Policy Analysis

Submit site search
  • Policy Analysis
    The Arab WorldUS Foreign Policy

    US Middle East Policy: The Trump-Biden Doctrine in Action

    Mar 22, 2023Charles W. Dunne

    All US presidents, it seems, need their own foreign policy “doctrine.” President James Monroe famously started the trend in 1823, and many others—Truman, Eisen…

  • Policy Analysis
    LebanonRegional Relations and Geopolitics

    Lebanon and Syria and the Saudi-Iran Detente

    Mar 21, 2023Imad K. Harb

    The recent China-brokered agreement between Saudi Arabia and the Islamic Republic of Iran is expected to have a de-escalating effect on many issues in the Midd…

  • Policy Analysis
    LebanonDemocracy and Governance

    A New Model for Presidential Elections in Lebanon

    Mar 9, 2023Patricia Karam

    It has been four months since former Lebanese President Michel Aoun left office in October 2022, after a presidential term marred by a series of catastrophic e…

  • Policy Analysis
    LebanonDemocracy and Governance

    Lebanon’s New Opposition MPs Must Work Together for Political Change

    Feb 14, 2023Patricia Karam

    Although the October 2019 protests in Lebanon rallied every sector, class, and gender in a moment of enthusiasm with the expectation of revolutionary change, t…

  • Policy Analysis
    LebanonIdentity Politics and Sectarianization

    Beirut Port Explosion: A “Judicial Coup” to Bury the Investigation?

    Feb 9, 2023Halim Shebaya

    There is broad consensus in Lebanon regarding the need to reform the country’s judiciary and to work toward enhancing its independence, as stipulated by both t…

  • Policy Analysis
    LebanonEnergy and Economics

    Lebanon’s Politicians Are Incapable of Productive Dialogue

    Jan 12, 2023Halim Shebaya

    Lebanon has now entered the fourth year of its devastating economic crisis and collapse, with no end in sight and no hint regarding the possible launch of a re…

  • Policy Analysis
    LebanonDemocracy and Governance

    Lebanon Faces a Prolonged Presidential Vacuum

    Nov 29, 2022Imad K. Harb

    Lebanon has experienced a long presidential vacuum three times in its history: from September 1988 to November 1989, from November 2007 to May 2008, and from M…

  • Policy Analysis
    LebanonEnergy and Economics

    Lebanon Will Not Benefit from Its Maritime Agreement with Israel

    Oct 31, 2022Imad K. Harb

    After ten years of on-again, off-again negotiations, Lebanon and Israel have finally reached what leaders in both countries consider an acceptable deal to dema…

  • Policy Analysis
    SyriaGlobal 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
    LebanonEnergy and Economics

    Lebanon Struggles to Pick up the Pieces After the Beirut Port Explosion

    Sep 9, 2022Yara M. Asi

    Lebanon’s independence in 1943 formally ended a 23-year French mandate backed by the League of Nations, a period that saw the consolidation of the country’s cu…

  • Policy Analysis
    LebanonEnergy and Economics

    An Update on the Lebanon-Israel Border Dispute

    Sep 7, 2022Imad K. Harb

    As the summer comes to a close, indirect negotiations to demarcate the maritime border between Lebanon and Israel continue apace. Although US mediator Amos Hoc…

  • Policy Analysis
    LebanonDemocracy and Governance

    Lebanon’s Upcoming Presidential Race Is Riddled with Uncertainty

    Jul 21, 2022Nabeel A. Khoury

    Amid political chaos, economic collapse, a dearth of public services, and shortages of basic foods and medications, Lebanon is nonetheless slated to hold anoth…