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  • Policy Analysis
    EgyptConflicts and Conflict Resolution

    Worrisome Competition in the Red Sea Subsystem

    May 1, 2019Abdulwahab Al-Qassab

    The Red Sea subsystem involves many capable regional and international actors with competing agendas that, if not reconciled, could increase tensions and lead …

  • Policy Analysis
    LebanonDemocracy and Governance

    The Trickiness of Syria’s Return to the Arab League

    Mar 29, 2019Imad K. Harb

    It is important for Arab states to continue to withhold Syria’s membership until Damascus agrees to a political process that leads to a transition from Assad’s…

  • Policy Analysis
    LebanonEnergy and Economics

    The Eastern Mediterranean Gas Forum Reinforces Current Regional Dynamics

    Jan 25, 2019Joe Macaron

    The recently announced Eastern Mediterranean Gas Forum is not likely to aid cooperation or economic integration because the policies of its member states mirro…

  • Policy Analysis
    LebanonDemocracy and Governance

    The Arab Rehabilitation of the Assad Regime

    Jan 16, 2019Radwan Ziadeh

    Assad will be able to regain his political legitimacy after winning his battle militarily only if he rehabilitates his regime’s standing in the Arab world.

  • Viewpoint
    QatarEnergy and Economics

    Qatar Withdraws from OPEC: Business, Politics, or Both?

    Dec 6, 2018Khalil E. Jahshan

    It strains credulity to believe that Qatar’s decision to withdraw from OPEC was taken in total isolation from the regional conflict and tensions with neighbors.

  • Policy Analysis
    Palestine/IsraelConflicts and Conflict Resolution

    Israel and Gaza: From the Brink of War to the Brink of Elections

    Nov 27, 2018Yousef Munayyer

    After new elections in Israel, there is little reason to expect anything other than another right-wing Israeli government led by Benjamin Netanyahu.

  • Viewpoint
    IraqRegional Relations and Geopolitics

    Russian Gains Are American Losses in the Arab World

    Oct 30, 2018Imad K. Harb

    Putin’s assessment of a receding American international influence paves the way for an even larger Russian role in the Arab world.

  • Research Paper
    EgyptDemocracy and Governance

    Regional States and Egypt’s Democratic Transition

    Oct 25, 2018Imad K. Harb

    Qatar, Saudi Arabia, and the United Arab Emirates were the most influential external actors in Egypt’s transition to democracy and its reversal after the 2011 …

  • Policy Analysis
    LevantRegional Relations and Geopolitics

    The Trump Administration’s Objectives in Syria

    Aug 28, 2018Imad K. Harb

    American officials’ latest pronouncements on Syria are intended to help insinuate some important preferences as the conflict there arguably nears its end on Ru…

  • Policy Analysis
    BahrainRegional Relations and Geopolitics

    The Exclusionary Turn in GCC Politics

    Aug 21, 2018Kristian Coates Ulrichsen

    The emergence of a hyper-hawkish geopolitical axis running from Riyadh to Abu Dhabi has widened existing fractures within the GCC and inflicted potentially lon…

  • Policy Analysis
    LevantInternational Law

    Israel Returns to Basics in Syria: “Better the devil you know”

    Aug 15, 2018Joe Macaron

    After nearly seven years of unrest next door, Israel opted to coexist with the Assad regime and to return to the stability in the occupied Golan Heights that l…

  • Policy Analysis
    IranConflicts and Conflict Resolution

    Putin Arbitrates Iran’s Presence in Syria

    Aug 10, 2018Daniel Brumberg

    Rumors of a rocky Russian-Iranian alliance have been greatly exaggerated. Putin as arbiter in Syria will only do what serves Russia’s influence there.