Since 2014, the Shiite Badr Organization, led by its Secretary General Hadi al-Amiri, has become one of the main actors in Iraqi politics, notes Dr. Guido Steinberg, a Senior Associate… Read more »
Supporting indigenous democrats would be a more successful approach to promoting democracy in the Middle East than external intervention, especially militarized regime change, says a leading Arab democrat. “Foreign intervention… Read more »
In a region littered with failed states, Iran is often mischaracterized as an island of stability, notes Ray Takeyh, a senior fellow at the Council on Foreign Relations. The history… Read more »
“Principled Realism” is no more likely than realpolitik to check Tehran’s clerical regime where it matters most, in Syria, according to a leading analyst. Such an approach “appears ideologically… Read more »
Iranian women confront an array of restrictions, such as on their ability to travel, prohibitions on entering certain jobs, and an absence of basic legal protections, Human Rights Watch said in… Read more »
Now that Iran has gone to the ballot to elect a president, U.S. policymakers should turn their attention to a more important transition in the offing, argues Mehdi Khalaji, a fellow at the… Read more »
The significance of the Iranian elections has not been fully appreciated, notes Vali Nasr, Dean and Professor of International Affairs at Johns Hopkins University’s School of Advanced International Studies and… Read more »
During his speech in Saudi Arabia, President Donald Trump spoke of the need to confront and “isolate” Iran. But the Iran challenge is more intricate and perplexing than the one faced… Read more »
After an unexpectedly close race between President Hassan Rouhani, the pragmatic incumbent, and hardline challenger Ebrahim Raisi (left), ordinary Iranians on the eve of the vote appeared united only in… Read more »
The presidential election in Iran this Friday is being billed as yet another contest in which a spirited but ineffectual reformer is fighting it out with a hard-boiled theocrat. Meanwhile,… Read more »