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IranDemocracy and GovernanceRaisi Departs, But Iran Remains Khamenei’s Realm
May 20, 2024Imad K. HarbIranian President Ebrahim Raisi’s death comes at a particularly precarious time for the Islamic Republic. While important, considering the monumental news, Sup…
- Policy Analysis
Seven Months of War on Gaza, Israel Is in International Distress
May 17, 2024The Israeli government has described the war on Gaza since last October as an “existential war and a second war of independence.” Israel’s official and public …
- Viewpoint
Congress’s Crackdown on Campus Protests and the Threat to Civil Liberties
May 15, 2024It has been a month since student protests started at Columbia University with the establishment of a protest encampment on April 17. In response, students aro…
- Policy Analysis
The Gaza Crisis Pushes Washington and Riyadh Closer
May 15, 2024Hamas’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
Divergent Saudi-Emirati Agendas Cripple Yemen’s Presidential Leadership Council
May 15, 2024Two years into its existence, Yemen’s Presidential Leadership Council (PLC) still has not effectively addressed critical problems facing the country: a dire ec…
- Policy Analysis
SudanConflicts and Conflict ResolutionOne Year On: The Calamities of the Sudan Conflict
May 14, 2024Imad K. HarbThirteen months have passed since the eruption of the military dispute between Sudan’s powerful generals Abdel Fattah al-Burhan, leader of the Sudanese Armed F…
- Policy Analysis
American Student Protest Movements, Then and Now
May 10, 2024Watching university students protest in the United States over the past three weeks begs the question of whether they will end American support for Israel’s ge…
- Policy AnalysisThe Arabian Peninsula and The GulfUS Foreign Policy
Iraq’s Sudani Runs the Risks of Sustained Relations with the United States
May 7, 2024Rend Al-RahimOn his recent visit to the United States, Iraqi Prime Minister Mohammed Shia` al-Sudani proposed a bold new relationship with America, basing it on the joint S…
- Policy Analysis
Middle East Trajectories Emanating from the War on Gaza
May 2, 2024Israel’s still unfolding war on Gaza is finishing its seventh month with no let-up in sight. The Palestinian death toll from Israeli operations has surpassed 3…
- Policy Analysis
Local Elections Show Turkey’s Democratic Resilience
May 2, 2024Immediately after his re-election to a third term last May, Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan announced that his Justice and Development Party (AKP) was r…
- Policy Analysis
Although Limited, Arab Public Protests Against the War in Gaza Continue
Apr 30, 2024Seven months into Israel’s violence in Gaza—which has credibly been identified as an active genocide—the Middle East has teetered on the brink of chaos. Unders…
- Policy Analysis
Gulf Arab States Avoid Iran-Israel Tensions
Apr 25, 2024Years of shadow conflict between Israel and Iran, which included targeted assassinations as well as cyberattacks, gave way in April to direct confrontation and…
- Policy Analysis
The Gaza War Still Can Decide the American Presidential Election
Apr 24, 2024Latest 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
Is International Law Still Relevant after the Carnage in Gaza?
Apr 23, 2024According to the UN’s Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs (OCHA), the death toll in Gaza by Israel’s onslaught has passed 34,000 Palestinians, …
- Policy AnalysisPalestine/IsraelMedia and Technology
The Dozen Ds That Drive Israel’s Propaganda
Apr 17, 2024Rami G. KhouriThe past six months of Israeli-Palestinian warfare have witnessed levels of military ferocity, human suffering, societal destruction, and mass political activi…
- ViewpointIranConflicts and Conflict Resolution
A Failed Iranian Performance and Its Repercussions
Apr 15, 2024Imad K. HarbRare are the occasions when a purportedly capable country’s determined military response to attack turns out to be a mere theatrical performance. Such was the …
- Policy Analysis
Iran’s Resistance Strategy After Israel’s Damascus Attack
Apr 12, 2024Daniel Brumberg discusses whether Iran and Israel are on their way to a direct confrontation after the latter’s attack on the Iranian consulate’s annex in Dama…
- Policy Analysis
Hezbollah-Israel War Is Becoming Inevitable, and the United States May Not Prevent It
Apr 10, 2024Patricia 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
The State of Civil Society in MENA after the 2011 Uprisings
Apr 10, 2024Anwar Mhajne discusses the condition of civil society organizations in the Arab world and regime strategies to restrict their activities, especially political …
- Policy Analysis
Once Again, Germany Is on the Wrong Side of History
Apr 9, 2024Since the onset of Israel's war on Gaza, Germany has emerged as one of its most steadfast allies, along with the United States. This alignment is not surprisin…
- Policy AnalysisYemenEnergy and Economics
Houthi Red Sea Attacks Have Global Economic Repercussions
Apr 5, 2024Jim KraneThe Houthi attacks on Red Sea shipping present a new phenomenon in geo-economic conflict: a non-state actor using asymmetric warfare not just to fight conventi…
- ViewpointJordanProtests and Activism
Path of Least Cost: Assuaging Public Protests in Jordan
Apr 1, 2024Imad K. HarbOnce again, events in Gaza are showing up in the form of indignant protests in Jordan that, if not properly handled, could lead to serious challenges for the J…
- Policy Analysis
“Heartbreak and Heartlessness” in Gaza: Crisis in International Humanitarian Aid
Mar 28, 2024In March 2024, after months of watching and funding the active destruction of Gaza’s infrastructure and the degradation of its population, the global powers st…
- Policy Analysis
Gaza, Biden, and an American Intifada
Mar 27, 2024As Israel’s devastating Gaza invasion wears on, tensions between President Joe Biden and Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu are spiking, endangering the…
- Policy AnalysisLibyaDemocracy and Governance
Libya: Despite Talks on a Unified Government, Impasse Remains
Mar 27, 2024Gregory AftandilianTalks last month in Cairo between representatives of Libya’s two rival governments raised hopes over progress in resolving the country’s 10-year political impa…
- Policy Analysis
The Gaza War Is a Chapter in the Displacement of the Palestinian People
Mar 26, 2024Israel took advantage of October 7, 2023, to launch a war of extermination against the Palestinian people in the Gaza Strip. It announced that its goal in the …
- Policy AnalysisPalestine/IsraelConflicts and Conflict Resolution
A Return to First Principles: The ‘Day After’ and Palestinian Self-Determination
Mar 26, 2024Saul TakahashiOn numerous occasions since October 2023, Israel, the United States, and other countries have outlined their visions for how Gaza, and Palestine as a whole, sh…
- ViewpointPalestine/IsraelRegional Relations and Geopolitics
Whither the Arab World from What is Happening in Gaza?
Mar 20, 2024Imad K. HarbIsrael’s war on Gaza has recently entered its sixth straight month with no respite or apparent possibility of a permanent ceasefire that could spare the lives …
- Policy Analysis
Israeli Non-Compliance with ICJ Provisional Orders
Mar 20, 2024On January 26, the International Court of Justice (ICJ) indicated preliminary measures in the case brought against Israel by South Africa under the Genocide C…
- Policy Analysis
Israel’s War on the Education Sector in the Gaza Strip
Mar 20, 2024Palestinians’ experience with displacement, asylum, and dispossession since the Nakba in 1948 sparked what can be described as an educational revolution, leadi…
- Policy Analysis
Gaza and the Battle of Negations in the United States (and Beyond)
Mar 14, 2024At no point in the history of the Middle East has the Palestinian-Israeli conflict collided with US domestic politics in such a visceral way as today. As multi…
- Policy Analysis
The ICJ Case on Israeli Occupation: A Report
Mar 4, 2024On February 19, the International Court of Justice (ICJ) began public hearings on the issue referred to it by the General Assembly of the United Nations, by vi…
- Policy Analysis
The Limits of Justice in Lebanon—and What It Means for the Future of the Country
Feb 28, 2024Three years ago this month, the assassination of Lokman Slim—public intellectual, human rights defender, writer and publisher, and outspoken critic of Hezbolla…
- Policy Analysis
Saudi Arabia May Be Taking Center Stage in Post-Gaza Peace
Feb 28, 2024With 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 AnalysisLevantUS Foreign Policy
US 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…
- Policy Analysis
Arab States Have Supported and Shunned Hamas in the Gaza War
Feb 21, 2024Four months of warfare between Israel and Hamas have generated regional and global dynamics that will shape the Middle East for decades. But the war in Gaza ha…
- ViewpointSomaliaRegional Relations and Geopolitics
The Dangerous Chipping Away of Somalia’s Sovereignty
Feb 16, 2024Imad K. HarbOn New Year’s Day, Ethiopia’s Prime Minister Abiy Ahmed and the president of Somalia’s breakaway federated state of Somaliland Muse Bihi Abdi signed a Memorand…
- Policy Analysis
Elections in Israel: Possible Scenarios and Outcomes
Feb 16, 2024With the outbreak of the war on Gaza, there was a consensus in Israel that war was an exceptional emergency in which politics was neutralized, that unity was a…
- ViewpointPalestine/IsraelUS Foreign Policy
Congress 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
The Biden Administration’s Confused Response to Israel’s Rafah Operation
Feb 15, 2024At 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
Turkish-Gulf Relations in the Context of Regional Reconciliation
Feb 14, 2024Since 2021, Turkey has been resetting its policies in the Middle East and has started to reconcile with its rivals in the previous decade—Egypt, Israel, Saudi …
- Policy Analysis
From Gaza to the Syrian Border, Jordan Is Increasingly in the Line of Fire
Feb 9, 2024Since Israel launched its current war on Gaza last October, Jordanians have been closely watching the enclave, and the rising tensions in the region, with deep…
- Policy Analysis
Egypt, the Gaza War, and Fears of Another Nakba
Feb 7, 2024Like most Arab countries, Egypt was stunned by the conflagration ignited by last October’s Hamas attack inside southern Israel and subsequent Israeli onslaught…
- Policy Analysis
Iraq’s Illusory Sovereignty: Domestic and Foreign Culprits
Feb 7, 2024The abridgement of Iraqi state sovereignty began at least with the Gulf War of 1991, when Iraq’s Kurds received international protection, the United States and…
- Policy Analysis
How the Gaza War Is Upending US Middle East Policy
Feb 2, 2024As 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
From Gaza to Yemen and Back: The Biden Administration’s Confused Strategy
Feb 1, 2024On 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 AnalysisPalestine/IsraelMedia and Technology
Gaza as Ground Zero for Israel’s Border Technology
Feb 1, 2024Heba GowayedMore than a node in a global system of border apartheid, Gaza has become ground zero for Israel’s carceral and military technology that is marketed to other st…
- Policy AnalysisPalestine/IsraelConflicts and Conflict Resolution
The Occupied West Bank Since October 7: Movement Restrictions and Collective Punishment
Jan 26, 2024Yara M. AsiIn August 2023, Itamar Ben-Gvir—not just any government minister, but Israel’s Minister of National Security—told an interviewer that “my right, the right of m…
- ViewpointLebanonConflicts and Conflict Resolution
Continuing Skirmishes but No Hezbollah-Israel War
Jan 25, 2024Imad K. HarbDaily and intense skirmishes between Israeli forces and Hezbollah and its allies across the Blue Line—in reference to the border drawn by the United Nations fo…
- Policy AnalysisIranConflicts and Conflict Resolution
Iran 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
The Biden Administration Is Strong in the Red Sea but Weak in Gaza
Jan 24, 2024After enduring weeks of regional tension, including Houthi rebel attacks on shipping in the Red Sea and on American commercial vessels, the Biden administratio…
- Viewpoint
Deciphering Blinken’s Unguarded Optimism
Jan 18, 2024The 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
Turkey’s “Guarantor System” for Ending the Gaza War Has Limitations
Jan 17, 2024In mid-October, following the UN Security Council’s failure to pass a Russian resolution calling for an immediate humanitarian truce in Gaza, Turkey proposed a…
- Policy AnalysisPalestine/IsraelRegional Relations and Geopolitics
Normalization Survives Despite the Gaza War
Jan 11, 2024Imad K. HarbThe current Israeli war on Gaza, now well into its fourth deadly month, has cast a calamitous shadow over the lives of Palestinians and Israelis, as well as ov…
- Policy AnalysisThe Arab WorldRegional Relations and Geopolitics
Important Considerations for the Middle East in 2024
Jan 10, 2024Yara M. Asi Daniel Brumberg Imad K. Harb Khalil E. Jahshan Tamara Kharroub Laurie King Dana El Kurd Yousef MunayyerThe October 7 Hamas attack on Israel and Israel’s subsequent invasion of the Gaza Strip will play a major role in shaping what unfolds in the Middle East in 20…
- Policy Analysis
The Far East Pivots to the Middle East
Jan 3, 2024The phrase “Pivot to the East,” popularized during the Obama administration, signified a realization of the rising importance of China and of growing US intere…
- ViewpointPalestine/IsraelConflicts and Conflict Resolution
Arouri’s Assassination Will Achieve Nothing
Jan 3, 2024Imad K. HarbIn its pursuit of Hamas leaders, an Israeli drone has assassinated Saleh al-Arouri, the Deputy Chairman of Hamas’s Political Bureau, a senior official in the o…
- Policy Analysis
Russia and China on Gaza: Sidelined, Lurking—or Winning?
Dec 22, 2023It 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
COP28: Achievements Fall Short of the Goal
Dec 21, 2023The recently concluded United Nations Climate Change Conference in Dubai, otherwise known as COP28, marked a significant moment in global efforts to address cl…
- Policy Analysis
The Israel-Hamas War in American Politics
Dec 21, 2023Any 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
Lebanon’s Political Forces Oppose a War with Israel
Dec 20, 2023With a heightened risk of the Gaza war spilling over into Lebanon, currently mired in acute political, economic, and social crises, the country’s politicians v…
- Policy Analysis
The Case for Prosecuting Israel for Genocide in Gaza
Dec 14, 2023The current Israeli war on Gaza has given rise to questions about whether it is possible to invoke the Convention on the Prevention and Punishment of the Crime…
- Policy Analysis
Shifting the Paradigm: The One-State Solution as a Path to Peace
Dec 14, 2023The current round of Israeli-Palestinian fighting, marked by the deaths of some 1,200 people in Israel and more than 18,000 Palestinians in Gaza, as well as th…
- Policy Analysis
Criminal Injustice in the “Court of Occupation”: Palestinian Prisoners in Israeli Jails
Dec 13, 2023Ahed Tamimi was just 16 when she was first arrested by Israel, after kicking and shoving two Israeli soldiers who raided her village in the occupied West Bank …
- Policy Analysis
Are Israel and the United States on a Collision Course?
Dec 13, 2023In 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…
- Viewpoint
Expand the Arab Peace Initiative to Increase Its Chances of Success
Dec 7, 2023Some in the Arab region and the international community seem to expect that after the Israeli war on Gaza and the destruction of most life systems in the Strip…
- Policy AnalysisEgyptConflicts and Conflict Resolution
Egypt Muddles Through the Crisis in Gaza
Dec 6, 2023Imad K. HarbEgypt has considered the Gaza Strip to be a soft underbelly since it ruled it prior to 1967, but also after it regained control of the Sinai Peninsula from Isr…
- Policy AnalysisYemenConflicts and Conflict Resolution
Assessing Yemen as a Second Front in the Gaza War
Nov 30, 2023Nabeel A. KhouryOn November 19, Yemen’s Houthis hijacked a cargo ship indirectly linked to Israel as it was traveling in the Red Sea. Much like their firing of missiles toward…
- Policy Analysis
Erdoğan, Gaza, and Turkey’s Regional Reconciliation
Nov 30, 2023Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan's first statements following the October 7 Hamas attack on Israel and the subsequent Israeli war on the Gaza Strip were …
- Policy Analysis
Hamas’s “Al-Aqsa Flood” Challenges Iran’s Axis of Resistance
Nov 27, 2023While the Biden administration, with Qatar’s support, has succeeded in securing a deal with Israel and Hamas for a combat “pause,” it remains to be seen if thi…
