Iraq faces the dual challenge of managing spillover security risks from Syria’s collapse and navigating a weakened Iran. While this offers Baghdad a chance to assert independence, a stable, secure Iraq is its best defense against becoming a new frontline for Tehran.

Having secured electoral victories and control over key state institutions, the PMF leverages its formal status to enrich itself and challenge rivals. Its campaign to expel U.S. forces risks an ISIS resurgence and could turn Iraq into an Iranian client state.

The analysis warns that U.S. involvement would dangerously escalate the conflict, posing severe risks to regional stability. It urges Washington to pursue a diplomatic path and calls on Tehran to offer major incentives, such as abandoning domestic uranium enrichment, to secure a deal.

The analysis argues that diplomacy is the only reliable path to prevent another war. It proposes a three-point plan: solidifying the truce, negotiating limits on Iran’s nuclear program via a multinational consortium, and securing a U.S.-backed mutual non-aggression pledge between Israel and Iran.

Europe faces a moment of reckoning as U.S. support wanes. To sustain Ukraine and defend its own sovereignty, Europe must overcome internal divisions, invest seriously in its own capabilities, and prove it has the collective will to stand without America.

Europe must overcome internal divisions and strategic dependency to provide Ukraine sustained military and economic support. The continent’s collective willpower is now the decisive factor in determining whether Ukraine survives as a sovereign state or falls under lasting Russian domination.

Unlike previous conflicts, Iraq’s Iran-aligned factions now show restraint, having become entrenched state stakeholders. However, scenarios like a prolonged Iran-Israel war, a regime collapse in Tehran, or nuclear escalation could forcibly draw Iraq back into regional upheaval against its leaders’ will.

China offers Saudi Arabia an alternative security paradigm, essential economic partnership, and a foreign policy of mutual respect, challenging U.S. assumptions

A year after the fall of the Assad regime, Syria’s Christian community lives in a precarious balance: officially accepted by the new government but facing sporadic attacks from militants and vigilantes. While state engagement and public displays of protection aim to build trust, targeted violence and security gaps have fueled deep unease and suspicions of government complicity within the community.

Washington Institute experts and former officials lay out the urgent need for clarity on vital…