In The News

How to Know if the Iran Deal Is a Good Deal

Joe Cirincione March 31, 2015
An agreement on containing Iran’s nuclear program should include three elements, explains Joe Cirincione, president of Ploughshares Fund: allow a civilian nuclear program but block all pathways to a bomb, organize thorough inspections and provide rapid response on punishments for cheating. IAEA officials have suggested that new inspection procedures could detect cheating in a matter of days. The...

Yemen Conflict Devolves Into Proxy War

Akim Alma Smari, Rory Jones, and Asa Fitch March 27, 2015
“The conflict in Yemen is quickly devolving into a wider regional conflagration, pitting Shiite Iran and an allied militant group against Saudi Arabia and other Sunni Arab states that came together to launch airstrikes on those militants,” reports the Wall Street Journal. Saudi Arabia is bombing the Shiite-linked minority Houthis in Yemen, a country with 65 percent Sunni and 35 percent Shia. “...

Tunisia Museum Attack Is Blow to Democratic Shift

David D. Kirkpatrick March 20, 2015
In the wake of the Arab Spring protests, Tunisia became a success story by developing a democratic government and economy that serve citizens. “Gunmen in military uniforms killed 19 people on Wednesday in a midday attack on a museum in downtown Tunis, dealing a new blow to the tourist industry that is vital to Tunisia as it struggles to consolidate the only transition to democracy after the Arab...

Netanyahu’s Win Is Good for Palestine

Yousef Munayyer March 19, 2015
Benjamin Netanyahu handily won re-election in Israel, in part perhaps to a last-minute declaration that he would not support a Palestinian state. “Netanyahu’s victory is actually the best plausible outcome for those seeking to end Israel’s occupation,” writes Yousef Munayyer in an opinion essay for the New York Times, adding that “political dynamics in Israel and internationally mean that another...

Countering the Islamic State Scourge

Riaz Hassan March 19, 2015
The Islamic State terrorists have roots in Al Qaeda and a network of Sunni jihadi groups that coalesced in the midst of the Iraq War. “After being subjected to years of political and economic marginalization, state-sanctioned repression, lawlessness and corruption in the hands of Iraq’s Shia-led government, Sunni Iraqis rebelled by joining militant groups that pledged allegiance to ISIS,” writes...

4 Years in to the Syria Conflict, How Are We Handling the Biggest Humanitarian Crisis of Our Time?

Justin Forsyth March 18, 2015
The civil war in Syria has left more than 210,000 dead and 10 million displaced. “Aid agencies are running refugee camps, clinics and education programmes that reach millions of people,” writes Justin Forsyth, CEO of Save the Children for the New Statesman. “But the ability of the humanitarian system to reach everyone who needs assistance in Syria is in question. The war has exposed the cracks...

After Letter to Tehran From US Republicans, the Middle East (Except for Israel) Stays Silent

Erin Banco March 13, 2015
World leaders are accustomed to the increasing polarization in US politics. The Obama administration is in the middle of negotiating with Iran over curtailing its nuclear program, allowing inspections and lifting sanctions. Republicans hold a majority in the 100-member US Senate, and 47 of them disrupted diplomatic protocol, sending a note to Iran to warn that any deal is at risk once Barack...