Analysis

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Commentary
The Foreign-Policy Parallels Between Trump and the Ayatollahs Are Uncanny
December 17, 2019 | Jon B. Alterman Neither the U.S. president nor Iran's leaders are as willing to go toe-to-toe as they might seem.

Commentary
Turkey and NATO: A Relationship Worth Saving
December 2, 2019 | Rachel Ellehuus The Turkey-NATO relationship is at a new low. To rebuild trust, CSIS’s Rachel Ellehuus recommends focusing on two areas of mutual interest that affect the security of the United States, Europe, and Turkey—namely the Black Sea and the Turkey-Syria border.

Report
Iraq as a Failed State
November 12, 2019 | Anthony H. Cordesman Iraq shows all too many signs of returning to the kind of internal instability that led to low level civil war in 2011 and the rise of ISIS, and that undercut any efforts to bring stability and defeat extremism in all of America’s military efforts in the region.

Critical Questions
Lebanon’s Government Collapses
October 30, 2019 | Jon B. Alterman CSIS’s Jon Alterman analyzes the implications of the collapse of the Lebanese government following Prime Minister Saad Hariri’s resignation on October 29.

Commentary
Why Iraq is “Burning”
October 25, 2019 | Anthony H. Cordesman Iraq shows all too many signs of returning to the kind of internal instability that led to low level civil war in 2011 and the rise of ISIS, and that undercut any efforts to bring stability and defeat extremism in all of America’s military efforts in the region.

Commentary
Syria: Looking Beyond the Kurdish Crisis to Long Term Instability and a Near Certain Future of Civil Violence
October 21, 2019 | Anthony H. Cordesman Today’s crisis in Syria can only be addressed by treating the cause of its instability and not just the symptoms of it. In the meantime, no actors in the region are willing to engage that hard truth.

Commentary
Experts React: Turkey’s Intervention, U.S. Diplomacy, and the Crisis in Syria
October 18, 2019 The U.S. withdrawal from Syria has far-reaching geostrategic implications. In this analysis, CSIS scholars with a range of topical and regional expertise reflect on this decision and its impact on international affairs.

Commentary
When the Toll Comes Due: U.S. Failures in Syria and Next Steps
October 17, 2019 The United States has squandered its leverage in Syria. Still, it has major stakes in Syria and should take immediate steps to responsibly mitigate the fallout.

Commentary
Syria: The Real Prizes are Iraq, the Gulf, and the Southern Flank of NATO, and the U.S. May Well Be Losing Them
October 15, 2019 | Anthony H. Cordesman The sudden U.S. withdrawal and Turkish invasion of Syria, and the collapse of the Kurdish Republic, is part of a decline in American influence in the Middle East and a separation of Turkey from Europe and NATO that affects far more important U.S. strategic interests.

Critical Questions
The Implications of a Turkish Intervention in Northeastern Syria
October 7, 2019 | Will Todman

CSIS’s Will Todman addresses the implications of a U.S. withdrawal from the Turkish border in northeast Syria.

Commentary
American Bluster and Blunders Have Made Iran its Fourth Long War
September 24, 2019 | Anthony H. Cordesman Due to its bluster, bullying, and blunders, the U.S. is now caught up in what seems all too likely to become yet another war of attrition.

Commentary
Iran, Yemen, and the Strikes on Saudi Arabia: The Changing Nature of Warfare
September 18, 2019 | Anthony H. Cordesman The recent missile strikes on Saudi Arabia may well signal yet another “revolution” in warfare as a result of advances in military technology, tactics, and war fighting.

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