Policy Analysis

Submit site search
  • Policy Analysis
    IranUS Foreign Policy

    The Limited Utility of the Iran Sanctions

    Nov 4, 2019Kenneth Katzman

    Kenneth Katzman writes that a range of observations and data support the assertion that to date, the Trump Administration’s maximum pressure campaign against I…

  • Policy Analysis
    LevantInternational Law

    The Greenblatt Fallacy

    Jun 19, 2019Imad K. Harb

    Mr. Greenblatt’s extolling the virtues of the Bahrain meeting later in the month to supposedly improve the Palestinians’ economic conditions is condescending a…

  • Policy Analysis
    LevantInternational Law

    Friedman’s West Bank Annexation Remarks: Political Implications

    Jun 17, 2019Khalil E. Jahshan

    Ambassador Friedman’s remarks about Israel’s right to annex parts of the West Bank signal that the Trump Administration may be ready to endorse another Israeli…

  • Policy Analysis
    IranInternational Law

    On the Lebanese-Israeli Border, US and Iran Are Negotiating

    Jun 5, 2019Joe Macaron

    A breakthrough in Beirut is helping American mediation in the land and maritime border dispute between Lebanon and Israel, but many obstacles still prevent a q…

  • Policy Analysis
    Saudi ArabiaUS Foreign Policy

    Mohammed Bin Salman and the “Deal of the Century”

    Dec 17, 2018Yousef Munayyer

    MbS has proven that he is the wrong man for the job of marketing Trump’s deal. If Trump goes ahead with his peace plan with MbS as his salesman, expectations o…

  • Policy Analysis
    Saudi ArabiaInternational Law

    Mohammed bin Salman Tries to Polish His Image at the G20

    Nov 29, 2018Imad K. Harb

    Looking at what has transpired since Khashoggi’s death, MbS’s participation in the G20 is unlikely to help him polish his image or restore his reputation.

  • Policy Analysis
    Saudi ArabiaDemocracy and Governance

    The Global Magnitsky Act and Saudi Arabia

    Oct 26, 2018Marcus Montgomery

    The Trump Administration prefers to accept a plausible story about the Khashoggi killing that allows the president to maneuver away from sanctioning Saudi indi…

  • Policy Analysis
    LevantInternational Law

    Murder at the Consulate: The Questions that Occupy Us

    Oct 19, 2018Azmi Bishara

    Many have raised questions about the logic behind murdering Jamal Khashoggi in the consulate, but what kind of leader makes such a criminal yet foolish decisio…

  • Policy Analysis
    International Law

    John Bolton vs. Bureaucratic Washington: Implications for the Middle East

    Oct 11, 2018Marcus Montgomery

    How effectively Bolton steers the NSC through the gauntlet of Washington’s bureaucracy will go a long way in determining US policy toward the Middle East and N…

  • Policy Analysis
    International Law

    Trump’s Unprincipled “Principled Realism” Benefits Trump, Not the World

    Oct 5, 2018Daniel Brumberg

    Trump’s speech at the UNGA set out the basic dividing line that separates the Trump Administration from the normative, institutional, and legal consensus that …

  • Policy Analysis
    LevantInternational Law

    Arab Leaders Return from New York with Little to Show

    Oct 4, 2018Joe Macaron

    Representatives of Arab governments delivered their remarks at the United Nations General Assembly last week. A review of the 16 speeches shows that they focus…

  • Policy Analysis
    LevantInternational Law

    A September to Forget: Trump, Netanyahu, and Abbas at the UNGA

    Oct 3, 2018Yousef Munayyer

    The major addresses by Trump, Netanyahu, and Abbas at the UN General Assembly failed to achieve any advances on the question of Palestine. The Palestinians con…