Policy Analysis

Policy Analysis
YemenConflicts and Conflict Resolution
Why Saudi Arabia Has Returned to War in Yemen
Oct 6, 2026Annelle Sheline
Riyadh apparently believes that diplomacy has failed and previous efforts to appease the Houthis have merely caused their ambitions to expand. The Yemeni popul…
Policy Analysis
IranUS Domestic Politics and Elections
America’s Affordability Crisis: Will Trump’s Iran War Cost Him the 2026 Midterms?
Sep 25, 2026Gregory Aftandilian
Midterm elections in the United States are usually a referendum on whichever party holds the White House. Going into this year’s midterms on November 3, 2026, …
Policy Analysis
IranConflicts and Conflict Resolution
Trump’s “Economic D-Day” Strengthens Iran’s Hardliners
Sep 3, 2026Daniel Brumberg
The White House’s new measures will not force Iran’s capitulation. Instead, they will reinforce the resolve of the hardline security officials to entrench thei…
Policy Analysis
Palestine/IsraelConflicts and Conflict Resolution
Can the Board of Peace’s Gaza Roadmap Survive the Disarmament Deadlock?
Aug 13, 2026Mohammed Samhouri
On July 30, 2026, Nickolay Mladenov, the Board of Peace (BoP) High Representative for Gaza and the plan’s lead architect, announced a 15-point framework for a …
Policy Analysis
LevantUS Domestic Politics and Elections
Changing Democratic Party Views on Israel and Palestine Boost US Democratic Socialists
Aug 5, 2026Gregory Aftandilian
The Israeli war on Gaza that has resulted in at least 73,000 Palestinian deaths, more than half of whom have been women and children, has made Democrats in gen…
Policy Analysis
LebanonConflicts and Conflict Resolution
The Trilateral Framework Agreement: Drivers and Implications for Lebanon
Jun 30, 2026The Unit for Political Studies
On 26 June, the United States announced that a "trilateral framework" had been agreed between Lebanon and Israel – with US support, redefining the nature of th…
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…
Collective Analysis
IranConflicts and Conflict Resolution
The US-Iran Interim Deal: A Fragile Ceasefire
Jun 18, 2026Daniel Brumberg Khalil E. Jahshan Patricia Karam Yousef Munayyer Daniel Neep Kristian Coates Ulrichsen
The “Islamabad Memorandum of Understanding between the United States of America and the Islamic Republic of Iran,” signed in Versailles, France, on June 17, 20…
Policy Analysis
Palestine/IsraelUS Foreign Policy
Among US Democrats, Support for Israel Continues to Erode
Apr 24, 2026Amy Hawthorne
Amid all the dysfunction and paralysis on Capitol Hill, an important foreign policy change is taking place among Senate Democrats. On April 15, 2026, the Unite…
Policy Analysis
IranUS Foreign Policy
How to Avoid Mutually Assured Devastation in the Gulf
Apr 17, 2026Daniel Brumberg
The April 12, 2026, collapse of US-Iran talks in Islamabad, Pakistan, could open the door to the perils of mutually assured devastation. This differs from the …
Policy Analysis
LebanonUS Foreign Policy
US Policy Toward Lebanon in a Time of War
Apr 10, 2026Patricia Karam
Following the expansion of its ground operations in South Lebanon in late March 2026, Israel has significantly intensified airstrikes across the country, inclu…
Policy Analysis
IranUS Foreign Policy
The Iran War: Is Trump Looking for Exit Ramps or Escalation?
Apr 7, 2026Charles W. Dunne
US President Donald Trump proclaimed total victory over Iran in his Oval Office address on April Fools’ Day, saying, “We’ve beaten and completely decimated Ira…