Assad’s track record indicates that he will likely continue challenging the chemical redline, and that additional strikes and other pressures may be necessary to deter him from doing so. In the early morning hours of April 7, the United States launched fifty-nine Tomahawk cruise missiles from two destroyers in the Eastern Mediterranean against al-Shayrat Air… Keep reading →
To help Washington in the war against the Islamic State, Cairo must first help itself, in part by adopting a modern COIN approach in Sinai and refocusing its military spending toward that end. Seven years have passed since an Egyptian head of state visited the White House, but the April 3 Oval Office meeting between… Keep reading →
Clarifying the Central Bank’s authority, resuming the payment of public salaries nationwide, and addressing currency shortages could help the Hadi government avert a looming famine. Following a visit to Yemen earlier this month, the head of the United Nations World Food Programme (WFP) declared that it was “a race against time” to avoid famine in… Keep reading →
Iran’s budget and banking system are being held hostage by unaccountable revolutionary institutions like the IRGC, but for some reason the IMF is not calling Tehran out on the glaring lack of transparency. On February 27, the International Monetary Fund released its annual report about the Iranian economy. The report is important not only for… Keep reading →
Talks this week with the Saudi deputy crown prince are expected to cover current issues including Iran, “radical Islamic terrorism,” Syria, and Yemen, as well as perspectives on the longer-term future of the Middle East. The visit by thirty-one-year-old Prince Muhammad bin Salman, a son of King Salman, who turns eighty-one this year and is… Keep reading →
At a time when Russia is firmly in the Syrian driver’s seat and Assad shows no sign of going away, brokering a deal to establish a humanitarian buffer area would be one way to address Washington and Amman’s pressing concerns about ongoing refugee flows. In recent weeks, fighting has intensified in southern Syria as Russian… Keep reading →
As the Trump administration prepares to revise its controversial entry restrictions, a sampling of quotes from officials around the region indicates that certain provisions will be a hard sell abroad. President Trump’s January 27 executive order on “Protecting the Nation from Foreign Terrorist Entry into the United States” drew much ire at home and around… Keep reading →
Two leading experts on clerical succession in Iran and Iraq discuss how the passing of Ayatollah Sistani and Supreme Leader Khamenei would affect American interests across the Middle East. On February 6, Ali Mamouri and Suzanne Maloney addressed a Policy Forum at The Washington Institute. Mamouri is the editor of Al-Monitor’s Iraq Pulse Desk and… Keep reading →
The following is based on remarks delivered by Ziegler Distinguished Fellow David Makovsky at a Washington Institute Policy Forum on February 8. His views on these issues are spelled out in greater length in the Transition 2017 paper “Toward a New Paradigm for Addressing the Israeli-Palestinian Conflict,” coauthored with Dennis Ross. Read Robert Satloff’s remarks… Keep reading →
Regardless of how the details surrounding Sunday’s launch shake out, it was an unhelpful move at a time when the Trump administration is determining its policy toward Iran’s missile program and broader regional behavior. According to recent media reports, Iran conducted a weapons test on January 29 that involved either a nuclear-capable ballistic missile, a… Keep reading →
