- Policy Analysis
Palestine/IsraelUS Foreign PolicyThe Biden Administration’s Confused Response to Israel’s Rafah Operation
Feb 15, 2024Hanna AlshaikhAt the center of US coverage of the Israeli war on Gaza in recent days is the rift between President Joe Biden and Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu regarding …
- Policy Analysis
LevantThe War on GazaHow the Gaza War Is Upending US Middle East Policy
Feb 2, 2024Patricia KaramAs the Israel-Hamas war threatens to pull the United States into a broader conflict that would potentially upend US standing and policy, peace and stability in…
- Policy Analysis
YemenUS Foreign PolicyFrom Gaza to Yemen and Back: The Biden Administration’s Confused Strategy
Feb 1, 2024Nabeel A. KhouryOn January 17, the Biden administration announced it was adding Yemen’s Houthis (also called Ansar Allah) to the US terrorist list. The move returned the rebel…
- Policy Analysis
IranConflicts and Conflict ResolutionIran Between Managing Allies and Modulating Its Deterrence
Jan 25, 2024Daniel BrumbergThis is a bad time for Iran to become embroiled in an expanding regional war that pits the Islamic Republic and its allies in Iraq, Lebanon, and Yemen against …
- Policy Analysis
YemenUS Foreign PolicyThe Biden Administration Is Strong in the Red Sea but Weak in Gaza
Jan 24, 2024Gregory AftandilianAfter enduring weeks of regional tension, including Houthi rebel attacks on shipping in the Red Sea and on American commercial vessels, the Biden administratio…
- Viewpoint
LevantThe War on GazaDeciphering Blinken’s Unguarded Optimism
Jan 18, 2024Khalil E. JahshanThe Biden administration announced its first Middle East initiative of the new year on January 4, 2024, by dispatching Secretary of State Antony Blinken to the…
- Policy Analysis
LevantEconomic AffairsRussia and China on Gaza: Sidelined, Lurking—or Winning?
Dec 22, 2023Charles W. DunneIt wasn’t that long ago that Russia and China seemed to dominate the Middle East, and the United States was on the brink of relegation to the sidelines.Russia …
- Policy Analysis
LevantConflicts and Conflict ResolutionThe Israel-Hamas War in American Politics
Dec 21, 2023Gregory AftandilianAny rational discourse in the United States about the Israel-Hamas war increasingly has been subject to political litmus tests, as Israel supporters and Republ…
- Policy Analysis
LevantConflicts and Conflict ResolutionAre Israel and the United States on a Collision Course?
Dec 13, 2023Daniel BrumbergIn a December 8 story that seems to have received little attention in western press coverage of Israel’s expanding military campaign in Gaza was this nugget of…
- Policy Analysis
LevantRegional Implications and GeopoliticsGaza, the Ruin of US Policy, and a Transformed Middle East
Nov 16, 2023Charles W. DunneThe Biden administration must act quickly and offer specific plans and timelines to shape post-conflict expectations and establish its priorities with the part…
- Policy Analysis
IranRegional Implications and GeopoliticsUS Military Presence in the Middle East: Deterrence and Retaliation
Nov 14, 2023Gregory AftandilianThe United States has recently bolstered its military presence in the Middle East as the Israeli war on Gaza escalated. Bolstering this presence is meant to de…
- Policy Analysis
LevantRegional Implications and GeopoliticsThe War on Gaza: Deterrence or Inching toward Direct US Involvement?
Oct 17, 2023Khalil E. JahshanThe official American position has passed through three phases in less than ten days. First, like Israel itself, Washington and its western allies suffered fro…
- Policy Analysis
LevantConflicts and Conflict ResolutionA New Diplomatic Path Is Urgent after Gaza, But Without the Previous Mistakes
Oct 16, 2023Charles W. DunneThe horrifying October 7 attack on Israel by Hamas militants has left the world aghast. The murder of Israelis (and Americans, French, Russians, Ukrainians, an…
- Viewpoint
EgyptUS Foreign PolicyThe Menendez Fiasco: Implications for US-Egyptian Relations
Oct 4, 2023Khalil E. JahshanWashington has been abuzz lately over the shocking political intrigue involving the Egyptian government of Abdel Fattah el-Sisi and the powerful former chairma…
- ViewpointPalestine/IsraelUS Foreign Policy
The Awkward Biden-Netanyahu Encounter Was a Dud
Sep 22, 2023Khalil E. JahshanAlthough the United States and Israel have enjoyed a uniquely close alliance since the latter’s declaration of statehood on May 14, 1948, the bilateral relatio…
- Policy Analysis
Palestine/IsraelUS Foreign PolicyAssessing the Abraham Accords, Three Years On
Aug 31, 2023Dana El KurdArab-Israeli normalization is one of those curious policy areas where the Biden administration has enthusiastically pursued its predecessor’s positions, even i…
- Policy Analysis
LevantRegional Relations and GeopoliticsThe Saudi-Israeli Normalization Gambit: Deal or No Deal?
Aug 30, 2023Khalil E. JahshanAfter weeks of conflicting accounts from columnists and journalists about the outcome of the Biden administration’s intensive shuttle diplomacy aimed at convin…
- Policy Analysis
US Foreign PolicyJoe Biden’s Imaginary Middle East Policy
Aug 24, 2023Charles W. DunneOver his more than four decades of service as a US senator, vice president, and now as president, Joe Biden has cultivated an image of the consummate foreign p…
- Policy Analysis
LevantConflicts and Conflict ResolutionEnding Military Aid to Israel: The Death of a Taboo?
Aug 21, 2023Yousef MunayyerIf there is one thing that characterizes American-Israeli relations more than any other it is US military aid to Israel, which currently amounts to nearly $4 b…
- Policy Analysis
The Arabian Peninsula and The GulfUS Foreign PolicyUS Troop Buildup in the Gulf Reemphasizes Military Power
Aug 15, 2023Gregory AftandilianThe US military has recently significantly increased its presence in the Arabian Gulf, a show of force aimed primarily at deterring Iran from attacking or hara…
- Policy Analysis
LevantRegional Relations and GeopoliticsUS Negotiations for a Tripartite Agreement with Saudi Arabia and Israel: Context and Calculations
Aug 14, 2023Arab Center for Research and Policy StudiesSaudi Arabia and the United States are conducting complex negotiations in order to achieve a tripartite agreement that would include normalization between the …
- Policy Analysis
IraqDemocracy and GovernanceIran’s Hardliners on the March: The Quiet Before the Storm?
Aug 3, 2023Daniel BrumbergThe recent redeployment of Iran’s dreaded “morality police” signals much more than a victory for the country’s hardliners. Instead, it seems to be part and par…
- Viewpoint
Palestine/IsraelUS Foreign PolicyAmericans Opt for a Democratic Israel, Not a Jewish State
Jul 20, 2023Imad K. HarbThe University of Maryland and Ipsos conducted a “Critical Issues Poll” from June 21 to 27 to probe Americans’ views on Israel, Zionism, and anti-Semitism. The…
- Policy Analysis
North AfricaSecurity and DefenseThe Fate of the Wagner Group in Syria, Libya, and Sudan
Jul 18, 2023Gregory AftandilianThe failed mutiny by Yevgeny Prigozhin has put the fate of his Wagner Group doubt, not only in Ukraine but in several Arab states as well.
- Policy Analysis
IranUS Foreign PolicyAre the United States and Iran Moving Closer to a New Nuclear Deal?
Jul 14, 2023Arab Center for Research and Policy StudiesThe last few weeks have witnessed an active diplomatic movement between Tehran and Western countries, especially the United States, regarding resolving the cri…
