Obama is right not to rush to war, given our checkered past on the use of chemical weapons and the sinkhole of hatreds in Syria, writes Leslie H. Gelb.

Secretary of Defense Chuck Hagel held a press conference in Abu Dhabi to wrap up his five day trip to Egypt, Israel, Jordan, Saudi Arabia, and United Arab Emirates. He discussed U.S. intelligence on the use of chemical weapons in Syria.

The United States tried to convince Israel to join the Non Proliferation Treaty (NPT) when the treaty was first introduced and before it was widely believed that Israel had nuclear weapons. The NPT's objective is to prevent the spread of nuclear weapons and weapons technology and further the goal of universal disarmament.

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Robert M. Danin, CFR's Eni Enrico Mattei senior fellow for Middle East and Africa studies, leads a conversation on the significance of Israel's new coalition government and President Obama's recent trip to the region, as part of CFR's Religion and Foreign Policy Conference Call series.

Anti-Americanism might have ebbed momentarily thanks to U.S. withdrawal from Iraq and support for the Arab Spring. But hostility is once again mounting in the Arab world. In Amaney Jamal's new book, she tries to determine why.

It is time for Washington to rebalance its dual-track policy toward Iran, strengthening the diplomatic track in order to seize the opportunity created by the pressure track. The United States should now dedicate as much energy and creativity to negotiating directly with Iran as it has to assembling a broad international coalition to pressure and isolate Iran. Only by taking such a rebalanced approach might the United States achieve its objectives with respect to Iran's nuclear program.

Russia today may have less influence in the Middle East than previously, but it continues to have a stake in the region's stability and sees it as an area in which it has important national interests, often at variance with U.S. goals and objectives.

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Experts discuss what lessons the military learned during the Iraq war, and how the war in Iraq will influence future policy making.

Experts discuss what lessons the military learned during the Iraq war, and how the war in Iraq will influence future policy making.

Rather than seeking regime overthrow in North Korea and Iran, Washington should pursue an updated version of Soviet-era containment policy, says expert Robert Litwak.

Secretary of State John Kerry held this press conference after his trip to Israel on April 9, 2013. He discussed his meetings with Minister Netanyahu, President Abbas, Prime Minister Fayyad, and President Peres and speculation on the Arab Peace Initiative.

Reza Aslan discusses the connection between women's empowerment and economics, as part of the Council on Foreign Relations' roundtable series on religion and the Middle East.

This meeting was cosponsored by the Civil Society, Markets, and Democracy Initative.

Secretary of State John Kerry is launching new Mideast shuttle diplomacy, but President Obama's commitment to brokering an Israeli-Palestinian peace agreement remains to be seen, says expert Martin Indyk.

Ray Takeyh warns that the West is falling into a diplomacy trap set by Iranian clerics regarding the nuclear Non-Prolifieration Treaty (NPT).

Elliott Abrams forecasts "trouble ahead" in Europe, once its passport-holding jihadis return home from fighting in Syria.

The Arab League met in Doha, Qatar for their twenty-fourth summit and released its statement on March 27, 2013, which was read by Deputy Arab-League Secretary-General Ahmed Bin Helli.

The success of a UN investigation into an alleged chemical weapons attack in Aleppo province last week will depend on a number of factors and could prove inconclusive, says CFR's Gregory Koblentz.

Secretary of State John Kerry arrived in Baghdad to meet with Iraqi leaders on March 24, 2013, after traveling with President Barack Obama on his Middle East trip.

Leslie H. Gelb contrasts the warm relationship between President Obama and Prime Minister Netanyahu in Israel this week with political and diplomatic realities.

Elliott Abrams analyzes President Obama's news conference in Ramallah.