Short Briefing Paper on Iran’s Upcoming Presidential Elections

by The Iran Project  Do Iran’s Presidential Elections Matter? Iranian presidents are sandwiched between the Supreme Leader (the ultimate decider),parliament, and the Guardian Council (the arbiter of law’s conformity with Islam). Together,these institutions have a direct say and exercise veto powers… Continue Reading

2016 Elections: The National Security Void

by Andrew Bacevich You may have missed it. Perhaps you dozed off. Or wandered into the kitchen to grab a snack. Or by that point in the proceedings were checking out Seinfeld reruns. During the latter part of the much hyped… Continue Reading

The Exceptional But Fragile American Democracy

by Paul R. Pillar Efforts to export American-style liberal democracy to foreign lands have bumped up against the fact that the successful working of such democracy depends on habits and attitudes that are rarer than most Americans think and that… Continue Reading

Is Iran the Greatest Threat?

When national security has figured into the presidential nominees’ campaigns, the focus has been mostly on Iran. With that in mind Daniel Byman, the research director for Middle East Policy at the Brookings Institution, asks whether Pakistan, North Korea, China,… Continue Reading