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125 Results
The Syrian revolution flag waves over refugee camps.
Trump Policy in the Middle East: Syria
This month, the Syrian Civil War will have lasted seven years. The authors of this brief explore how the United States — first under President Barack Obama and now under President Donald Trump — has struggled to develop a coherent strategy that balances U.S. interests in the conflict with the military, financial and diplomatic resources necessary to pursue them.
Robert Barron, Joe Barnes March 7, 2018
US flag drapes around Middle East regional map
Trump Policy in the Middle East: ISIS
This brief on the Trump administration's approach to the battle against ISIS is the first of a three-part series on America's foreign policy in the Middle East. Subsequent reports will examine U.S. policy in Syria and the intensified competition between Iran and traditional U.S. partners in the region, notably Saudi Arabia and Israel.   
Joe Barnes, Robert Barron January 29, 2018
A ship carries cargo for trade.
Anti-Qatar Embargo Grinds Toward Strategic Failure
The list of 13 demands presented in June 2017 by Bahrain, Egypt, Saudi Arabia and the United Arab Emirates suggests a supremely ambitious set of goals behind their embargo of Qatar, including “red lines” that touch directly upon Qatari sovereignty and that Doha will almost certainly reject. The stage is thus set for a contest of endurance, one that with every passing month looks more likely to result in favor of Qatar, writes fellow Gabriel Collins in this brief.
Gabriel Collins January 22, 2018
Map of the Middle East region
Factional Politics in the Iran–Iraq War
On September 22, 1980, Saddam Hussein initiated what became one of the longest wars of the twentieth century — a war of attrition between Iran and Iraq that finally ended in August 1988. Fellow Mohammad Ayatollahi Tabaar examines the domestic causes of the Iran–Iraq War, delving into secret discussions among Iranian political and military elites during the conflict, their analyses of their own performance on the battlefield, and their revealing public disputes and blame game decades later.
Mohammad Ayatollahi Tabaar August 9, 2017
Middle east map
The Fall of Mosul and the Future of ISIS
The fall of Mosul and the ongoing demise of the ISIS pseudo-state are good news, but they do not herald either an end to the jihadist terrorist threat nor promise an enduring solution to the ongoing conflicts that have afflicted Iraq and, especially, Syria, writes Bonner Means Baker Fellow Joe Barnes in this post for the Baker Institute Blog.
Joe Barnes July 11, 2017