Policy Analysis

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  • Policy Analysis
    Palestine/IsraelInternational Law

    The Slowdown in Enforcing International Law

    Jan 29, 2025Jonathan Kuttab

    International law has helped govern the behavior of states for hundreds of years. Early principles like the prohibition on poisoning wells (rooted in just war …

  • Policy Analysis
    SyriaJustice, Equality, and Human Rights

    Liberation from the “Human Slaughterhouse”: A Dark History of Imprisonment in Syria

    Jan 28, 2025Yara M. Asi

    Assad's regime imprisoned more than 150,000 people, including some 5,000 children. Multiple reports have emerged of horrific torture, neglect, and murder insid…

  • Policy Analysis
    Palestine/IsraelThe War on Gaza

    The Estimated Cost of the Gaza War on the Israeli Economy

    Jan 27, 2025Mtanes Shihadeh

    More than a year after the Hamas attack on the towns of the so-called Gaza envelope, it has become clear that the economic and financial cost of Israel’s genoc…

  • Policy Analysis
    Palestine/IsraelUS Foreign Policy

    Trump Will Not Stop Israel from Snatching Defeat from the Jaws of Victory

    Jan 24, 2025Daniel Brumberg

    Several observers of the Middle East have suggested that President Donald Trump’s “transactional” instincts could impel him to push for a wider Palestinian-Isr…

  • Policy Analysis
    SyriaRegional Relations and Geopolitics

    Regime Change in Syria and Stabilization: The Limits of Turkey’s Unilateral Action

    Jan 24, 2025Salim Çevik

    Turkey has played a pivotal role in Syria’s conflict, significantly shaping the trajectory of opposition groups, particularly Hay’at Tahrir al-Sham (HTS). With…

  • Policy Analysis
    SyriaRegional Relations and Geopolitics

    Egypt Remains Cool to the New Syrian Government

    Jan 23, 2025Gregory Aftandilian

    The Egyptian regime of Abdel Fattah el-Sisi looks upon the recent developments in Syria with a good deal of trepidation. That the Islamist rebel armed group, H…

  • Policy Analysis
    SyriaMigrants, Refugees, and IDPs

    Political Change and the Fate of Syria’s Refugees Around the World

    Jan 16, 2025Heba Gowayed

    On December 8, the Syrian armed resistance group Hay’at Tahrir al-Sham (HTS) brought the Assad regime to an abrupt end after more than 54 years of brutal rule.…

  • Policy Analysis
    Iran

    How Will 2025 Be Different in the Middle East? Perspectives on the New Year

    Jan 15, 2025Khalil E. Jahshan Daniel Brumberg Dana El Kurd Imad K. Harb Patricia Karam Nabeel A. Khoury Yousef Munayyer Annelle Sheline

    The monumental events that took place in the Middle East in 2024 augur radical changes in the region’s geopolitical environment. Israel’s ongoing genocidal war…

  • Policy Analysis
    OmanRegional Relations and Geopolitics

    Syrian Regime Change: The View from Oman

    Jan 9, 2025Giorgio Cafiero

    The abrupt end of 61 years of Baathist rule in Syria on December 8 caught the Gulf states by surprise. Both governments and citizens of the Gulf Cooperation Co…

  • Policy Analysis
    LebanonDemocracy and Governance

    Lebanon’s Post-Hezbollah “Day After”

    Jan 7, 2025Patricia Karam

    The surprising fall of the brutal regime of Bashar al-Assad in Syria on the heel of Hezbollah’s spectacular losses and, with it, the tremendous weakening of Ir…

  • Policy Analysis
    LebanonGlobal Health and Health Policy

    Lebanon’s Health System: Decades of Struggle and a Year of Israeli Attacks

    Jan 2, 2025Yara M. Asi

    On September 17 and 18, 2024, a coordinated Israeli attack turned pagers and walkie-talkies in Lebanon into explosive devices, killing at least 42 people and i…

  • Policy Analysis
    LevantUS Foreign Policy

    Damascus Falls, and So Does US Policy

    Jan 2, 2025Charles W. Dunne

    With a presidential transition imminent, US policy on Syria, not to mention the broader Middle East, is in limbo.