The rollout to the Geneva 2 conference stumbled over the weekend and into yesterday, marked by a series of diplomatic missteps regarding the conference’s composition and violence in Lebanon that underscored the degree to which instability in the region may deepen regardless of the talks’ outcome. A car bomb detonated...

Analysts at the U.S.-based Institute of Science and International Security (ISIS) Monday published a report [PDF] describing what steps Iran would be obligated to take under a comprehensive nuclear agreement, should that agreement robustly impose barriers on the Islamic republic’s ability to produce nuclear weapons. The Wall Street Journal noted that the “prescriptions aren’t viewed as...

The White House last week released parts of the text detailing how the Joint Plan of Action (JPA) between the global P5+1 powers and Iran is to be implemented, after lawmakers and analysts spent the better part of a week expressing disbelief that the critical document would be withheld from public scrutiny...

Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid (D-NV) this week signaled that he will not permit the Senate to vote on bipartisan legislation – formally co-sponsored by 59 senators and reportedly supported by a veto-proof majority of 77 – that would impose sanctions on Iran should negotiations over the Islamic republic’s nuclear program fail. The Hill noted...

The erosion of American influence in the Middle East has created power vacuums which are being filled by geopolitical rivals from across the region, forcing Washington’s allies to “take matters into their own hands,” according to analysis published Wednesday in the New York Times. Michael Doran and Max Boot – senior fellows...

A recent speech by Palestinian Authority (PA) President Mahmoud Abbas – in which the Palestinian leader declared that “there will be no peace” unless several contentious Palestinian demands were fully met, and several Israeli red lines were definitively crossed – has triggered concerns that the current Palestinian leadership may be...