• Policy Analysis
    IranEnergy and Economics

    Hormuz as Deterrent: How Iran’s Leverage Could Reshape Gulf Infrastructure

    May 21, 2026Jim Krane

    Iran has managed to convert its proximity to the Strait of Hormuz into a strategic deterrent. By blocking maritime trade, Iran has demonstrated that it can imp…

  • Policy Analysis
    Saudi ArabiaConflicts and Conflict Resolution

    Saudi Arabia’s Strategic Dilemma in the Iran War

    May 21, 2026The Unit for Political Studies

    Saudi Arabia finds itself in the center of a storm not of its choosing and its choices in confronting that storm are narrow and costly.

  • From our Affiliates
    IranUS Foreign Policy

    The Ceasefire Pause: Likely Outcomes of the Islamabad Negotiations

    May 13, 2026Mahsa Safi

    Sometimes, wars persist not because of military strength or the will of the parties involved, but because the very notion of an “end” remains undefined. Now, a…

  • Viewpoint
    IranDiplomacy and Negotiations

    Trump, Not Tehran, Is Blocking Diplomacy with Iran

    May 13, 2026Daniel Brumberg

    On April 26, 2026, Tehran offered the United States a proposal to lift the US and Iranian blockades of the Strait of Hormuz but to postpone talks on the nuclea…

  • Policy Analysis
    IranProtests and Activism

    Why Protest Has Not Produced Political Change in Iran

    May 12, 2026Sina Toossi

    Iran has not lacked moments of mass defiance against the regime. Over the past two decades, repeated waves of protest have challenged the authority, legitimacy…

  • Fresh Take
    IranConflicts and Conflict Resolution

    The Complexities of US–Iran Diplomacy

    Apr 28, 2026

    Assal Rad breaks down the competing strategies, miscalculations, and sources of leverage shaping post‑war diplomacy between Iran and the Trump administration.

  • Viewpoint
    EgyptConflicts and Conflict Resolution

    Egypt and the Gulf: A Relationship under Pressure

    Apr 21, 2026Imad K. Harb

    The US-Israeli war on Iran has put Egypt in a predicament. Since the 2013 coup that brought him to power, Egyptian President Abdel-Fattah el-Sisi has enjoyed a…

  • Viewpoint
    IranConflicts and Conflict Resolution

    After the Iran War: Regional Devastation and Future Instability

    Apr 21, 2026Marc Lynch

    The ferocity of the US-Israeli war with Iran that began on February 28, 2026, has given way to a shaky ceasefire, desultory negotiations, and competing blockad…

  • 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
    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…

  • Op-Eds
    IranUS Foreign Policy

    Iran Is the Dumb, Disastrous Remake of Desert Storm

    Apr 4, 2026Daniel Neep

    The war’s goals—degrading Iran’s military and weakening its proxy networks—look like a more limited attempt to discipline an errant regional power.

  • From our Affiliates
    IranUS Foreign Policy

    Global Energy is Caught in a Dark Tunnel and Future Prospects Are Bleak

    Mar 30, 2026The Economic Studies Unit

    The world waits apprehensively to see where the heated conflict between Israel and the United States on one side, and Iran on the other, will lead. It is a con…

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