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December 29, 2022 The Case for an India-First South Asia Strategy Against the backdrop of deepening strategic com-petition with Beijing, Washington’s attention is steadily turning to the need for a comprehensive strategy by which to engage South Asia. Less well... December 28, 2022 Why bilateralism is key to any Saudi-Israeli agreement Ahead of his victory in Israel’s election in November, Benjamin Netanyahu had been telegraphing loudly that his top priority is to pursue a peace accord with Saudi Arabia. As he put the finishing touches... December 28, 2022 Strategery 101 Last Tuesday, Volodymyr Zelensky, dressed in olive-green fatigues, made a surprise visit to Bakhmut, in the eastern region of Donetsk, where his troops are engaged in a bloody battle with Russian invaders.... December 27, 2022 Russia and China are fueling web wars to divide Americans American adversaries not only hack our computers, but they also hack our minds. As Russian oligarch and Vladimir Putin confidant Yevgeny Prigozhin openly stated in early November regarding US elections,... December 25, 2022 Tweaking the Inflation Reduction Act Can Strengthen Democracies’ Hand By all appearances, French president Emmanuel Macron’s recent visit to Washington has reknit the relationship between the United States and its oldest ally—strained when the United States and other... December 24, 2022 The Real Architects of “Russophobia” Russia has not only been weaponizing information, refugees, energy, and food crises— but also the Russophobia narrative. In a UN General Assembly speech this September, Russia’s Foreign Minister Sergey... December 23, 2022 The Alternative to Winning in Ukraine Is Endless War In his historic address before Congress on Wednesday, Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky declared a victory of sorts. Acknowledging the contributions of the United States and Europe, he said,... December 23, 2022 Patriot Missiles to Ukraine: Will Israel’s Iron Dome Follow? U.S. president Joe Biden and Ukrainian president Volodymyr Zelenskyy met Wednesday in the Oval Office, sending a clear message of resolve and unity to the Kremlin. The meeting also conveyed an important... December 22, 2022 The U.N.’s Failure in Lebanon An Irish soldier with the United Nations Interim Force in Lebanon (UNIFIL) was killed last week while on a peacekeeping mission in southern Lebanon. After taking a wrong turn, a “hostile crowd” reportedly swarmed... December 22, 2022 Ukraine and the Carol of the Bells “Carol of the Bells” is perhaps one of the most famous Christmas songs in history. It’s hard to go through a Christmas season without hearing it in stores, public squares, or even commercials.... December 21, 2022 Abdullah in the middle Some years ago, a colleague and I were in Israel, in the home of a former member of the intelligence community who maintained his international connections. Before going into his kitchen to make coffee,... December 20, 2022 ‘When You Have No Credibility … You Are in Big Trouble’: A Chinese Dissident on Xi Jinping and the Future of Protest in China In 1978, activist Wei Jingsheng became China’s most prominent dissident when he posted a signed essay — or “big character poster,” as they are called in China — on a wall in Beijing, arguing eloquently... December 19, 2022 Partisan Bills Hurt Cybersecurity Congress has had a spectacular three-year run developing and passing cybersecurity legislation that both protects our national critical infrastructure and secures our federal networks. On a bipartisan,... December 19, 2022 Washington is waking up on weapons for Taiwan The U.S. Senate voted 83-11 to pass the National Defense Authorization Act (NDAA) for fiscal year 2023 after the U.S. House of Representatives advanced the same legislation in a resounding 350-80... December 19, 2022 UNIFIL Peacekeepers Come Under Fire in Southern Lebanon, Hezbollah Denies Involvement On Dec. 14, a convoy of Irish United Nations Interim Force in Lebanon (UNFIL) peacekeepers belonging to the 121st Infantry Battalion came under fire while traveling in the southern Lebanon village of... December 19, 2022 Send the Ground-Launched Small Diameter Bomb to Ukraine The Kremlin on Dec. 13 rejected a Ukrainian peace proposal that called for Russia to withdraw its troops from Ukraine, instead insisting that Kyiv should simply accept the “new realities” and cede... December 19, 2022 Will Turkey Pay a Price for Helping Iran Break Sanctions? Yet again, Turkey has been implicated in another brazen scheme circumventing U.S. sanctions on Iran. Following an exclusive report earlier this December by Politico, Sitki Ayan, a Turkish businessman and... December 19, 2022 It’s not just the EU that needs to scrutinize Qatar’s influence campaigns Last weekend, Belgian police arrested European Parliament Vice President Eva Kaili. They are now investigating at least 10 other European Union employees and officials, and authorities have further confiscated... December 19, 2022 FTX’s Collapse Is a Win for National Security The collapse of cryptocurrency giant FTX is a net positive for U.S. national security. While we should applaud innovation and encourage responsible risk-taking, the rapid rise of barely regulated currencies... December 16, 2022 Estimating Russia’s Kh-101 Production Capacity Ukraine’s Air Force Command reported today that Russia had launched at least 76 missiles, including Kh-101 air-launched cruise missiles (ALCMs), in its latest wave of strikes against Ukrainian critical... December 16, 2022 The Iranian theocracy’s downfall is a goal worth working toward Fate is sometimes kind to America. Such merciful intervention happened last summer when Iran’s supreme leader, Ali Khamenei, rejected the Biden administration’s effort to revive former President Barack... December 15, 2022 Targeting Hamas, Israel tries to reestablish deterrence in Gaza Earlier this month, the Israeli Defense Forces sent jets into the Gaza Strip, surgically targeting Hamas military sites in the coastal enclave. The IDF operation was a response to rocket fire from Gaza... December 14, 2022 Developing a mastery of irregular warfare Excerpt The U.S. military has failed to master irregular warfare above the tactical level. This is not a new problem, and it is one that has been recognized by leaders at the most senior echelons of government.... December 14, 2022 Anything goes Extremist ideologies are proliferating, and it has become taboo in what we used to call polite society to criticize ideas that, not long ago, would have been seen as shockingly beyond the pale. These developments... December 13, 2022 German national freed in the Sahel after years of jihadist captivity Late last week, German national Jorg Lange was freed in the Sahel after spending the last four years being held by the Islamic State’s Sahel Province (more commonly known as the Islamic State in the Greater... December 13, 2022 U.S. kills Islamic State officials during raid in Syria The U.S. military killed two Islamic State “officials” during a special operations raid in eastern Syria on Dec. 11. The U.S. military has targeted the Islamic State’s top tier leadership cadre with... December 13, 2022 Germany’s Faustian entanglement with China Back in November, German Chancellor Olaf Scholz met with Chinese Communist Party (CCP) chairman Xi Jinping. His visit to China was the first by a G7 leader in three years. Facing heated domestic... December 13, 2022 The Lebanese are Living the Dream The Lebanese have long had an ideal vision for how their dysfunctional polity should be run. Their perfect arrangement involves the great power(s) — which in the past meant Europe and Russia but today... December 13, 2022 America’s Lebanese fantasy hits a road-bump For the past two years, the Biden administration has been hell-bent on getting Saudi Arabia to underwrite the US project of administering Lebanon. And for two years running, the Kingdom has refused, having... December 12, 2022 Why Iran’s Protests Could Topple the Regime Reports of the demise of Iran’s morality police were greatly exaggerated. There’s no evidence that the Interior Ministry has dissolved this force. It may have even been temporarily repurposed... December 11, 2022 Analysis: West Bank Violence Trending Upward On Thursday morning, Israeli security forces operating in Jenin came under gunfire while attempting to apprehend Ahmed Jeradat and Daajef Bages, both suspected of involvement in militant activity. During... December 11, 2022 Will the Republican’s Tilt Toward Isolationism End? Asked “which is the more hawkish party,” anyone remembering the presidencies of Richard Nixon, Ronald Reagan, George H.W. Bush and George Bush would immediately answer “the Republicans.”... December 9, 2022 From fentanyl to overfishing, China’s corruption demands legislative action Leading global anti-corruption activists and policymakers are meeting in Washington this week to explore new ways to address global corruption challenges. Their timing couldn’t be better. Corruption exacerbates... December 8, 2022 Losing an arms race with China is much worse than competing in one The Pentagon’s annual China Military Power Report published last Tuesday makes clear that Beijing is sprinting to ensure the People’s Liberation Army (PLA) possesses the military means to conquer... December 7, 2022 How ‘MacGyver’ magic can get Taiwan its Harpoon defenses faster The Pentagon has a problem. The Defense Department report last month on the Chinese military makes clear that Beijing is sprinting to develop the means it would need to conquer Taiwan. Unfortunately,... December 7, 2022 The Russian oil debacle The looming Russian oil price “cap” has all the hallmarks of a historic debacle in the making. For months, the United States and the G-7 have haggled over a complex plan to constrain the money... December 7, 2022 Xi’s struggle It’s become common to speak of the “U.S.-China rivalry” or the “U.S.-China competition” – phrases that suggest a game, something like the World Cup, with one nation winning today and another... December 6, 2022 Time for the Biden Administration to Clip the Wings of Iran’s Propaganda Machine On December 8, 2020, the U.S. Department of the Treasury sanctioned Al Mustafa International University in Qom, Iran, the principal institution recruiting, indoctrinating, and training foreign converts... December 5, 2022 No, Iran didn’t ban morality police — it duped press, and Biden administration For a few hours this past weekend, the world’s leading state sponsor of terrorism pulled off a global disinformation operation to undermine a popular revolt, falsely suggesting the regime in Tehran had... December 5, 2022 Will Bibi Make the Left’s Nightmares Come True? It’s Never Happened Before Translated from Hebrew ... December 5, 2022 China has a cyberspace campaign plan. Does Washington? Ransomware payments are estimated to have cost U.S. companies more than $1 billion in 2021, according to the Treasury Department . But that staggering figure pales in comparison to the hundreds of billions... December 5, 2022 How the US can drain China’s brain The prospect of a military conflict with the United States is not what keeps Chinese leader Xi Jinping up at night. Instead, Xi fears an American technology blockade will derail his country’s development,... December 2, 2022 The Twitter Ban That Would Make Musk a Hero Left-wing influencers, activist groups and corporate executives are up in arms over Elon Musk’s announcement that Twitter has lifted its ban on former President Donald Trump. Musk argues he’s... December 1, 2022 What is missing from America’s China policy? Democrats and Republicans may agree on the threats associated with the rise of China. But Washington is abysmal at helping America’s allies navigate this new great power competition. Washington has consistently... December 1, 2022 The Quiet War between Israel and Iran A major war has been underway for a decade in the Middle East though it infrequently makes headlines. Month after month, week after week, and night after night, the Israelis have operated across the region... November 30, 2022 Xi Jinping in His Own Words In October, at 20th National Party Congress of the Chinese Communist Party (CCP), General Secretary Xi Jinping set himself up for another decade as China’s most powerful leader since Mao Zedong,... November 30, 2022 Americans are climate criminals and must pay Three weeks ago, I warned you, dear reader, that the “climate summit” getting underway at the chic Egyptian seaside resort of Sharm El-Sheikh was up to no good. But the 12-day-long 27th Conference of... November 29, 2022 Indecent exposure in critical supply chains In 2016, China’s Hefei Province launched a high-profile but cryptic and closely guarded industrial project: The “506 Project.” It leveraged some 54 billion RMB of provincial funds, backed... November 28, 2022 Taliban ends ceasefire with Pakistani government, vows ‘revenge attacks’ across the country The Movement of the Taliban in Pakistan has officially ended its six month-long ceasefire with the Pakistani government. Mufti Muzahim, the “Minister of Defense” of the Movement of the Taliban in Pakistan... November 28, 2022 Another long hotel siege ends in Mogadishu Somali forces have finally ended yet another long hotel siege in Somalia’s capital of Mogadishu, almost twenty four hours after it began. The siege, which was upon the Villa Rays Hotel just meters from...

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