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September 2, 2022 After Mar-a-Lago Raid, Conspiracy Theories Rage on Left, Too “When will it sink in that MAGA was an Op and Trump is a spy?” asks Emmy award-winning investigative reporter Heidi Cuda after the Federal Bureau of Information search of Mar-a-Lago. Her comment underscores... September 2, 2022 Iraq heading for civil war; US must not take advantage Ten months after Iraq’s pro-Iran bloc was soundly defeated in parliamentary elections, and less than a week after Shia cleric Muqtada al-Sadr announced his retirement from political life, a stalemate... September 1, 2022 The option that should have been taken in Afghanistan One year after the Biden administration’s chaotic exit from Afghanistan, the results are undeniable. The country has become a haven for Al Qaeda and other terrorist groups. The Taliban is as oppressive... August 31, 2022 Why Washington should provide ATACMS weapons to Ukraine The Ukrainian military announced the beginning of a much-anticipated counteroffensive on Monday, aiming to retake territory in the country’s south. Western weapons, which have helped Ukraine strike... August 31, 2022 Pelosi’s promise Speaker of the House Nancy Pelosi cares deeply about the people of Taiwan as she has throughout her long career. That’s my story and I’m going to try my darnedest to stick to it as I write this column. Her... August 30, 2022 How American Lawyers and Accountants Help Fuel the War in Ukraine To punish the oligarchs funding Russia’s invasion of Ukraine, America and its allies are seizing their yachts, Park Avenue penthouses, and corporate assets hidden overseas. But Russian business magnates... August 30, 2022 Russia Continues Meddling in the Balkans On August 26, Serbia and Kosovo signed an agreement settling a dispute over the movement of citizens across their borders after more than a month of high tensions. Josep Borrell, European Union (EU) foreign... August 30, 2022 Turkey’s Latest Move to Undermine NATO Turkey is at again, a NATO ally not acting like one. It’s admittedly not exactly new behavior for Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan, but the actions over the last two weeks have been particularly... August 29, 2022 One year after U.S. withdrawal, resistance to Taliban rule grows One year after the United States’ chaotic withdrawal from Afghanistan, resistance to the Taliban’s brutal regime has organized in northern Afghanistan and is beginning to challenge the Taliban’s... August 29, 2022 Rafael Grossi Is the Last Man Standing For Nonproliferation “Grossi is still the main obstacle to the finalization” of a nuclear deal between Iran and six world powers, proclaimed Nour News, an outlet frequently used by Iran’s supreme leader for unofficial... August 26, 2022 Israel may need a paradigm shift on Iran During President Joe Biden’s visit, the most difficult task was explaining to him the dangers posed by returning to the 2015 nuclear deal. Not surprisingly, Israel failed miserably in this effort... August 25, 2022 How the Salman Rushdie Fatwa Changed the World Excerpt Apart from Iran’s Islamic revolution, for which Ayatollah Ruhollah Khomeini could claim only partial credit, his most momentous achievement was the February 1989 fatwa against author Salman... August 25, 2022 Avoiding empty cockpits: Addressing the Air Force’s pilot shortage problem Beijing demonstrated its growing military strength this month as the People’s Liberation Army conducted large-scale air and naval exercises around Taiwan and even fired missiles over the island. Eyeing... August 25, 2022 The Use Of Human Shields Is A War Crime. America Must Hold Terrorists Accountable Palestinian Islamic Jihad (PIJ), the Gaza-based terrorist organization, repeatedly used civilians to shield its fighters and rockets from Israeli airstrikes during clashes earlier this month. The use of... August 25, 2022 Palestine 194 Distracts from Abbas’ Despotism Mahmoud Abbas visited Germany last week to build international support for the Palestine 194 campaign—an attempt to achieve Palestinian statehood via UN approval rather than negotiating with Israel.... August 24, 2022 Abandoning Afghanistan The terrorist attacks of Sept. 11, 2001 changed the lives of many Americans, mine among them. Enlisting in the military wasn’t an option. But I was given the chance to set up a research institution on... August 23, 2022 Putin Puts Europe Into an Energy Vise So Tight That Some Countries Are Chopping Wood After six months of war in Ukraine, President Putin’s military offensive has stalled. Now, as winter looms, Mr. Putin is aggressively playing the energy card. Russia is deliberately deepening Europe’s... August 23, 2022 Time for Taiwan to be called Taiwan It’s August in Pennsylvania. That means kids across the commonwealth are getting ready to return to school. But a talented few from Hollidaysburg are too busy to sharpen their pencils just yet: They’re... August 23, 2022 The Lesson of Pelosi’s Taiwan Visit: Win The Production Battle, Win the War On August 2, in retaliation for House Speaker Nancy Pelosi’s Taiwan visit, China announced “targeted” drills and missile tests around the island. Two days later, China’s People’s Liberation... August 23, 2022 Washington wins as Turkey and Israel restore normal ties Last week, Turkey and Israel announced that they would normalize their diplomatic relations and exchange ambassadors and consuls for the first time since 2018. The announcement follows a series of recent... August 23, 2022 Qatar speaks from both sides of its mouth United States President Joe Biden thanked the emir of Qatar this month for his role in brokering a ceasefire between Israel and Palestinian Islamic Jihad (PIJ) in Gaza. Since then, the emir and his court... August 22, 2022 Amnesty Report Endangers Ukrainian Civilians Russia may have banned Amnesty International in April for reporting on Russian atrocities, but the human rights group’s August 4 report, titled “Ukrainian fighting tactics endanger civilians,”... August 22, 2022 Taliban circulates video of Haqqanis plotting 2010 suicide raid against U.S. troops A video showing deputy Taliban emir and interior minister Sirajuddin Haqqani and other top terrorist commanders finishing preparations for a large scale suicide assault against U.S. forces based in the... August 21, 2022 Analysis: Thirty hour long hotel siege emblematic of Somalia’s remaining security challenges On Friday, Shabaab, al Qaeda’s branch in East Africa, launched a coordinated suicide assault on the Hayat Hotel in Somalia’s capital of Mogadishu. Almost 30 hours later it was ended by Somali security... August 21, 2022 Taliban Appoints Former Guantanamo Bay Detainee to Lead Fight in Panjshir The Taliban named Mullah Abdul Qayyum Zakir as its military commander in the restive central Afghan province of Panjshir. Zakir, who was held at the Guantanamo Bay Detention Facility for six years, is... August 21, 2022 Kremlin Claims Monkeypox Could Be a Secret U.S. Bioweapon There’s a lot we don’t know about how monkeypox, which had been prevalent in parts of Africa but only started infecting people in the United States and Europe this spring, is spreading. Yet the Russian... August 20, 2022 Turkey’s Erdogan Is Down But Not Out Observers of Turkish politics are fixated on the likelihood of Turkey’s next presidential elections being free and fair. The election, which has to be held before July 2023, is widely perceived to be... August 19, 2022 The Easy Way To Reset Saudi Ties: Sanction The Houthis Again President Biden’s travel to Saudi Arabia last month yielded little improvement in the relationship between the Biden administration and the Saudi government under Crown Prince Muhammed Bin Salman. Distrust... August 18, 2022 The Republic of Fatwas Last week, a Shiite American of Lebanese origin, 24-year-old Hadi Matar, attempted to murder the Indian-born British-American author Salman Rushdie. Matar’s social media posts display staunch support... August 17, 2022 Iran’s policy toward the Caucasus and Central Asia Excerpt Much of the analysis on Iranian foreign policy focuses on both Iran’s positonality in relation to the Middle East, and its claim to the mantle of Shia Islamic leadership. However, a more detailed... August 17, 2022 US picks up pace of airstrikes in Somalia Since resuming military activity inside Somalia earlier this year, the Biden Administration has ramped up the pace of airstrikes in the Horn of Africa country in recent weeks. Since June 3, the US has conducted... August 17, 2022 Beat the press Hamas, the Muslim Brotherhood branch that rules Gaza, sat out this month’s conflict between Israel and Palestinian Islamic Jihad, a smaller Gaza-based terrorist group tied to Iran’s rulers. But, perhaps... August 17, 2022 US must arm Ukraine now, before it’s too late Excerpt Nearly 20 of our fellow experts and national security professionals — whose digital signatures appear at the end of this op-ed — agree: The war in Ukraine has reached a decisive moment and that... August 16, 2022 How Nancy Pelosi’s Taiwan Gambit Backfired History is replete with unintended consequences, few of which mattered much. Not so in the case of U.S. House Speaker Nancy Pelosi’s recent layover in Taipei, Taiwan’s capital. The trip, which garnered rare... August 15, 2022 Sogavare staging a coup with Chinese characteristics Excerpt Last week dignitaries, including US ambassador to Australia, Caroline Kennedy, gathered for a dawn ceremony on Bloody Ridge in Solomon Islands to commemorate the 80th anniversary of the start of... August 15, 2022 A victorious Taliban is inspiring a new generation of Islamic extremists On May 15, 1989, the Soviet army withdrew from Afghanistan. The Soviets, who had been slugging it out for 10 years with Islamist fighters, finally threw in the towel. The withdrawal was immediately hailed... August 15, 2022 What Qatar Owes Afghanistan’s Refugees Excerpt A year after the Biden administration’s disastrous withdrawal from Afghanistan, the refugee crisis is only worsening. By the end of last year, 3.5 million people had been displaced within Afghanistan’s... August 15, 2022 Islamic State conducts second major prison break in Congo On Aug. 10, jihadists belonging to the Allied Democratic Forces (ADF), the local name for the Islamic State’s Central Africa Province (ISCAP), raided the central prison in the eastern Congolese city of... August 15, 2022 Israel Is Learning a Better Way to Deal with Gaza Excerpt In a series of repeating images, it is the small and subtle differences that tell the true story. This week’s spate of violence in and around the Gaza Strip mostly resembles the previous rounds—in... August 14, 2022 We Must Bring About A Free And Unified Korea Good morning. I would like to thank all the organizers, sponsors, contributors, and participants in this great event and for the opportunity to be among such distinguished speakers and leaders. Dr. Hyun-jin... August 14, 2022 Why Palestinian Islamic Jihad Rockets Kill So Many Palestinians As a pioneer of suicide bombings, Palestinian Islamic Jihad has long made clear its willingness to kill Palestinians in order to kill Israelis. The latest surge of fighting across the Gaza Strip border... August 13, 2022 Right to vote being snatched from Solomon Islanders by PRC-backed PM On 8 August, dignitaries, including US Ambassador to Australia, Caroline Kennedy, gathered for a dawn ceremony on Bloody Ridge in Solomon Islands to commemorate the 80th anniversary of the start of the... August 13, 2022 Rushdie attack reveals — again — true nature of Iranian regime Excerpt On Feb. 14, 1989, Supreme Leader of the Islamic Republic of Iran Ayatollah Ruhollah Khomeini issued a fatwa, or edict, condemning author Salman Rushdie to death for blasphemy. Rushdie had recently... August 12, 2022 Time to Sanction the Kremlin’s Ministry of Truth Last March, the U.S. Department of Treasury announced sanctions against Russian intelligence-directed media outlets. While blocking outlets with clear ties to intelligence services was a step in the... August 11, 2022 Totalitarians Inc. Are Russia and Iran forging a strategic alliance? Vladimir Putin’s recent trip to Tehran for a trilateral summit with Iranian leaders and Turkey’s President Recep Tayyip Erdogan suggests so. As... August 10, 2022 The ‘forever war’ against the West Just under a year ago, President Biden asked this question: “What interest do we have in Afghanistan at this point with al Qaeda gone?” Just over a week ago, he provided an answer. On his order, two... August 10, 2022 Five Minutes from Disaster “We stand five minutes or five seconds from the finish line,” declared Russian envoy Mikhail Ulyanov on Sunday to reporters camped outside renewed Iran nuclear negotiations in Vienna. But if reports... August 9, 2022 Time for Israel to pivot away from Beijing The recent tensions between the United States and the People’s Republic of China over Nancy Pelosi’s visit to Taiwan could further deteriorate into open conflict. Israel cannot take a direct role... August 9, 2022 Senior Pakistani Taliban leader reportedly killed in Afghanistan Omar Khalid Khurasani, a virulent senior leader of a dangerous faction of the Movement of the Taliban in Pakistan called Jamaat-ul-Ahrar, was reportedly killed in a roadside bombing in eastern Pakistan... August 8, 2022 Understanding That Weakness Is Provocative Is Deterrence 101 Last week Xi Jinping directed his armed forces to surround Taiwan and carry out live fire exercises; in addition, Chinese forces carried out a series of ballistic missile launches, five of which overflew...

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