Policy Analysis

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  • Policy Analysis
    IraqIdentity Politics and Sectarianization

    Iraq’s Complicated and Challenging Security Situation

    Mar 16, 2021Abdulwahab Al-Qassab

    Many of Iraq’s pro-Iran militias were encouraged with Joe Biden’s election as president of the United States and the ensuing Democratic control of both houses …

  • Policy Analysis
    LevantDemocracy and Governance

    Israel’s 2021 Elections: Background, Scenarios, and Expectations

    Mar 16, 2021Honaida Ghanim

    On March 23rd, Israel holds its fourth round of parliamentary elections in less than two years, amid what in Israel has become known as “the political crisis” …

  • Policy Analysis
    Democracy and Governance

    Challenges to Biden’s Human Rights Agenda in the Middle East

    Mar 9, 2021Khalil Al-Anani

    In his speech at the US State Department on February 4, 2021, US President Joe Biden pledged to support democracy and confront authoritarianism globally, sayin…

  • Policy Analysis
    LevantUS Foreign Policy

    The Biden Administration and the Palestinians: Early Policy Indications

    Mar 9, 2021Yousef Munayyer

    The new administration in Washington, about half way through its first 100 days in office, is shaping its foreign policy. President Joe Biden and his team have…

  • Policy Analysis
    LibyaConflicts and Conflict Resolution

    Cautious Optimism a Decade after Libya’s Revolution

    Mar 5, 2021Imad K. Harb

    The Arab Spring protests that started 10 years ago in Libya and the ensuing collapse of the Muammar Qadhafi regime set in motion a decade of instability that c…

  • Policy Analysis
    LebanonDemocracy and Governance

    No Light at the End of Lebanon’s Long and Dark Tunnel

    Mar 3, 2021Joe Macaron

    By all accounts, Lebanon is a desperate case. The severe fiscal crises portend an extended economic depression ahead. The country has been in political paralys…

  • Policy Analysis
    Saudi ArabiaUS Foreign Policy

    Repercussions of the ODNI Khashoggi Report: An Assessment

    Mar 3, 2021Khalil E. Jahshan Imad K. Harb Kristian Coates Ulrichsen Sarah Leah Whitson Rosie Bsheer

    On February 26, the Office of the Director of National Intelligence (ODNI) released its report on the assassination of US resident and Washington Post columnis…

  • Policy Analysis
    Climate and Environment

    Climate Change in the Arab World: An Existential Threat in an Unstable Region

    Mar 2, 2021Yara M. Asi

    In the mid-2010s, several years into Syria’s brutal civil war, a theory emerged that perhaps the conflict was even more complicated than originally conceived. …

  • Policy Analysis
    IranUS Foreign Policy

    The US and Iran: From Brinkmanship to Negotiations?

    Feb 25, 2021Daniel Brumberg

    In his far-ranging February 21 interview with Iran’s Press TV, Iranian Foreign Minister Mohammad Javad Zarif reiterated a bottom line: that Iran would step awa…

  • Policy Analysis
    The Arabian Peninsula and The GulfUS Foreign Policy

    The Biden Administration Contemplates a New Pivot to Asia

    Feb 23, 2021Charles W. Dunne

    Is the pivot to Asia for real this time?That is one of the key questions Washington policy analysts, pundits, and diplomats are asking themselves as President …

  • Policy Analysis
    LevantConflicts and Conflict Resolution

    A Decade of War in Syria: Political Transition Is Still the Answer

    Feb 22, 2021Radwan Ziadeh

    The middle of March marks the tenth anniversary of the civil war in Syria. It began in the south of the country when regime forces resorted to violence to quel…

  • Policy Analysis
    EgyptProtests and Activism

    Ten Years Later: Reflections on Egypt’s 2011 Uprising

    Feb 19, 2021Khalil Al-Anani

    Khalil al-Anani appraises the January 2011 Egyptian revolution that led to the resignation of President Hosni Mubarak. He writes that the revolutionary forces …

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