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January 1, 2025 Islamic State release highlights the foreign-fighter nature of its recent assault in Somalia A day after the Islamic State Somalia’s (ISS) brazen suicide assault against a Puntland military base—its most audacious attack to date in Somalia—the jihadist group released images of the men it... January 1, 2025 American greatness requires great military power The end of the Cold War brought no tickertape parades. But after the Berlin Wall fell in 1989, the U.S. and its European allies began taking a “peace dividend.” Why spend money on soldiers and guns... December 31, 2024 Puntland forces repel Islamic State suicide assault Earlier today, the Puntland Security Forces (PSF), the armed forces of Somalia’s northern Puntland region, announced thwarting a major assault on a PSF base. Unusually, the attack was not carried out... December 31, 2024 Israeli forces in southern Lebanon dismantle more Hezbollah sites The Israel Defense Forces (IDF) continued combing through southern Lebanon to dismantle Hezbollah sites and extract weapons and munitions from villages and hilly terrain near the Israeli border. These... December 31, 2024 Profiles of new Syrian military leadership On December 21, Abu Mohammad Jolani, also known as Ahmad al Sharaa, convened a meeting with numerous leaders of Syrian armed factions and local figures to discuss plans for unifying these militias into... December 31, 2024 Assad’s Syria manipulated the region, will the new Syria do the same? The Assad regime was able to stay in power over the last two years by playing countries against eachother and balancing itself between powerful countries such as Turkey, Iran, Israel and Russia.... December 31, 2024 Houthis, Hezbollah threaten Israel with ongoing war Despite a ceasefire in Lebanon and Israeli and US-led Coalition strikes on the Houthis in Yemen, both groups appear undeterred from further attacks. The situations are different. The Houthis are... December 31, 2024 Russia enters 2025 at a crossroads in a post-Assad Middle East Russia is at a crossroads in the Middle East, having lost its Syrian ally with the fall of the Bashar al-Assad regime. Now Moscow is looking to shift its forces from Syria to other places. One... December 30, 2024 Multi-month battle for Jabaliya underscores Israel’s security challenge in northern Gaza The Israel Defense Forces (IDF) eliminated “dozens” of terrorists in the northern Gaza area of Jabaliya overnight between December 29 and December 30. The militants were killed in... December 29, 2024 Syria’s Rebel Leader Is No Moderate Once head of al Qaeda’s branch in Syria, Abu Mohammed al-Jawlani is now the most powerful man in the country. He is leader of Hayat Tahrir al-Sham, the U.S.-designated... December 29, 2024 IDF clears hospital of terrorists, launches new raid in Beit Hanoun The Israel Defense Forces (IDF) detained over 240 suspected terrorists in an operation at the Kamal Adwan Hospital in northern Gaza. The raid was completed over the weekend on December 28 after the Israeli... December 29, 2024 Australia vies with China to turn the Solomons into a police state In August, Australian Prime Minister Anthony Albanese was caught on camera talking to Kurt Campbell about Canberra’s newly announced Pacific Policing Initiative. Canberra had long wanted to reshape Pacific... December 29, 2024 Pro-Iran militias in Iraq may move away from Syria border Pro-Iranian militias in Iraq may move away from the Syrian border after years of using the area to move into Syria and smuggle weapons to pro-Iran groups there, according to a recent report. This... December 28, 2024 Iran’s waning influence in the Arab world The League of Arab States, based in Cairo and comprising 22 nations, issued a pointed rebuke of Iran’s ambitions in Syria on December 26, stating, “The Arab League rejects the recent Iranian... December 27, 2024 Energy crisis has Iran on the brink — and hands Trump a historic opportunity “Fools” flocking to the “scent of kebab”: That’s how Iranian Supreme Leader Ali Khamenei recently described audiences abroad who sense an opportunity to support Iran’s people against their... December 27, 2024 Israel strikes Houthi targets after ballistic missile attacks on Israel The Israel Defense Forces (IDF) carried out a new round of airstrikes targeting the Iranian-backed Houthis in Yemen on December 26. The strikes are the latest attempt by Israel to deter the Houthis from... December 27, 2024 Turkey and JNIM: Jihadist messaging signals possible conflict between two ascending forces in the central Sahel After years of Turkey progressively asserting its position in the central Sahel, recent months have seen Jamaat Nusrat al Islam wal Muslimin (The Group for Support of Islam and Muslims, JNIM), Al Qaeda’s... December 26, 2024 Shabaab announces the death of senior official Mohamed Mire Earlier today, Shabaab, Al Qaeda’s branch for East Africa, publicly announced the death of Mohamed Mire, one of the group’s senior-most officials. The jihadist group stated that Mire was killed in... December 26, 2024 Removing Hamas from central Gaza is the key to removing its leverage Recent reports indicate that Hamas has once again made a hostage deal impossible. This is because it continues to believe it is winning the war. This would seem impossible, given that the IDF... December 26, 2024 Projecting strength and tolerance: New Syrian gov’t faces biggest test yet A night of protests and the sight of armed men roaming the streets of several areas of Syria have provided the new Syrian government with its biggest challenge since it took power on December... December 25, 2024 The Curious Case of Iran’s Destroyed Nuclear Site On October 26 2024, the day after Israel conducted a massive counterstrike against Iranian missile and military sites, open-source sleuths noticed something strange: A building was unexpectedly missing... December 25, 2024 ‘Gazafication’: The terror threat in northern West Bank is growing Israel and the Palestinian Authority are facing growing terror threats in the northern West Bank. While this has been the case for the last two years, several recent incidents point to a... December 25, 2024 What do the Houthis hope to achieve as they lash out on Israel? The Iranian-backed Houthis upped their attacks on Israel this past month, having carried out four ballistic missile attacks over 10 days. The attacks now appear to be increasing to a point where... December 25, 2024 How Trump can reset the US-Qatar relationship There was diplomatic whiplash when President-elect Trump’s transition team reportedly instructed Qatar to summon Hamas leaders back to Doha. Only last month, reports... December 25, 2024 A letter to the Polish foreign minister Dear Your Excellency, Radosław Sikorski, Foreign Minister of the Republic of Poland:Or do you mind if I just call you Radek? We don’t know each other well, but we’ve met, and you’ve been... December 24, 2024 Israel and the US know that only sustained bombing will stamp out the Houthis’ threat On December 22 a US warplane was shot down by an American ship in an incident of friendly fire. The F/A-18 Super Hornet was flying from the USS Harry Truman when it was engaged by the guided-missile cruiser... December 23, 2024 Three Israeli soldiers killed by an IED in northern Gaza Three Israeli soldiers were killed by an improvised explosive device (IED) in Beit Hanoun, the Israel Defense Forces (IDF) said on December 23. The deaths come as the IDF continues operations in northern... December 23, 2024 Iranian-backed militias in Iraq may stop attacking Israel Iranian-backed militias in Iraq have been attacking Israel for a year, since October 7, 2023, initiating attacks almost immediately after the Hamas attack, first targeting US forces in Syria and Iraq... December 23, 2024 Khamenei’s Brilliant Failure On October 6, 2023, the Islamic Republic’s supreme leader, Ali Khamenei, could have done a tour d’horizon of the Middle East and been proud. His anti-Israeli/anti-American battle plan was... December 22, 2024 US removes $10 million reward for Hayat Tahrir al Sham leader The US State Department removed the $10 million reward for Abu Mohammad al Jolani, the Specially Designated Global Terrorist who leads Haytat Tahrir al Sham (HTS), which State describes as an Al Qaeda... December 22, 2024 The Islamic State and Iran remain determined to attack the US Despite the recent successes of federal law enforcement agencies, the number of attempted attacks underscores these adversaries’ determination. Since the October 8 arrest of an Afghan man... December 22, 2024 Israeli defense minister vows to prevent Hezbollah’s return to the border Israeli Defense Minister Israel Katz visited Israel Defense Forces (IDF) troops in southern Lebanon on December 22. He said that Israel had defanged Hezbollah, comparing the Iranian-backed organization... December 20, 2024 The Options We Face in Syria – And What’s Good for Israel The collapse of the Assad regime in Syria in the face of rebel groups, primarily Hayat Tahrir al-Sham headed by Abu Mohammad Al-Jolani, constitutes a... December 20, 2024 Russia announces plans to form Unmanned Systems Forces On Monday, Russian Defense Minister Andrei Belousov unveiled plans to form a new military branch focused on unmanned systems. His announcement, which follows a similar Ukrainian move earlier... December 20, 2024 Turkey’s Overreach in Syria: Erdogan Is ‘Playing with Fire’ In a recent Foreign Policy article, Steven Cook and I highlighted how Turkey may be overplaying its hand in Syria. With events evolving rapidly, it seems that Turkish President Recep... December 20, 2024 Don’t Fall for the New Syrian Regime’s Claims of Moderation Hours after the Syrian rebel group Hayat Tahrir al-Sham (HTS) seized Damascus and sent Bashar al-Assad packing to Russia, Western politicians and pundits began contemplating the possibility of... December 20, 2024 Joint Warfighting Concept 2034-2044 For decades, U.S. warfighters have stated that offensive action is the key to victory. However, recent massive advances in sensors, command and control systems, andprecision weapons produced... December 20, 2024 Welcome to ‘Paddystine’ The other day, during a discussion with a colleague about the wave of pro-Hamas, antisemitic hysteria sweeping the Republic of Ireland, I unthinkingly quipped that the people of Eire should rename themselves... December 20, 2024 Syria Is At A Crossroads. What’s At Stake Now? Israeli prime minister Benjamin Netanyahu and his defense minister went up to the highest peak on Mount Hermon on December 17. This area of the mountain overlooks Lebanon, southern Syria, and Israel.... December 19, 2024 Israel strikes Iranian-backed Houthis in Yemen after missile attacks The Israeli Air Force (IAF) carried out two waves of attacks on the Iranian-backed Houthis in Yemen in response to Houthi attacks on Israel. Most recently, the Houthis launched a ballistic missile attack... December 19, 2024 Naim Qassem on Hezbollah’s influence in Lebanon and about-face on Syria On Saturday, Hezbollah’s recently minted Secretary-General Naim Qassem offered his group’s first comment on the downfall of the regime of Bashar al Assad in Syria. The Assad regime was one of Hezbollah’s... December 19, 2024 Too Little, Too Late, By Biden on Iran President Biden pulled punches when enforcing oil sanctions against Iran. Forsaking the leverage inherited from President Trump’s “maximum pressure,” Biden opted for “maximum deference” from the get-go, and with clearly disastrous results. Not only is there no deal in place today constraining Iran’s nuclear program, but Tehran’s theocrats have used oil export revenues – an estimated at $144 billion of which was earned during Biden’s first three years – to underwrite the cycle violence currently engulfing the Middle East. December 19, 2024 Trump must counter Vladimir Putin’s coming deception games — here’s how Vladimir Putin’s regime is readying a new bag of diplomatic tricks for the second Trump administration, as the Kremlin angles to lure Trump’s incoming national-security team into helping... December 18, 2024 Science Belongs at Universities, National Laboratories – Not the UN During a World Economic Forum session, Melissa Fleming, U.N. undersecretary-general for global December 18, 2024 Haute Qatar: Sheikha Moza’s Glamour Masks Doha’s Vices Sheikha Moza Bint Nasser is revered as a champion of education, sustainability, fashion, and art. The glamorous female face of the Qatar regime — and the mother of its current emir — presents herself as a modern face of a traditional, conservative Gulf state. ... December 18, 2024 A New Era of Hezbollah Defeat Excerpt Nothing lasts forever. Hezbollah’s self-proclaimed “Era of Victories”—which the group inaugurated after the May 2000 Israeli withdrawal from south Lebanon—appears to have run its course.... December 18, 2024 Jihadi history: Kenyan detainee transferred out of Guantanamo shows the extent of Al Qaeda’s jihad in East Africa The US Department of Defense (DoD) announced yesterday that longtime Guantanamo Bay detainee Mohammed Abdul Malik Bajabu was transferred to his native Kenya. The Ugandan-born Kenyan national... December 18, 2024 How Ukraine can help accelerate US defense technology The U.S. stands at a critical juncture in its defense strategy. Despite our advanced drone technology, the nation risks falling behind in the rapidly evolving military revolution led by affordable... December 18, 2024 Who will form the core of Jolani’s unified army? Ahmad al Sharaa, the leader of Hayat Tahrir al Sham (HTS), commonly known by his nom de guerre Abu Mohammad al Jolani, has unveiled a vision for post-Assad Syria. With HTS assuming control in the aftermath... December 18, 2024 IDF prepares to move elite 98th Division from Lebanon to Gaza The Israel Defense Forces (IDF) said on December 17 that the 98th Division had completed operations in southern Lebanon and was preparing for its next mission in the Gaza Strip. The announcement comes...

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