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December 20, 2022 The U.S.-Israel Operations-Technology Working Group Gets Busy Leaders from the Pentagon and Israel’s Ministry of Defense convened the second meeting of the U.S.-Israel Operations-Technology Group (OTWG) in Israel last month to advance research and development (R&D)... 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 Key Flaws Hamstring Russia Oil Price Cap The G7, European Union (EU), and Australia formally adopted a mechanism to “cap” the price of Russian oil exports earlier this month, aimed at squeezing the Kremlin’s coffers while avoiding a spike... December 16, 2022 US Sanctions Friend of Turkish President for Helping Iran Evade Sanctions The U.S. Treasury Department sanctioned on December 8 Sitki Ayan– a Turkish businessman and friend of Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan – accusing him and his companies of circumventing sanctions on Iran’s energy industry. According to Treasury, Ayan facilitated the sale of millions of dollars’ worth of oil for the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps-Quds Force (IRGC-QF). 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 16, 2022 FDD’s Biden Administration Foreign Policy Tracker: The Year in Review December 16, 2022 Protecting and Securing Data from the Quantum Threat 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 Breaking Precedent, Israel Provides Details of Syria Air Strike Israel’s top general, Aviv Kohavi, revealed today that Israel had exceptionally detailed intelligence about a convoy hit by an airstrike last month while bringing Iranian weapons into Syria. Kohavi did not say explicitly that Israel launched the air strike, yet his description of events matched precisely with reports of an attack on November 8 in the vicinity of Bukamal, near the border between Iraq and Syria. Kohavi said the convoy had 25 trucks, and Israel knew “Truck number eight is the truck with the armaments.” He added, “And you have to send the pilots there, too.” While Israeli leaders have acknowledged the targeting of Iranian weapons shipments, they have rarely telegraphed the Israeli role in specific strikes. 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 UN Votes to Remove Iran From Women’s Rights Commission The UN Economic and Social Council (ECOSOC) decided today by a vote of 29-8, with 16 abstentions, to remove Iran from the UN Commission on the Status of Women. The decision reflects women’s second-class status across the Islamic Republic. The rights of women have taken center stage in the protests now consuming Iran: The regime’s killing of 23-year-old Mahsa Amini, whom security forces had arrested for allegedly violating Tehran’s hijab laws, triggered the demonstrations now nearing their fourth month with no end in sight. 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 14, 2022 Mapping Terrorism in the West Bank 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 Taming West Bank Chaos Remains a Challenge for Israel Gunfire killed a 16-year-old Palestinian girl, Jana Zakarna, late on Sunday during a fight that erupted when Israeli special forces entered the West Bank town of Jenin to detain terrorists. Palestinian authorities were quick to blame Israel, which acknowledged that its forces may have shot the teenager by accident and voiced regret. An initial investigation found that she was standing next to a gunman on a rooftop, and an Israeli sharpshooter may have confused the two in the dark. 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 12, 2022 Biden Administration Refuses to Rule Out Sanctions Relief for Iran When asked last week whether nuclear negotiations with Iran were still ongoing, Secretary of State Antony Blinken said, “We continue to believe that ultimately diplomacy is the most... 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 Iran Surpasses 500 Executions in 2022 Tehran executed a prisoner today for allegedly wounding a paramilitary officer during nationwide protests, the first formal execution of a demonstrator since the unrest began in September. The sentence reportedly followed a brief trial devoid of due process in which the conviction rested on a confession elicited through torture. Iran has executed more than 500 people to date in 2022, constituting “the highest rate in five years,” according to the Norway-based nonprofit Iran Human Rights (IHR). This figure does not include the more than 450 protesters whom security forces have killed since September. December 8, 2022 Neither Here Nor There 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 U.S.-French Commitment to Secure Space Assets Shines a Light on Cyber Vulnerability In a joint statement with French President Emmanuel Macron, President Joe Biden committed on Thursday to strengthening the cybersecurity of commercial space systems. The vulnerability of these systems stems... December 7, 2022 How Biden, Congress can stop the UN from legitimizing antisemitism United Nations officials urged countries in October and November to reject the International Holocaust Remembrance Alliance (IHRA) working definition of antisemitism, the global benchmark for identifying... 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 Al Qaeda Leaders Use Afghanistan as a Safe Haven 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 7, 2022 Tehran and Doha Team Up to Repress Iranian Dissidents at World Cup Iran and Qatar have teamed up to suppress dissent against Tehran at the World Cup, which overlaps with sustained protests against the brutal regime in Iran. Tehran reportedly worked to prevent dissidents from attending the games, while critics of the Islamist regime watching the games in Iran and in Qatar faced harsh treatment. 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 6, 2022 Biden Must Act to Prevent a Turkish Attack on US Partners in Northern Syria Following a barrage of air strikes against Kurdish targets in northern Syria, the Turkish government has vowed to follow up with a ground campaign against the Syrian-Kurdish People’s Protection Units... 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 Israel Exercises Right to Self-Defense in Attack on Border Policeman The killing of a Palestinian assailant by an Israeli border policeman, caught on camera, has drawn diverse responses. Israel is unbowed in asserting its right to self-defense, while the Palestinian Authority accused it of another “cold-blooded murder.” United Nations envoy Tor Wennesland voiced horror over what he described as a “scuffle” turned lethal. 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...

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