Policy Analysis

Policy Analysis
Saudi ArabiaConflicts and Conflict Resolution
Saudi Arabia’s Search for Allies in Yemen
Oct 9, 2026The Unit for Political Studies
On October 5, 2026, Yemen’s internationally recognized government began an offensive with support from Saudi Arabia to retake the territory taken by Ansar Alla…
Policy Analysis
YemenConflicts and Conflict Resolution
Why Saudi Arabia Has Returned to War in Yemen
Oct 6, 2026Annelle Sheline
Riyadh apparently believes that diplomacy has failed and previous efforts to appease the Houthis have merely caused their ambitions to expand. The Yemeni popul…
Policy Analysis
OmanConflicts and Conflict Resolution
No Power Can Master Hormuz: Oman and the Politics of Maritime Interdependence
Oct 5, 2026Amal Ghazal
For centuries, empires and regional powers have fought over the Strait of Hormuz, occupying its islands, fortifying its ports, taxing its commerce, and policin…
Collective Analysis
The Arab WorldEducation and Development
UNGA 2026: War, Diplomacy, and the Middle East’s Changing Order
Sep 28, 2026Nur Arafeh Imad K. Harb Khalil E. Jahshan Tamara Kharroub Negar Mortazavi Yousef Munayyer Daniel Neep
Nearly 130 world leaders attended the general debate of the 81st session of the United Nations General Assembly (UNGA), held in New York from September 22 to 2…
Policy Analysis
IranUS Domestic Politics and Elections
America’s Affordability Crisis: Will Trump’s Iran War Cost Him the 2026 Midterms?
Sep 25, 2026Gregory Aftandilian
Midterm elections in the United States are usually a referendum on whichever party holds the White House. Going into this year’s midterms on November 3, 2026, …
Policy Analysis
The Arab WorldRegional Relations and Geopolitics
What the Iran War Reveals about China’s Middle East Strategy
Sep 22, 2026Andrea Ghiselli
On September 24, 2026, Chinese President Xi Jinping is expected to meet President Donald Trump for the second time since the start of the US-Israeli war on Ira…
Policy Analysis
IranConflicts and Conflict Resolution
Trump’s “Economic D-Day” Strengthens Iran’s Hardliners
Sep 3, 2026Daniel Brumberg
The White House’s new measures will not force Iran’s capitulation. Instead, they will reinforce the resolve of the hardline security officials to entrench thei…
Policy Analysis
Saudi ArabiaUS Foreign Policy
Limiting the Damage: Saudi Arabia and the Islamabad Memorandum
Jun 24, 2026The Unit for Political Studies
The war affected Saudi Arabia and further complicated its economic diversification plans, which were already facing setbacks. Iranian missiles and drones hit s…
Collective Analysis
IranConflicts and Conflict Resolution
The US-Iran Interim Deal: A Fragile Ceasefire
Jun 18, 2026Daniel Brumberg Khalil E. Jahshan Patricia Karam Yousef Munayyer Daniel Neep Kristian Coates Ulrichsen
The “Islamabad Memorandum of Understanding between the United States of America and the Islamic Republic of Iran,” signed in Versailles, France, on June 17, 20…
Policy Analysis
IranConflicts and Conflict Resolution
The Humanitarian Impact of the War on Iran
Jun 3, 2026Yara M. Asi
For the hundreds of children that attended the Shajareh Tayyebeh Elementary School in Minab, Iran, Saturday, February 28, 2026, probably began like any other d…
Policy Analysis
OmanConflicts and Conflict Resolution
Oman and the Iran War: Neutrality Under Strain
May 28, 2026Gregory Aftandilian
Oman has been thrust back into the diplomatic spotlight. On May 27, 2026, US President Donald Trump told reporters that Oman, a Gulf state that has maintained …
Policy Analysis
Saudi ArabiaEnergy and Economics
Vision 2030 and the Iran War: Saudi Arabia’s Resilience Under Strain
May 28, 2026Kristian Coates Ulrichsen
Three months after the United States and Israel attacked Iran on February 28, 2026, the conflict is at stalemate: The ceasefire that began on April 8, 2026, ha…