Policy Analysis

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  • Policy Analysis
    QatarThe War on Gaza

    Israel’s Smearing Campaign against Qatar: Latent Motives and Objectives

    Feb 3, 2026The Unit for Political Studies

    Since the outbreak of the Israeli war on Gaza, analysts, governments, and media outlets have debated Qatar’s involvement with Hamas and its wider role in Middl…

  • Policy Analysis
    EgyptRegional Relations and Geopolitics

    Egypt: Partnering with Saudi Arabia on Security in the Red Sea and Gulf of Aden

    Jan 27, 2026Gregory Aftandilian

    Despite its extensive economic relations with the United Arab Emirates (UAE), Egypt appears to be hitching its wagon to Saudi Arabia in the kingdom’s dispute w…

  • Policy Analysis
    The Arabian Peninsula and The GulfEnergy and Economics

    A US Capture of Venezuelan Oil Could Come at OPEC’s Expense

    Jan 23, 2026Jim Krane

    The Organization of Petroleum Exporting Countries (OPEC) has a checkered relationship with American oil companies. In the 1970s, OPEC member states pushed the …

  • Policy Analysis
    The Arabian Peninsula and The GulfUS Foreign Policy

    The Trump Administration and the Fracturing Saudi-UAE Alliance

    Jan 21, 2026Giorgio Cafiero

    The historically close alliance between Saudi Arabia and the United Arab Emirates (UAE) is under strain because of diverging strategic priorities and competiti…

  • Policy Analysis
    IranProtests and Activism

    Iran’s Rebellion Will Transform Iran’s Islamic Republic for Better or Worse

    Jan 14, 2026Daniel Brumberg

    As the popular rebellion in Iran accelerates, the country’s sclerotic autocracy is fighting for survival. The reported deaths of at least 2,000 protesters and …

  • Collective Analysis
    The Arab World

    The Legacies of the Middle East in 2025 Are Likely to Repeat in 2026

    Jan 6, 2026Yara M. Asi Daniel Brumberg Elobaid Elobaid Samia Errazzouki Imad K. Harb Marwan Kabalan Nabeel A. Khoury Laurie King Assal Rad Rend Al-Rahim Mtanes Shihadeh

    In 2025, the Middle East and North Africa saw Israel’s genocidal war on Palestinians and destabilizing military attacks across the wider region, Sudan’s unsalu…

  • 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…

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