Policy Analysis

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  • Policy Analysis
    IraqViolent Extremism

    The Islamic State Is Trying to Rebound

    Aug 29, 2024Gregory Aftandilian

    Taking advantage of the world’s attention to the Israel-Hamas and Israel-Hezbollah conflicts, the so-called Islamic State (IS) is trying to reconstitute itself…

  • Policy Analysis
    TurkeyRegional Relations and Geopolitics

    Erdoğan’s Renewed Push for Syria Reconciliation: Domestic Pressures and Regional Dynamics

    Jul 25, 2024Salim Çevik

    Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan made his most explicit appeal yet to Syrian President Bashar al-Assad. Setting a high bar for the future of relations, E…

  • Policy Analysis
    LebanonMigrants, Refugees, and IDPs

    Lebanon Needs Help in Dealing with Its Syrian Refugees

    Jul 10, 2024Imad K. Harb

    The dangerous saber-rattling and bloody confrontations between Hezbollah and Israel have partly obscured serious domestic challenges facing Lebanon and the car…

  • Policy Analysis
    LevantUS Foreign Policy

    US Troops to Stay in Syria and Iraq but Perhaps Not for Long

    Feb 22, 2024Gregory Aftandilian

    In recent weeks, there have been meetings in Washington and in Baghdad about the presence in Iraq and Syria of US troops, whose official mandate is to aid loca…

  • Policy Analysis
    LevantConflicts and Conflict Resolution

    Does Syria Have a Role in the Israel-Hamas Conflict?

    Nov 6, 2023Patricia Karam

    As the war between Israel and Hamas rages, the Middle East is bracing for a wider, multi-front regional conflict that will have serious repercussions for the g…

  • Policy Analysis
    LevantIdentity Politics and Sectarianization

    Syrian Kurds in an Increasingly Precarious Position

    Oct 18, 2023Gregory Aftandilian

    Syrian Kurds associated with the Syrian Democratic Forces (SDF) are increasingly seeing their autonomous entity in northeastern Syria threatened by internal an…

  • Policy Analysis
    LebanonMigrants, Refugees, and IDPs

    The Plight and Politics of Syrian Refugees in Lebanon

    Aug 8, 2023Patricia Karam

    When Syria’s regime was readmitted into the Arab League and its president, Bashar al Assad, rehabilitated after years of ostracism for his brutal crackdown on …

  • Policy Analysis
    North AfricaSecurity and Defense

    The Fate of the Wagner Group in Syria, Libya, and Sudan

    Jul 18, 2023Gregory Aftandilian

    The failed mutiny by Yevgeny Prigozhin has put the fate of his Wagner Group doubt, not only in Ukraine but in several Arab states as well.

  • Policy Analysis
    LevantRegional Relations and Geopolitics

    The Jeddah Arab League Summit: MBS’s Final Crowning

    May 31, 2023Imad K. Harb

    The 32nd Arab League Summit was little more than the final crowning of Saudi Arabia’s Crown Prince as the leader of the current Arab political order.

  • Policy Analysis
    LevantClimate and Environment

    Water Politics in the Tigris-Euphrates Basin

    May 30, 2023Achref Chibani

    While energy security and the control of oil have long been determining factors for geopolitical conflict in the Middle East, the region’s geopolitics have als…

  • Policy Analysis
    SyriaJustice, Equality, and Human Rights

    What Does Normalization with Assad Mean for Accountability and a Political Resolution?

    Apr 18, 2023Patricia Karam

    Against the backdrop of Syria’s impending return to the Arab fold, French judges this month ordered three high-ranking Syrian intelligence officers to stand tr…

  • Policy Analysis
    LevantConflicts and Conflict Resolution

    Obstacles to a Turkey-Syria Reconciliation

    Mar 29, 2023Salim Çevik

    Syrian President Bashar al-Assad paid an important visit to Moscow in mid-March 2023. One of the main agenda items was the Turkish-Syrian reconciliation that R…