Policy Analysis

Submit site search
  • Policy Analysis
    SyriaDemocracy and Governance

    The Shrinking Space for Kurdish Autonomy in Syria

    Feb 26, 2026Gregory Aftandilian

    In January 2026, clashes between Syrian government forces and the Syrian Democratic Forces (SDF) resulted in Damascus regaining large parts of territory that h…

  • Policy Analysis
    Palestine/IsraelDemocracy and Governance

    Election Year in Israel: Portents of the Coming Political Battle

    Feb 6, 2026Mtanes Shihadeh

    The upcoming elections will mostly focus on domestic issues, while those related to the occupation, settlers, and control of Gaza will recede from public debat…

  • Policy Analysis
    LebanonDemocracy and Governance

    A First-Year Assessment of Lebanon’s Governing Coalition

    Feb 4, 2026Patricia Karam

    In January 2025, President Joseph Aoun took the oath of office and in his inaugural address declared the start of a “new era.” The government then began to rec…

  • Policy Analysis
    SyriaDemocracy and Governance

    Syria’s New Order: Centralization by External Consent

    Jan 29, 2026Salim Çevik

    On January 8, 2026, Syrian interim government forces moved into two neighborhoods in Aleppo controlled by the Syrian Democratic Forces (SDF), the US-backed coa…

  • Policy Analysis
    Palestine/IsraelDemocracy and Governance

    Bribes and the Ballot Box: How Israel’s 2026 Budget Serves the Governing Coalition

    Dec 10, 2025Mtanes Shihadeh

    The Israeli government will soon present its economic and financial agenda for 2026 in the form of a draft budget and an Economic Arrangements Law that will se…

  • Policy Analysis
    SyriaDemocracy and Governance

    Prospects for Syria’s Democratization Under Ahmed al-Sharaa

    Nov 21, 2025Patricia Karam

    The spectacular and unforeseen fall of Bashar al-Assad in December 2024 upended Syria’s political order and launched a precarious transition. Ahmed al-Sharaa o…

  • 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
    MoroccoProtests and Activism

    Morocco at Breaking Point? Drought, Misrule, and the Rise of Gen Z 212

    Nov 20, 2025Samia Errazzouki

    From late September to mid-October 2025, Moroccans across the country descended into the streets to once again demand change from their government. Under the b…

  • Policy Analysis
    SyriaDemocracy and Governance

    Syria’s Fragile Integration: The SDF Joins the Army but Autonomy Remains Elusive

    Nov 5, 2025Gregory Aftandilian

    An October 2025 deal between Damascus and the Syrian Democratic Forces (SDF)—which are linked to the Kurdish-dominated autonomous administration in the northea…

  • 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
    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
    IranDemocracy and Governance

    Political Divisions in Iran and the Uncertain Path to a New Nuclear Deal

    Sep 4, 2025Daniel Brumberg

    Some analysts have argued that the unprecedented Israeli and American June 2025 assault on Iran has created a “new regional order” in the Middle East. But what…

Secret Link