Carnegie Middle East Center
The upcoming Egyptian presidential election is neither free nor democratic. The United States must not treat this election as a legitimate expression of the Egyptian people’s will.
The United States cannot ignore nor extricate itself from Syria without durably harming its regional interests and the post-WWII liberal order it helped create. Only through discipline, commitment, and leadership can Washington help bring peace to Syria.
Nearly a decade after the Arab uprisings, tempers in the outlying regions of the Maghreb are on the boil. Scarred by a history of states’ neglect, with poverty rates often more than triple that of urban areas, these frontiers of discontent are being transformed into incubators of instability.
The U.S.-Saudi relationship is based on mutual expectations that are unlikely to be met. It will endure but it is likely to remain far more fraught and complex and, in the years ahead, increasingly less beneficial for the United States.
A massive deterioration of the rule of law in Turkey is making a political alliance with the EU impossible, but cooperation must continue. Supporting the country’s resilient democrats is a major political task for Brussels.
State control of Algeria’s religious sphere is robust, yet it has recently been challenged by the upsurge in violent ideologies in the Maghreb region and beyond.
A discussion on lessons learned from the Arab Peace Initiative, the two-state solution, and the future direction of Jordan.
The sorry position of the United States in the Middle East today ought to be sending President Trump a powerful message. The region bristles with American air and naval bases and major deployments, but despite all this military strength, the “go to” power in the region today is Russia.
No longer confined to homeland states, Shia politics is being advocated, reinforced, and supported by diasporic transnational networks.
U.S. military assistance in the Middle East (and more broadly) is in need of serious reform.
Carnegie Moscow Center’s Director Dmitri Trenin and Rethinking Russia discussed his new book “What Is Russia Up To in the Middle East?”, Moscow’s role and place in the region, the future of Syria and the Islamic State as well as Russia’s Syria collaboration with Saudi Arabia, Turkey and the U.S.
Iran boasts that its foreign policy is driven by fighting injustice rather than furthering the state’s economic interests. This may restrain possibilities for reform.
India must recognize the reality of regional conflicts in the Middle East and limit their impact on India’s ability to secure its goals in the region.
From Moscow, Ankara, and Warsaw to Washington, DC, and New Delhi, nationalist leaders are pitting their base against their neighbors. For Israel, in particular, choosing to scapegoat minorities is beyond ironic.
With no effective Libyan government and no capable police or security services, militias present themselves to outside powers as counter-terror partners. The challenge is dealing with extremism in a way that does not empower these militias at the expense of an inclusive, civic state.
A “Gold Standard” nuclear cooperation agreement with Saudi Arabia may not be the best way for the United States to balance against Russia and China or restore its influence over nonproliferation policy in the Middle East.
As the Trump presidency passes its one-year mark, it provides an opportunity to take stock of the administration’s Middle East policy. Trump’s short term failures, and even his successes, may lead to unintended consequences that will weaken the U.S. position in the region.
Implementation of the NSG guidelines—including by Pakistan—should significantly reduce the likelihood that Saudi Arabia will enrich uranium anytime soon.
Ankara’s activity in Syria raises the alarming prospect of military confrontation.
Two months after the political turmoil in Lebanon, which placed its prime minister under the world’s scrutiny, Lebanese politics seem to have resumed.