Policy Analysis

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  • Policy Analysis
    IraqRegional Relations and Geopolitics

    Turkey and Iraq’s Emerging Partnership in a Changing Regional Order

    Aug 26, 2026Salim Çevik

    Turkey-Iraq relations have undergone a significant transformation over the past two years. For much of the post-2003 period, relations between Ankara and Baghd…

  • Policy Analysis
    Saudi ArabiaSecurity and Defense

    Diversification Without Substitution: What the Mecca Joint Defense Agreement Offers Saudi Arabia

    Aug 19, 2026The Unit for Political Studies

    Despite the headlines, the Mecca agreement is unlikely to produce a real military response if an attack happens. Not only has the text of the accord not been m…

  • Policy Analysis
    LebanonRegional Relations and Geopolitics

    Neither Iran nor Israel: Saudi Arabia’s Vision for Lebanon

    Jul 28, 2026Giorgio Cafiero

    Saudi Crown Prince and Prime Minister Mohammed bin Salman (MBS)’s recent reaffirmation of support for Lebanese President Joseph Aoun underscores an increasingl…

  • Policy Analysis
    Saudi ArabiaUS Foreign Policy

    Limiting the Damage: Saudi Arabia and the Islamabad Memorandum

    Jun 24, 2026The Unit for Political Studies

    The war affected Saudi Arabia and further complicated its economic diversification plans, which were already facing setbacks. Iranian missiles and drones hit s…

  • Policy Analysis
    IraqRegional Relations and Geopolitics

    Iraq’s Kurdistan Region After the Iran War

    Jun 9, 2026Patricia Karam

    The US-Israeli war on Iran has spilled over into other countries, including neighboring Iraq. The Kurdistan Region of Iraq has been highly exposed to the confl…

  • Policy Analysis
    The Arab WorldConflicts and Conflict Resolution

    The Middle East after the Iran War: Between Order and Chaos

    May 6, 2026Nabeel A. Khoury

    For a president who has so often signaled his wish for a Nobel Peace Prize, Donald Trump has resorted to military force with remarkable frequency in the 15 mon…

  • Policy Analysis
    The Arabian Peninsula and The GulfConflicts and Conflict Resolution

    The GCC States and the War on Iran: Rethinking Responses to Unwanted Consequences

    Mar 19, 2026Kristian Coates Ulrichsen

    Four years and four days after President Vladimir Putin committed an act of aggression by launching the full-scale Russian invasion of Ukraine, the United Stat…

  • Policy Analysis
    TurkeyRegional Relations and Geopolitics

    Turkey and the War on Iran: Between Opportunity and Catastrophe

    Mar 18, 2026Salim Çevik

    The launch of the US-Israel war on Iran did not surprise Ankara, but it did not please it either. Turkey, along with other regional powers including Saudi Arab…

  • Policy Analysis
    Saudi ArabiaRegional Relations and Geopolitics

    Saudi Arabia Confronts the Israel–UAE Alignment in Somalia

    Feb 26, 2026Giorgio Cafiero

    Israel’s December 2025 decision to recognize Somaliland’s unilateral declaration of independence was of grave concern to Saudi Arabia. Riyadh sees Somalia’s te…

  • Policy Analysis
    Regional Relations and Geopolitics

    A New World Order and Geopolitics in the Arab World

    Feb 17, 2026Muhannad Ayyash

    The current period is a crucial inflection point in world politics for many countries, including Arab states. It is today essential to ask whether leading Arab…

  • Policy Analysis
    Saudi ArabiaRegional Relations and Geopolitics

    Constraint and Competition: Saudi Arabia’s Regional Policy in a Shifting Middle East

    Feb 17, 2026The Unit for Political Studies

    In a striking episode that captured the delicate intersection between domestic transformation and foreign policy, Saudi Investment Minister Khalid Al-Falih pub…

  • 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…

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