Joshua M. Landis, a Syria expert who recently returned to the United States from Damascus, says that Syrian leaders are seeking to establish good relations with Iraq. He says the new prime minister o…

William O. Beeman, professor of anthropology at Brown University and an expert on Iran’s culture and social patterns, says he was stunned on his recent trip to Tehran by the Western-style campaigning…

Scott Lasensky, who specializes in Syria and other Middle Eastern areas for the U.S. Institute of Peace, says Syria has mounted a major crackdown to try to silence the growing number of intellectuals…

The Obama administration’s proposed defense budget fails to align spending with calls to rebuild the military to handle irregular warfare, says expert Todd Harrison. He also cites an inability to get…

While senior military officials are urging support for Afghanistan operations, Afghans are fearful about the Kandahar offensive and uncertain about U.S. plans to start withdrawing troops in July 2011…