Essays

While maintaining the status quo for the time being might seem the easiest option, it is also the worst possible one

Rebuilding Iraq: Prospects and Challenges

Summer 2019

Reconstruction in Iraq cannot be achieved without universal reconciliation, economic and education reform, and equitable application of the rule of law

Keeping Afghanistan in Afghanistan

By Bruce Pannier

Summer 2019

As a possible peace and removal of American troops appears imminent, how do Afghanistan’s Turkic neighbors view the regional security situation?

Prioritizing Peace Ahead of Economic Growth

By Mariam Safi

Summer 2019

Afghanistan’s economic fate is intricately tied to its post-conflict peace plan, which is currently in the making

Cohesion through Decentralization

By Alexander Decina

Summer 2019

The rebuilding process in Libya will be complex and arduous but must be done with a focus on local actors and an acknowledgment of the realities on the ground

How Yemen Rises

By Abdullah Hamidaddin

Summer 2019

Reconstruction is never easy, and in Yemen the road will be longer than most. The first step is to pass on “best practice” in favor of a critical, reflexive approach

Rethinking Gaza’s Reconstruction

By Mohammed Samhouri

Summer 2019

With living conditions in the Palestinian enclave fast approaching breaking point, anything short of a comprehensive approach to peacebuilding and reconstruction will not work

End of War, but Not of Conflict

By Amr Adly, Ibrahim Awad, and Muhammad Alaraby

Summer 2019

State (re)building in war-torn countries can only happen in a conducive political process on all levels ranging from the local to the international, which is exactly what seems lacking in MENA

Forward… But Where to?

By Dario Cristiani

Summer 2019

The end of Bouteflika, the centrality of General Ahmed Gaïd Salah, and the parameters of change in Algeria

Thinking Arab Futures

By Paul Salem

Spring 2019

Drivers, scenarios, and strategic choices for an improved Arab World

A Regional Order Contested

By Karim Haggag

Spring 2019

Extreme instability has prompted a fundamental reconfiguration of the contemporary Middle East; as the old order crumbles, a new one has yet to emerge

The Return of Geopolitics

By Abdel Monem Said Aly

Spring 2019

In the post-Arab Spring Middle East, the forces of geopolitics and geo-economics are shaping the region and potentially point to a more cooperative future

Erdoğan’s Failure on the Nile

By Soner Cagaptay

Spring 2019

How Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan went from being a regional Islamist leader in the Arab Spring to being the Middle East’s odd man out

Turkey’s Pan-Islamist Foreign Policy

By Birol Baskan

Spring 2019

Understanding Turkey’s diplomatic moves post-2011 by looking back to the Ottoman conception of ittihad-i Islam

A Win-Win for Iran and the Region

By Seyed Hossein Mousavian

Spring 2019

Iran’s role in the “end-state diplomatic model” of conflict resolution and crisis management in the Middle East

Swamped in a Triple Crisis

By Ali Fathollah-Nejad

Spring 2019

Following the 2017–18 uprising, Iran is sick, stuck in three endemic crises with a foreign policy unlikely to alleviate what ails it

President Xi Jinping’s populist leadership of China, six years on, has been a lesson in the art of mixing strict policies with flexibility—alongside the ultimate goal of growing his own power and that of China

Can Israel Survive Netanyahu?

By Dan Perry

Spring 2019

Following Benjamin Netanyahu’s reelection Israel is a land of contradictions, democratic and wealthy yet with dangerous demographic divisions

Kurdistan: A State or a State of Mind?

By Guney Yildiz

Spring 2019

Can the Kurds, the largest ethnicity in the Middle East without their own nation, overcome their internal disunity and find ways to exist as an independent state or as autonomous regions?

Keeping the Hope of Peace Alive

By Federica Mogherini

Winter 2019

The European Union’s High Representative for Foreign Affairs and Security Policy Federica Mogherini asserts that the Oslo and Camp David Accords must be complemented by the realization of a two-state solution for the Palestinian–Israeli conflict in order to secure a lasting peace for the Middle East.

Essays

In Syria, Reconstruction Brings Little Hope for Peace

Rebuilding Iraq: Prospects and Challenges

Keeping Afghanistan in Afghanistan

Prioritizing Peace Ahead of Economic Growth

Cohesion through Decentralization

How Yemen Rises

Rethinking Gaza’s Reconstruction

End of War, but Not of Conflict

Forward… But Where to?

Thinking Arab Futures

A Regional Order Contested

The Return of Geopolitics

Erdoğan’s Failure on the Nile

Turkey’s Pan-Islamist Foreign Policy

A Win-Win for Iran and the Region

Swamped in a Triple Crisis

Rule of the Rigid Compromiser

Can Israel Survive Netanyahu?

Kurdistan: A State or a State of Mind?

Keeping the Hope of Peace Alive