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October 8, 2026 Back-to-Back Drone Strikes off the Coasts of Romania and Bulgaria Test NATO’s Resolve Within 24 hours, drones struck commercial ships near two NATO members: a Turkish-owned grain ship near Romania and two vessels in Bulgaria’s exclusive economic zone (EEZ). Neither Bucharest nor Sofia... October 7, 2026 The Mecca Pact Won’t Deter Yemen’s Houthis Less than two months after its signing, Pakistan, Turkey, and Saudi Arabia activated the Mecca Pact for the first time. On October 5, during an emergency meeting held in Riyadh, the three countries... October 7, 2026 Europe’s Hardening Stance Against China Is Washington’s Opportunity Europe is beginning to confront the economic costs of China’s market-distorting practices in earnest. On October 7, the European Parliament voted overwhelmingly to adopt a much tougher stance on China.... October 7, 2026 Yemen’s Internationally Recognized Government Launches a Serious Challenge to the Houthis The Iran-backed Houthis march down Yemen’s west coast looked easy, but holding the territory is proving more difficult. Yemen’s internationally recognized government began Operation “Dawn of Yemen”—... October 7, 2026 Turkey Maintains Extensive Presence in Iraq Despite Forthcoming Withdrawal From Key Base After 11 years of Turkish military presence, Ankara and Baghdad have agreed that Turkish troops will gradually withdraw from the Bashiqa-Zilkan camp in northern Iraq, though no firm timeline has been set. This... October 6, 2026 Treasury Sanctioned a Hamas Crowdfunding Network. Its French Front Should Be Next. U.S. and French authorities have moved against a Hamas fundraising network that allegedly raised more than $600,000 from American donors. The harder task is keeping it from rebuilding. On October 2,... October 6, 2026 Treasury Launches Assault on Russian Shadow Banking Infrastructure Supporting Iran Operation Economic Outcast has found a new target: the A7 Network. On October 1, Treasury’s Office of Foreign Assets Control (OFAC) designated the Russia-linked shadow-banking platform as a transnational... October 5, 2026 Federal Grant Program’s Third Lapse Endangers State Cybersecurity U.S. states are once again being left with limited access to cybersecurity resources as funding for the federal government’s State and Local Cybersecurity Grant Program (SLCGP) lapsed on September 30.... October 2, 2026 Defense Department’s Public Election Security Directive Sends Important, but Belated, Signal to U.S. Adversaries With the U.S. midterm elections fast approaching, the Department of Defense (DOD) has released an apparently unprecedented directive on election security. The directive, signed by the secretary of defense... October 2, 2026 Russian Cyberespionage Campaign Signals U.S. Should Fast-Track Lessons Learned From Ukraine Russia is testing its cyber weapons in Ukraine before turning them against the United States and its allies. Microsoft has disclosed that the Russian intelligence-linked hacking group Star Blizzard... October 1, 2026 Washington Decides Complete Ban on Iran-Iraq Flights Is Not Worth the Political Cost Iraq has received another carve out in Iran-related sanctions. After U.S. Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent said that “all the Iranian airlines will be shut down around the world,” all flights between... September 30, 2026 UN Human Rights Council, European Governments Launch Economic Warfare Against Israel International opprobrium towards the presence of Israeli communities in Judea and Samaria, commonly known as the West Bank, is discernibly shifting from rhetorical condemnation to economic and legal warfare. Three... September 29, 2026 China Is the Last Major Runway Open to Iran’s Sanctioned Airlines Mahan Air, which Washington sanctioned in 2011 for ferrying weapons and operatives for the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps, is still landing in China. On September 23, hours after the U.S. Treasury Department’s... September 29, 2026 Two Years After Nasrallah’s Death, Hezbollah Is Outsourcing its Survival and Revival Two years after Israel assassinated Hassan Nasrallah, Hezbollah finds itself commemorating its dead leader from a weaker position. Israel has killed thousands of Hezbollah... September 28, 2026 Sanctioned Iranian Airlines Keep Flying to Turkey Fear of U.S. sanctions has helped stop Iranian airlines from operating in Iraq, the United Arab Emirates, and Oman. But in Turkey, Iranian planes are still flying. Flights from Iran continue to arrive... September 28, 2026 Leaked Roadmap Shows How Moscow Is Institutionalizing Ties With Iran Russia is transforming its partnership with Iran from a series of bilateral projects into a state-managed strategic portfolio. A nonpublic Russian government roadmap, revealed by Fox News Digital on September... September 25, 2026 Weak Sanctions Enforcement Is Fueling China’s ‘Polar Silk Road’ To be effective, American sanctions must be enforced wherever they apply — including in the High North. Early in September, two U.S.-sanctioned vessels left China carrying the last two power... September 24, 2026 New Greenland Agreement Adds Sites, Not Strategy. NATO and NORAD Must Now Connect the Arctic. Greenland is warming to the idea of an increased American military presence on the enormous Island, removing a source of transatlantic friction and bolstering NATO defenses. On September 22, the United... September 24, 2026 Is Turkey Turning on Tehran or Just Dodging the Treasury Department? Turkey’s top banking regulator withdrew the operating license of the Istanbul branch of Iran’s Bank Mellat, a major Iranian commercial bank with state ties that has long been subject to U.S. sanctions. While... September 24, 2026 Zelenskyy Proposes an ‘Energy Ceasefire,’ Hoping To Secure Patriot Interceptors Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy proposed a reciprocal “energy ceasefire” with Russia during his meeting with President Donald Trump at the UN General Assembly. The move suggested a calculated... September 23, 2026 Iraq Delays Militia Disarmament, But Doesn’t Give Up — For Now Iraqi Prime Minister Ali al-Zaidi has reiterated his commitment to disarm Iranian-backed militias in his country, but says he needs nine more months to accomplish what may be an impossible task. In... September 23, 2026 The Muslim Brotherhood Still Controls Jordan’s Rebranded Ummah Party The political wing of the Jordanian Muslim Brotherhood (MB) elected a new leader over the weekend. The Ummah Party elected Muath al-Khawaldeh as secretary general at its seventh general conference, defeating... September 23, 2026 Maritime Cyber Incidents Test Coast Guard Cyber Preparedness The Coast Guard and the FBI are investigating multiple suspected cyberattacks on oil tankers that have disrupted trade routes throughout the Atlantic Ocean. On August 7, an oil tanker bound for the United... September 18, 2026 Tehran’s Transnational Repression Strategy Is Evolving The United States, the United Kingdom, and the Netherlands have exposed an Iranian regime spyware campaign targeting Iranian dissidents around the world. In a September 15 advisory, they warned... September 18, 2026 Letting the Houthis Control the Red Sea Coast Would Be a Gift to Tehran What happened to not negotiating with terrorists? American officials met with a Houthi delegation in Oman in the days after the Iran-backed group’s advance on Yemen’s west coast, which... September 16, 2026 Russia Is Practicing Attacks on Undersea Cables in the Arctic. The Consequences Could Reach Space. Hidden underneath the frigid Arctic waters, Moscow is rehearsing attacks on allied infrastructure. According to a September 10 Reuters report, U.S., UK, and Norwegian forces disrupted a covert... September 15, 2026 Syria’s Fuel Protests Expose the Limits of Its Economic Recovery “We don’t want new roundabouts or malls. We just want to live.” That was the message from one protester in Aleppo as demonstrations over soaring fuel prices spread across Syria on September... September 15, 2026 Countering Chinese AI Distillation: The Case for Federal Action China’s AI models are improving quickly, but it’s not all through innovation. Much of the progress is thanks to stolen American tech. On September 8, the Cybersecurity and Infrastructure Security Agency... September 14, 2026 IAEA Ends Syria’s Nuclear Noncompliance Finding A unanimous vote by the International Atomic Energy Agency’s (IAEA’s) Board of Governors on September 9 formally ended consideration of Syria’s nuclear noncompliance. The decision followed cooperation by... September 11, 2026 Israel Razes Hilltop Hezbollah Stronghold, Securing Buffer Zone in South Lebanon After a siege lasting nearly three months, Israeli forces are now in control of a strategic hilltop in southern Lebanon dubbed Iran’s “second front” against the Jewish state. The Ali al-Taher... September 11, 2026 U.S. Space Command Is Testing Maneuver Warfare To Prepare for Next Generation of Fighting It won’t look like a dogfight from Star Wars or Battlestar Galactica, but in a future war, U.S. satellites may need to maneuver to survive. Space Command (SPACECOM) is practicing the right way to do... September 10, 2026 U.S. Sanctions on Iranian Aviation Should Be Followed by Operational Isolation Washington first tightened the chokehold on Tehran at sea and is now extending it to the skies. On September 8, the U.S. Department of the Treasury sanctioned all 27 remaining active Iranian airlines... September 10, 2026 The UK Sanctions Hezbollah’s Shadow Bank. Lebanon Should Shut It Down. The United Kingdom has put Hezbollah’s shadow bank in its crosshairs. On September 8, British Foreign Secretary Ed Miliband announced sanctions on “Lebanese Hezbollah’s financing arm, al-Qard al-Hassan... September 10, 2026 IAEA Refers Iran’s Nuclear File to UN Security Council In the first such action in 20 years, the International Atomic Energy Agency’s (IAEA’s) Board of Governors voted to refer Iran’s noncompliance with its nuclear nonproliferation obligations to the... September 9, 2026 Israel-UK Relations Nosedive as Foreign Secretary Announces Punitive Measures Bilateral relations between Israel and the United Kingdom have plummeted to depths unseen in the decades since the sunset of the British mandate over Palestine in May 1948. In a September 8 announcement to... September 9, 2026 Yes, China’s State-Owned Shipping Giant Is Spying on the United States COSCO’s cover is blown. On September 1, Reuters reported that the Chinese state-owned shipping giant — one of the largest maritime services companies in the world — uses equipment concealed aboard... September 8, 2026 China’s Push for Transport Integration Could Expand Beijing’s Control of Central Asian Trade Routes A new front in the U.S.-China competition is taking shape along the Middle Corridor, the critical trade route linking China and Europe while bypassing Russia and Iran. This corridor, also known as the... September 4, 2026 Eyeing Russia and Iran, Berlin and Jerusalem Share Naval Capabilities Amid acts of Russian sabotage throughout Europe, NATO announced Wednesday that Germany completed a test launch of an Israeli-made ballistic missile in the North Atlantic. The test followed Tuesday’s... September 4, 2026 Saudi Nuclear Deal Raises Concern Over Diluted U.S. Nonproliferation Standards In a notable loosening of decades of U.S. nonproliferation practice, the bilateral nuclear cooperation agreement between the United States and Saudi Arabia now being reviewed by Congress would open the... September 2, 2026 The U.S. Rare Earth Playbook Provides a Blueprint for Supply Chain Securitization Washington is arming itself against weaponization of rare-earth-element supply chains. On August 24, the Department of Defense’s Economic Defense Unit (EDU) announced a $750 million offtake agreement... September 1, 2026 Treasury Sanctioned Palestinian Terror Group Masar Badil. Its Allies Should Be the Next Targets. Sanctioning a terrorist front accomplishes little if the same network can operate through the work of its allies. On August 26, the U.S. Treasury Department’s Office of Foreign Assets Control (OFAC)... August 28, 2026 Economic Pressure on Iran Is Working, But Washington Still Needs an Endgame Iran’s confinement to a no-war, no-peace limbo may soon produce Washington’s opening. Gas stations across Iran are facing miles-long queues, with people waiting for hours only to find stations closed... August 28, 2026 Trump Administration Sends Secretive U.S.-Saudi Nuclear Deal to Congress for Review The Trump administration appears poised to upend long-standing U.S. policy restricting the spread of nuclear fuel-making technologies. It has transmitted a U.S.-Saudi nuclear cooperation agreement to... August 27, 2026 Iraq’s Growing Oil Exports Through Basra Should Not Become an Asset for Iran Basra, Iraq’s oil export hub perched on the Persian Gulf, is busier than it has been since conflict between the United States and Iran began in February. According to Bloomberg, satellite imagery... August 27, 2026 Taiwan’s Chip Smuggling Case Shows Promise for Allied Export Control Enforcement In a world of globalized supply chains, enforcing export controls is also a globalized effort. On August 24, Taiwan charged nine individuals in a scheme to smuggle Super Micro servers containing Nvidia... August 27, 2026 Moscow Targets U.S.-Backed Projects as Armenia Moves West Although Moscow failed to swing Armenia’s June elections in its favor, it continues to stir the pot in Yerevan, aiming to thwart Armenia’s turn toward the West. A new report from cybersecurity company... August 27, 2026 Operation Economic Outcast’s Success Depends on Aggressive, Sustained Enforcement First there was the maximum pressure campaign during President Trump’s first term. Then came Operation Economic Fury in April 2026. Now, with Operation Economic Outcast, the Trump administration is launching... August 26, 2026 The Lebanese Government Ordered Iran’s Would-Be Ambassador Out. Then Another Part Let Him Stay. Lebanon ordered Iran’s ambassador-designate out in March. Five months later, he remains in Beirut — with at least six more months of legal residence. Mohammad Reza Sheibani was rejected for political... August 25, 2026 Treasury Says Iran Controls Hezbollah. Lebanon Is Still Responsible. Washington has potentially raised the cost of doing business with Hezbollah by formally tying the group to Iran under U.S. sanctions law. On Thursday, August 20, the Treasury Department’s Office... August 24, 2026 Fresh Off Major Defense Drills, Taiwan Proposes Record Military Spending Taiwan is doubling down on a double-digit increase in baseline defense spending. On August 20, Taiwanese President Lai Ching-te proposed an 18 percent increase in baseline defense spending for the coming...

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