Program areas at WINEP
Linda and tony rubin program on arab politics: the linda and tony rubin program on arab politics focuses on political, social, economic, and security-related developments in the arab world, a geographic area stretching from north africa to iraq.in 2023, the program focused on Policy implications for the us related to iran's growing influence in the region; the impact and effects of the gaza war on the region; iranian-backed militias and political parties' influence in iraq, and the disposition of iraqi kurdistan; egypt's economic crisis; lebanon's deterioration and hezbollah's growing control of the state; the assad regime's regional reintegration and the future of the us troop presence in syria; the ongoing political deadlock in libya; democratic backsliding in tunisia; Washington's complicated bilateral relationship with algeria, and; chinese economic inroads into north african economies.david schenker directed the program with the support of 5 full-time senior fellows, cross-collaboration with fellows from other programs, visiting fellows, and non-resident associates. All told, in 2023, sixteen Institute scholars, associates, and consultants also contributed to the work of the arab politics program. Program participants appeared frequently on television and radio. The Institute published more than 80 articles/publications by program participants on its website and many of the articles appeared in other online publication sites and news outlets. The program held frequent events, including but not limited to bi-weekly virtual sessions convened on iraq, and convened 51 roundtables on a broad range of topics attended by executive branch personnel, ngo stakeholders, and the Washington policymaking community. In addition, the Institute also hosted nine virtual Policy forum panels.
Jeanette and eli reinhard program on counterterrorism and intelligence: the jeanette and eli reinhard program on counterterrorism and intelligence (cti) focuses on providing policy-relevant analysis of key terrorism and intelligence issues and trends, especially as they relate to u.s. Policy toward the middle East. The research and production plan of cti is focused on five key issue areas: (1) global jihadist movement terrorism (al qaeda, islamic state); (2) terrorism in the arab-israeli arena (hamas, palestinian islamic jihad, jewish extremists); (3) iranian sponsorship of terrorism (hezbollah, iran's revolutionary guard and qods force); (4) combating the financing of transnational threats (terror finance, proliferation finance, iran sanctions, jcpoa); (5) countering violent extremism (counter-radicalization). Over the course of 2023, the cti team produced a regular flow of timely written analyses, maintained regular contact with u.s. government officials, engaged with the media, briefed u.s. and foreign government officials, hosted both public and private events, and traveled abroad to conduct research and attend conferences.the cti program is led by dr. matthew levitt, the founding director of the program who came to the Washington Institute from the fbi, where he had served as a counterterrorism analyst and played leading roles in the investigations of the millennial bomb plot and september 11 attacks. The program also includes fellows aaron zelin, who focuses primarily on trends in global salafi jihadism, and devorah margolin, who works on issues surrounding repatriation and the impact of extremism on women and children.in addition, in 2023, 4 Institute scholars and 8 associates and consultants also contributed to the work of the cti program. Cti senior fellows appeared frequently on television and radio, especially in the months following hamas's october 7 attack on israel, and testified before congress on four occasions. The Institute published more than 38 articles/publications by program participants on its website, with many of the articles appearing in other online publication sites and news outlets.additionally, matthew levitt published season 2 (8 episodes) of the Institute podcast, "breaking hezbollah's golden rule, and both seasons combined received over 44,000 downloads between january and december 2023. The program held 7 Policy forums, 28 countering violent extremism roundtables, and 16 combating financing of terrorism roundtables. Additionally, the program launched the islamic state interactive map and made significant progress on developing the iranian external operations map, which will be released mid-2024.
The koret project on arab-israel relations: the koret project on arab-israel relations focuses on the relationship between israel and arab countries in the middle East, including the israeli-palestinian conflict. Program director, david makovsky works with ambassador dennis ross, david pollock, and ghaith al-omari and in cross-collaboration with fellows from other programs, visiting fellows, and non-resident associates.program participants appeared frequently on television and radio. The Institute published more than 55 articles/publications by program participants on its website and many of the articles also appeared on other online publication sites and news outlets. The program held an in-person strategic dialogue as well as a series of virtual mini-dialogues, 10 online Policy forums, and 11 in-house roundtables. The program also produced a podcast series and maintains an interactive website tracking jewish settlements in the west bank.
Viterbi program on iran and u.s. Policy
Glazer foundation program on great power competition and the middle East
Military and security studies program
Project fikra (arabic-english analytical and Policy exchange program)
Turkish research program
Bernstein program on gulf and energy Policy