Policy Analysis

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  • Policy Analysis
    The Arabian Peninsula and The GulfUS Foreign Policy

    Iraq’s Sudani Runs the Risks of Sustained Relations with the United States

    May 7, 2024Rend Al-Rahim

    On 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
    Saudi ArabiaUS Foreign Policy

    Saudi-Israeli Normalization Persists Amid Gaza War

    May 3, 2024The Unit for Political Studies

    Before “Operation Al-Aqsa Flood,” launched by Hamas on October 7, 2023, the Biden administration was attempting to conclude a diplomatic groundbreaking deal in…

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

    Gulf Arab States Avoid Iran-Israel Tensions

    Apr 25, 2024Kristian Coates Ulrichsen

    Years 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
    YemenEnergy and Economics

    Houthi Red Sea Attacks Have Global Economic Repercussions

    Apr 5, 2024Jim Krane

    The 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…

  • Policy Analysis
    Saudi ArabiaRegional Relations and Geopolitics

    Saudi Arabia May Be Taking Center Stage in Post-Gaza Peace

    Feb 28, 2024Kristian Coates Ulrichsen

    With 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 Analysis
    YemenUS Foreign Policy

    Instead of Houthi Designation, the United States Should Embrace a Comprehensive Approach

    Feb 28, 2024Afrah Nasser

    On 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
    UAERegional Relations and Geopolitics

    The UAE and the Red Sea Security Crisis

    Feb 27, 2024Giorgio Cafiero

    Despite the Israeli war on Gaza killing nearly 30,000 Palestinians, the United Arab Emirates (UAE) has clung to the Abraham Accords, which it signed with Israe…

  • Policy Analysis
    LevantUS Foreign Policy

    US Troops to Stay in Syria and Iraq but Perhaps Not for Long

    Feb 22, 2024Gregory Aftandilian

    In 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
    TurkeyRegional Relations and Geopolitics

    Turkish-Gulf Relations in the Context of Regional Reconciliation

    Feb 14, 2024Salim Çevik

    Since 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
    IraqSecurity and Defense

    Iraq’s Illusory Sovereignty: Domestic and Foreign Culprits

    Feb 7, 2024Rend Al-Rahim

    The 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

    From Gaza to Yemen and Back: The Biden Administration’s Confused Strategy

    Feb 1, 2024

    On 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 Resolution

    Iran Between Managing Allies and Modulating Its Deterrence

    Jan 25, 2024Daniel Brumberg

    This 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 …