Policy Analysis

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  • Policy Analysis
    LevantDemocracy and Governance

    Turkey’s Presidential Election in the Shadow of Devastating Earthquakes

    Feb 22, 2023Mustafa Gurbuz

    The devastating February 6 earthquakes in Turkey, which caused nearly 45,000 deaths in Turkey and Syria and rendered hundreds of thousands of people homeless, …

  • Policy Analysis
    SyriaMigrants, Refugees, and IDPs

    Erdoğan’s Rapprochement with Assad Spells Trouble for Syrian Refugees

    Feb 1, 2023Nabeel A. Khoury

    Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan’s interest in a rapprochement with Syrian President Bashar al-Assad is the latest chapter in his delicate domestic and r…

  • Policy Analysis
    LebanonGlobal Health and Health Policy

    The Captagon Problem in Saudi Arabia and Other Gulf States

    Sep 22, 2022Gregory Aftandilian

    Over the past decade, the amphetamine fenethylline, widely known by the brand name Captagon, has increasingly become the drug of choice among the youth in Gulf…

  • Policy Analysis
    LevantUS Foreign Policy

    Biden’s Syria Policy: Steady Non-commitment and Persistent Failure

    Sep 20, 2022Nabeel A. Khoury

    The Biden administration’s Syria policy, as well as its policy for the Middle East in general, stems from priorities and practices set in place during the eigh…

  • Policy Analysis
    TurkeyMigrants, Refugees, and IDPs

    Syrian Refugees in Turkey Face an Uncertain Future

    Jul 12, 2022Mustafa Gurbuz

    In the early hours of July 1, 2022, Turkish sources reported on a story of undocumented immigrants fleeing the Osmaniye Refugee Camp in southern Turkey. That s…

  • Policy Analysis
    LevantRegional Relations and Geopolitics

    The Ukraine Crisis Further Complicates Foreign Intervention in Syria

    Jun 15, 2022Gregory Aftandilian

    Despite early assessments that Russia would begin drawing down its military forces in Syria due to its need for more troops in the Ukraine invasion, it appears…

  • Policy Analysis
    IranSecurity and Defense

    Israel-Iran Shadow War in Syria intensifies Amid International Developments

    Mar 23, 2022Gregory Aftandilian

    The ongoing military conflict between Israel and Iran (along with Iran-backed Shia forces like Hezbollah) in Syria show no signs of easing despite the Russia-U…

  • Policy Analysis
    IraqViolent Extremism

    Is the Islamic State Rebounding in Syria and Iraq?

    Feb 25, 2022Gregory Aftandilian

    The nearly two-week siege in January of the Ghuwayran prison and parts of the town of Hasaka by fighters of the so-called Islamic State (IS) in northeastern Sy…

  • Policy Analysis
    LevantInternational Law

    Rehabilitation of the Assad Regime

    Dec 15, 2021Radwan Ziadeh

    With the approaching date of the next Arab Summit to be hosted by Algeria in March 2022, some member countries of the League of Arab States have become more vo…

  • Policy Analysis
    LevantConflicts and Conflict Resolution

    Russia’s Multifaceted Policy in Syria

    Nov 23, 2021Gregory Aftandilian

    More than six years after Russia began its military intervention in the Syrian civil war, President Vladimir Putin has chalked up some important victories amid…

  • Policy Analysis
    LevantConflicts and Conflict Resolution

    Southwestern Syria Tests US-Russia Cooperation

    Sep 22, 2021Joe Macaron

    The US-Russian agreement of July 2017 that led to a fragile stability in southwestern Syria has recently unraveled, testing President Joe Biden’s approach in S…

  • Policy Analysis
    LevantDemocracy and Governance

    Syria’s Presidential Election and the Absence of the American Role

    Jun 1, 2021Radwan Ziadeh

    On May 26, Syrian President Bashar al-Assad won a fourth seven-year term in a practically uncontested election. No one was surprised by the original announceme…