Trump Goes All In With the Settlers

by Paul R. Pillar Presidents-elect of the United States generally have hewn to the dictum that the country has only one president at a time, and that this is especially important with foreign policy.  The incoming president plans, appoints, announces,… Continue Reading

2017 Uncertainties Require a New Mideast Security Structure

by Adnan Tabatabai 2016 certainly bore no good news for the Middle East. Wars are being waged with greater intensity, and the humanitarian catastrophes in Syria and Yemen are reaching unprecedented levels. Instability remains the key defining character of the… Continue Reading

Nominee For US Ambassador to Israel Should Set Off Alarm Bells

by Mitchell Plitnick With his nomination of attorney David Friedman as the new United States Ambassador to Israel, President-elect Donald Trump has sent a very clear message that he intends to shift U.S. policy away from its decades-long commitment to… Continue Reading

Aleppo: High Point for the Iranian Venture in Syria

By Francois Nicoullaud For the time being, the Islamic Republic of Iran revels in the fulfilment of the “divine promise” embodied by its victory in Aleppo. The Pasdaran, or Guardians of the Revolution, have given their all for five long… Continue Reading

Assassination in Ankara: Broader Implications

by Mark N. Katz Some initially expected that the shocking assassination of the Russian ambassador to Turkey by an off-duty Turkish policeman would have soured Russian-Turkish relations. If anything, though, this episode appears to be drawing Moscow and Ankara even… Continue Reading