It is highly unlikely that the Lebanese Armed Forces will be able to disarm Hizballah on their own. Nor can the Israeli ...

A great prize lies unclaimed by the United States and its allies: Lebanon. Ever since Hizballah’s deadly attack against the US Marine barracks in Beirut in 1983, which killed 241 American service ...

Once NATO's most reluctant member, Turkey hosts this week's summit in Ankara as wars in Ukraine and Iran — and Erdoğan's ties to President Trump — make it one of the alliance's most indispensable.

This past June, I had the opportunity to visit Ukraine and see a bit of a war I heretofore had only read about. The contrasts with the Middle Eastern wars I had experienced were stunning, as was, in ...

Christopher Blanchard is a Middle East Policy Analyst with the Congressional Research Service, where he provides objective, nonpartisan analysis and research support to the Members, committees, and ...

Gönül Tol is a senior fellow at the Middle East Institute (MEI), where she focuses on Turkish politics, US-Turkey relations and regional dynamics in the Middle East. She is the author of Erdogan’s War ...

Founded in 1946, the Middle East Institute (MEI) is the leading Washington, DC-based institution focused solely on the Middle East, delivering non-partisan insights, analysis, and recommendations to ...

The generous contributions of MEI members support our research, events, and programming, and advance our mission to promote greater understanding of the Middle East. Individual membership provides ...

Brian Katulis is a senior fellow at the Middle East Institute, specializing in US foreign policy and national security. He authors the column “Making Sense: A Regular Take on US Foreign Policy.” ...

This individual is a guest contributor. MEI is not able to assist with contact requests. Anne-Linda Amira Augustin works as a political advisor in the Foreign Representation of the Southern ...

ERBIL, IRAQ — FEB. 28, 2026: An Iranian air attack targeting the US military base at Erbil International Airport in northern Iraq was intercepted by air defense systems on Saturday, Feb. 28, amid ...

It has been long enough since the Taliban seized power in Afghanistan in August 2021 for us to reach some conclusions about how the regime intends to govern and the policy options this presents.