Middle East Conflict News & Analysis
Backgrounder: State Players in Middle East Geopolitics
Exploring the interests and involvements of third-parties like Iran, Russia, and the United States in Middle East proxy conflicts.
Middle East Gamechanger? Gauging the China-Iran Deal
Though short on details, the recent China-Iran deal could one day be looked back on as a seminal moment in the geopolitics of the Middle East.
Background: Quds Force Commander Qassem Soleimani Killed in Iraq
Will historians look back on the assassination of Qassem Soleimani as the catalyst for a new war in the Middle East?
The Oslo Process: Pushing Peace Further Away
The increasingly intractable Israel-Palestinian conflict owes much of its current impasse to the doomed Oslo peace process of the 1990s.
Conflict Monitor 2014: The Middle East
Several global and regional trends are contributing to increased instability in the Middle East. This report explores what’s driving the conflict and where the next fault lines will emerge.
Middle East Patterns Endure as the US Steps Back
Despite the shock of recent events, it’s not the Middle East that has changed. It’s US foreign policy.
Hollande’s Bid for French Grandeur in the Middle East
Examining recent efforts by France to carve out its own geopolitical niche in the Middle East.
The Diplomatic Risks of Turkey’s Rhetorical Fetish
Though the dust has yet to settle from airstrikes in Syria last week, Israel’s “neither conform no deny” posture has forced pundits to speculate on the intended target and whether or not the embattled Assad regime will retaliate.
Strategic Fallout from Gaza: Is it Time for Active Deterrence?
There are some lessons to be learned from the most recent round in the Israel-Gaza conflict.
Qatar: A Middle East Opportunist
Qatar’s rise from a sleepy Gulf state to a Middle East power-broker has taken many by surprise. It’s not the conventional considerations of land, military, or economic power that are driving Qatar’s foreign policy successes.