Policy Analysis

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  • Policy Analysis
    LebanonRegional Relations and Geopolitics

    Rumors and Risks: Lebanon’s Political Anxieties and Relations with the New Syria

    Aug 12, 2025Patricia Karam

    In May 2025, Syria’s transitional President, Ahmed al-Sharaa, confirmed that his government was in indirect communication with Israel, the first time the two s…

  • Policy Analysis
    TurkeyRegional Relations and Geopolitics

    Moderation Without Transformation: Why Turkey Is Failing Syria’s Postwar Transition

    Aug 8, 2025Salim Çevik

    After years of investing in Syria’s opposition, Ankara is committed to see the emerging government in Damascus establish a functioning state that can restore b…

  • Policy Analysis
    Saudi ArabiaRegional Relations and Geopolitics

    Saudi Arabia and the New Syria: Constructive Pragmatism?

    Aug 7, 2025Kristian Coates Ulrichsen

    A large Saudi business delegation traveled to Syria on July 23-25, 2025, and participated in an inaugural Syrian-Saudi Investment Forum at the presidential pal…

  • Policy Analysis
    EgyptEnergy and Economics

    Sisi’s Foreign Policy Fails to Obscure Egypt’s Festering Economic Problems

    Jul 23, 2025Gregory Aftandilian

    Although Egypt’s economy has seen several improvements over the past year, namely a fall in the inflation rate and an infusion of external financing, it is sti…

  • Policy Analysis
    Saudi ArabiaConflicts and Conflict Resolution

    Israel-Iran Confrontation Tests Saudi Arabia’s Quest for Neutrality

    Jul 2, 2025The Unit for Political Studies

    Overnight on June 21-22, American military aircraft launched strikes on three nuclear facilities inside Iran, most notably the fortified Fordow plant. To reach…

  • Policy Analysis
    IranConflicts and Conflict Resolution

    The GCC States and the US-Iran Dance Near the Abyss

    Jul 2, 2025Kristian Coates Ulrichsen

    Years of shadowboxing and increasingly direct skirmishing between Israel and Iran erupted into 12 days of conflict that began in the early hours of June 13 and…

  • Policy Analysis
    IraqRegional Relations and Geopolitics

    Pragmatism Shapes Iraq’s Position Toward Post-Assad Syria

    Jul 1, 2025Giorgio Cafiero

    Sharing a 375-mile border with Syria, Iraq has high stakes in its neighbor’s successful transition following the December 2024 fall of Bashar al-Assad’s regime…

  • Policy Analysis
    TurkeyRegional Relations and Geopolitics

    Turkey’s Repositioning in the Middle East’s Emerging Order

    Jun 17, 2025Salim Çevik

    The Middle East has undergone a profound upheaval following the October 7, 2023, Hamas attack on Israel and the fall of the Assad regime in Syria in December 2…

  • From our Affiliates
    Palestine/IsraelThe War on Gaza

    Transformations in European Attitudes toward the Genocidal War on Gaza

    Jun 4, 2025The Unit for Political Studies

    Recent weeks have seen a remarkable shift in European policy on Gaza. After more than 18 months of support for, silence on, or, at the very least, turning a bl…

  • Policy Analysis
    IranUS Foreign Policy

    Changing GCC Outlook Toward US-Iran Talks

    May 7, 2025Kristian Coates Ulrichsen

    Leaders of the six GCC states have worked assiduously since 2021 to repair and rebuild ties with Iran as part of a ‘de-risking’ strategy designed to take the s…

  • Policy Analysis
    Saudi ArabiaRegional Relations and Geopolitics

    Saudi Arabia’s Calculated Re-engagement in Syria and Lebanon

    Apr 8, 2025Unit for Political Studies

    On March 28, the Syrian and Lebanese defense ministers signed an agreement in Jeddah, Saudi Arabia, affirming the importance of demarcating borders between the…

  • Policy Analysis
    Saudi ArabiaUS Foreign Policy

    Normalization and Displacement: Saudi Arabia and Trump’s Gaza Proposal

    Feb 20, 2025The Unit for Political Studies

    Saudi Arabia is deeply concerned about the risks that Trump’s Gaza project poses to Egypt and Jordan and are uneasy about repeated American and Israeli stateme…

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