Policy Analysis

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  • Policy Analysis
    YemenConflicts and Conflict Resolution

    The Reality and Threats of the STC’s Takeover of Eastern Yemen

    Dec 29, 2025Nabeel A. Khoury

    Two superpowers, the United States and the Soviet Union, dominated the greater Middle East during the days of the Cold War. What happened from the Levant down …

  • Policy Analysis
    IraqUS Foreign Policy

    Undiplomatic Diplomacy Jeopardizes Improvements in US-Iraqi Relationship

    Dec 26, 2025Gregory Aftandilian

    US-Iraqi ties have witnessed an improvement over the past few months, largely in the energy and defense sectors that are key components of the bilateral relati…

  • Policy Analysis
    IraqDemocracy and Governance

    The 2025 Iraqi Election: Will Sudani Serve a Second Term?

    Nov 20, 2025Hamzeh Hadad

    On November 11, 2025, Iraqis voted in their seventh parliamentary election since the fall of the Saddam Hussein regime in 2003. According to the Iraqi High Ele…

  • Policy Analysis
    Saudi ArabiaUS Foreign Policy

    MBS Returns to Washington: Re-Assessing US-Saudi Relations

    Nov 18, 2025Kristian Coates Ulrichsen

    Mohammed bin Salman’s return to Washington after seven years signals a recalibration of US-Saudi ties, with Riyadh seeking security assurances as well as suppo…

  • Policy Analysis
    YemenRegional Relations and Geopolitics

    Israel, the UAE, and Yemen’s South: The Politics of Unlikely Alliances

    Nov 14, 2025 Giorgio Cafiero

    Having emerged in 2017 from Yemen’s Southern Movement, the Southern Transitional Council (STC) is the preeminent political and military force in southern Yemen…

  • Policy Analysis
    QatarUS Foreign Policy

    Qatar Copes with Trump’s Middle East Vision

    Nov 6, 2025Daniel Brumberg

    Among Arab states, perhaps none faces a more complex challenge in managing relations with President Donald Trump than Qatar. Ironically, Doha’s deepening partn…

  • Policy Analysis
    YemenConflicts and Conflict Resolution

    Yemen Caught Between Domestic Fragmentation and Regional Tensions

    Nov 5, 2025Nabeel A. Khoury

    More than a decade into Yemen’s civil war, no end to the conflict is in sight. The lines of control between the two main belligerents have barely changed, and …

  • Policy Analysis
    The Arabian Peninsula and The GulfSecurity and Defense

    Israel’s Attack on Qatar and the Failure of GCC Defense Cooperation

    Oct 14, 2025Kristian Coates Ulrichsen

    On September 9, 2025, Israel attacked Qatar in an act of international aggression that caused shockwaves in Doha, across the Gulf states, and around the world.…

  • Policy Analysis
    IraqDemocracy and Governance

    Baghdad Between Tehran and Washington: The Struggle for a Sovereign State

    Oct 9, 2025Patricia Karam

    Iraqi Prime Minister Mohammed Shia’ al-Sudani is walking a delicate tightrope between asserting the country’s sovereignty and maintaining relations with Iran a…

  • Policy Analysis
    QatarThe War on Gaza

    Israel’s Attack on Qatar and the End of Diplomacy

    Sep 30, 2025Nabeel A. Khoury

    On September 9, 2025, Israel attacked a Hamas delegation in Doha, Qatar, as it was meeting to discuss the latest US-brokered ceasefire proposal to halt the war…

  • Policy Analysis
    The Arabian Peninsula and The GulfDemocracy and Governance

    Fueling Instability: Hydrocarbons, Protests, and the Limits of Yemen’s Internationally Recognized Government

    Sep 12, 2025Nicholas Brumfield

    In late July 2025, large-scale protests against electricity outages, economic deterioration, and general mismanagement by Yemen’s Internationally Recognized Go…

  • Policy Analysis
    QatarThe War on Gaza

    Striking a US Ally: Israel’s Attack on Qatar and the Erosion of Regional Stability

    Sep 9, 2025Hanna Alshaikh Charles W. Dunne Khalil E. Jahshan Tamara Kharroub Yousef Munayyer Kristian Coates Ulrichsen

    On the morning of September 9, 2025, 15 Israeli jets carried out an airstrike on residential buildings in Doha, Qatar. Israel claimed that the strike was a pre…

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