Political Islam and US Policy in 2015

by Emile Nakhleh This year Arab political Islam will be greatly influenced by US regional policy, as it has been since the Obama administration came into office six years ago. Indeed, as the US standing in the region rose with… Continue Reading

How Obama Should Beat ISIS

by Emile Nakhleh In a speech before the United Nations on Wednesday, President Barack Obama offered a rhetorically eloquent roadmap on how to fight the Islamic State (ISIL or ISIS) in Iraq and Syria. He called on Muslim youth to… Continue Reading

Building an Unlikely Coalition Against ISIS

by Thomas W. Lippman Throughout the Middle East, television news broadcasts on state-owned channels have always featured what Western journalists ridicule as “coming and going stories”—a delegation from some country or organization arrives, the delegation meets the king or president,… Continue Reading

Qatar’s “Maverick” Foreign Policies

by Graham E. Fuller Speculation has run high over the past several years about what Qatar is up to in the Middle East. At first blanch its foreign policy seemingly contains a mass of contradiction: a Wahhabi state; good ties… Continue Reading