Author Archive
Ideas
How to Advance US-Saudi Defense Cooperation
There’s room for progress short of a formal alliance.
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The Risks of De-escalation
At the wrong time and place, it can do more harm than good—as its Mideast track record shows.
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The Future-Seeking, Team-Building 5th Fleet Is Busier Than Ever
The commander of the U.S. Navy’s Persian Gulf forces explains how they epitomize the Pentagon’s new strategic approach to the Middle East.
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CENTCOM’s Got a New Mission. It Needs More Support.
Ending free-ridership and promoting regional security cooperation requires policy coherence from Washington.
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Could Ukraine Offer a Template for Better US-Gulf Security Relations?
The outpouring of aid to Kyiv shows that a formal defense alliance is inessential to effective wartime assistance.
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The Security Dimension of the Abraham Accords
A year and a half later, a look at what’s changed, what hasn’t, and what still might.
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Diplomacy Is the Key to Reducing US Forces in the Mideast
The Pacific pivot need not reduce Middle East security—if the U.S. can get its partners on board.
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Move the US-Iraq Relationship Out of Crisis Mode
Think fewer troops, more institution-building.
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Biden’s Idea for a Saudi Offensive Arms Halt Is Unfeasible
A solid defense needs a potent deterrent, which requires a credible offense.
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Esper’s Curious Partners-and-Allies Initiative
Why now? And are the combatant commanders on board?
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The Coming F-35 Fiasco
Now that Qatar is asking for the jet, it’s time to consider an entirely different approach to helping Gulf nations defend themselves.
Featured eBooks
Ideas
We Need a Better China Policy in the Middle East
With allies and direct lines to Beijing, Washington must do more to keep China’s presence in the region from becoming a threat.
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For Saudi Arabia, What Now?
Riyadh has military options for retaliating against Iran. The Trump administration needs to persuade Saudi leaders not to use them.
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Trump’s New Arms-Sales Policy Is Good but Sounds Awful
We must reintegrate arms exports into the U.S. foreign-policy process — and do a far better job of explaining why than the Trump administration has managed so far.
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Obama's Last Chance To Change the Saudi Arabia Playbook
The U.S. can't be the sole guardian of the Gulf forever. It's time to bring in some more friends.
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Beyond Airstrikes, How the US Can Accelerate the Islamic State’s Defeat
Time is not on Washington’s side, despite greater clarity of the military, political and economic efforts it will take to defeat the Islamic State. By Bilal Y. Saab
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Why the Persian Gulf Isn’t Ready for Joint Security
Stop pretending, U.S. partners in the Persian Gulf don’t trust each other or agree on Iran. By Bilal Y. Saab
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