Policy Analysis

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  • Policy Analysis
    IranEnergy and Economics

    Hormuz as Deterrent: How Iran’s Leverage Could Reshape Gulf Infrastructure

    May 21, 2026Jim Krane

    Iran has managed to convert its proximity to the Strait of Hormuz into a strategic deterrent. By blocking maritime trade, Iran has demonstrated that it can imp…

  • Policy Analysis
    Saudi ArabiaConflicts and Conflict Resolution

    Saudi Arabia’s Strategic Dilemma in the Iran War

    May 21, 2026The Unit for Political Studies

    Saudi Arabia finds itself in the center of a storm not of its choosing and its choices in confronting that storm are narrow and costly.

  • Policy Analysis
    IranProtests and Activism

    Why Protest Has Not Produced Political Change in Iran

    May 12, 2026Sina Toossi

    Iran has not lacked moments of mass defiance against the regime. Over the past two decades, repeated waves of protest have challenged the authority, legitimacy…

  • Policy Analysis
    IraqDemocracy and Governance

    Politics in a Parallel Universe: Iraq’s Leadership Crisis and the Iran War

    Apr 29, 2026Harith Hasan

    The Iraqi government and the leaders of the country’s ruling political factions have every reason for alarm. The US–Israeli war on Iran—and its profound conseq…

  • Policy Analysis
    The Arabian Peninsula and The GulfConflicts and Conflict Resolution

    War on Iran: The Dangers of Attacking Water Desalination Plants in the Gulf

    Apr 28, 2026Manal Shehabi

    International attention has focused on the energy and economic impact of Iran’s effective closure of the Strait of Hormuz. Yet for people living in the Gulf Co…

  • Policy Analysis
    IranUS Foreign Policy

    How to Avoid Mutually Assured Devastation in the Gulf

    Apr 17, 2026Daniel Brumberg

    The April 12, 2026, collapse of US-Iran talks in Islamabad, Pakistan, could open the door to the perils of mutually assured devastation. This differs from the …

  • Policy Analysis
    The Arabian Peninsula and The GulfEnergy and Economics

    Protection or Vulnerability? Gulf Sovereign Wealth Funds and the Iran War

    Apr 14, 2026Rohan Advani

    In March 2026, a Gulf official told Reuters that three Gulf states were reviewing how to deploy their sovereign wealth fund (SWF) holdings to offset Iran war-r…

  • Policy Analysis
    IranUS Foreign Policy

    The Iran War: Is Trump Looking for Exit Ramps or Escalation?

    Apr 7, 2026Charles W. Dunne

    US President Donald Trump proclaimed total victory over Iran in his Oval Office address on April Fools’ Day, saying, “We’ve beaten and completely decimated Ira…

  • Policy Analysis
    JordanConflicts and Conflict Resolution

    Jordanian Security and the US-Israel War on Iran

    Mar 27, 2026Curtis Ryan

    Eid al-Fitr should be a time of joy, but for Jordanians, and for so many others across the region, this year it was accompanied by air raid sirens, missiles, a…

  • Policy Analysis
    The Arabian Peninsula and The GulfEnergy and Economics

    The Iran War and the End of the US-Gulf “Oil for Security” Deal

    Mar 27, 2026Jim Krane

    In early March 2026, Iran effectively closed the Strait of Hormuz in response to the war launched by the United States and Israel, making it impossible for oil…

  • Policy Analysis
    IranUS Foreign Policy

    US Backing for an Iranian Kurdish Armed Rebellion Likely to Backfire

    Mar 25, 2026Gregory Aftandilian

    Several of Iran’s Kurdish political factions are hopeful that they may be part of any effort to dismantle the Islamic Republic and achieve autonomy for their c…

  • Policy Analysis
    The Arabian Peninsula and The GulfConflicts and Conflict Resolution

    Caught in the Crossfire: Gulf Security and Strategy in the US–Israel War on Iran

    Mar 19, 2026The Unit for Political Studies

    The US-Israel war on Iran, which initially appeared as a series of escalatory exchanges, has evolved into a broader war spanning multiple theaters, drawing in …

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