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September 14, 2020 Pompeo’s Cyprus Visit a Sign of U.S. Reengagement in the Eastern Mediterranean U.S. Secretary of State Mike Pompeo visited the Cypriot capital of Nicosia on Saturday to address both Turkey’s ongoing oil and gas exploration in Cypriot and Greek waters as well as Russia’s efforts... September 11, 2020 Desperate to Sustain Stock Market Bubble, Tehran Taps Its Sovereign Wealth Fund Tehran announced on Tuesday that it would use 1 percent of its National Development Fund (NDF) – one Iran’s few remaining sources of hard currency – to stabilize the Tehran Stock Exchange (TSE). The... September 9, 2020 Hamas Prioritizes Terrorism Over COVID-19 Outbreak in Gaza Amid a recent COVID-19 outbreak in the Gaza Strip, Hamas and Israel agreed to a Qatari-brokered ceasefire last week but failed to reach a long-term truce. Hamas and other terrorist factions likely intend... September 4, 2020 Turkey Slams U.S. Decision to Lift Cyprus Arms Embargo Secretary of State Mike Pompeo announced Tuesday that he will allow “the sale of non-lethal defense articles and services to the Republic of Cyprus,” partially lifting Washington’s 33-year arms embargo.... September 3, 2020 U.S. Needs a New ICC Strategy The State Department announced sanctions yesterday on two senior officials of the International Criminal Court (ICC) for their role in an “unjust and illegitimate investigation” of alleged war crimes... September 2, 2020 Justice Department Provides Roadmap to Escalate Pressure on North Korean Cybercrime The U.S. Department of Justice (DOJ) filed a complaint last week seeking the authority to seize 280 cryptocurrency accounts linked to North Korean cyberheists. This DOJ action not only further exposes North... September 1, 2020 Over the Black Sea, Moscow Escalates Its Military Provocations Following a major North Atlantic Treaty Organization bomber exercise, two Russian Su-27 fighters conducted a reckless intercept of a U.S. Air Force B-52 bomber in international airspace over the Black Sea... August 28, 2020 Hamas Proxy Launches Incendiary Balloons at Israel, Again The Hamas proxy Humat al-Aqsa (HAA) published a video this week claiming responsibility for sending incendiary balloons into Israel from Gaza. HAA openly acknowledges its arson attacks as part of a campaign... August 26, 2020 State Department Calls Out Erdogan’s Hosting of Hamas Terrorists The State Department registered its strong objection yesterday to Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan’s hosting of two Hamas leaders in Istanbul on August 22. This is the first time the State Department... August 18, 2020 COVID-19: Israel and the Palestinians Though Israel was one of the first countries to impose aggressive measures to counter the COVID-19 crisis, lifting restrictions prematurely has sent the country into a second wave of infection. Meanwhile,... August 14, 2020 Hong Kong, Taiwan, and Strategic Defense of Democracy Hong Kong police on Monday arrested Jimmy Lai, the 71-year-old pro-democracy founder of Hong Kong media company Next Digital and its newspaper, Apple Daily, on charges of violating China’s new national... August 13, 2020 China Sanctions U.S. Lawmakers and Human Rights Advocates Beijing imposed a fresh round of sanctions this week on six U.S. lawmakers and five leaders of organizations that promote democracy and human rights, matching exactly the number of Chinese and Hong Kong... August 6, 2020 North Korean Cyber Espionage Campaign Seeks to Compensate for Air Power Vulnerabilities McAfee, a U.S.-based private cybersecurity firm, released a new report last week assessing a North Korean cyber espionage campaign targeting the U.S. defense and aerospace industries. The campaign against... August 5, 2020 EU Issues Its First-Ever Cyber Sanctions The European Union announced its first-ever cyber-related sanctions on Thursday, designating malicious actors from Russia, China, and North Korea. The designations provide an opportunity to bolster transatlantic... July 30, 2020 U.S. Sanctions Assad’s 18-Year-Old Son, Promises More Targets to Come The departments of State and Treasury announced the designation yesterday of 14 individuals and entities with ties to the regime of Syria’s Bashar al-Assad, including his eldest son, Hafez. Coming after... July 28, 2020 Report Shows North Korean Cybercriminals Now Target Online Shoppers A new report by cybersecurity company SanSec indicates that North Korean state-sponsored hackers are diversifying their cybercrime operations, focusing on new targets beyond banks and cryptocurrency exchanges.... July 23, 2020 Iran-China Trade Plummets Despite Plans for Strategic Partnership Chinese customs data show that trade with Iran continues to fall sharply, primarily because Beijing is buying less and less crude oil from Tehran. Despite reports that Iran and China are poised to conclude... July 22, 2020 Hezbollah Operative Assad Ahmad Barakat Extradited to Paraguay Brazilian authorities extradited Hezbollah financier Assad Ahmad Barakat to Paraguay on Friday, dealing a key blow to the terrorist group. Barakat, now awaiting trial, belongs to a powerful Lebanese Shiite... July 21, 2020 Chevron Increases Its Presence in the Eastern Mediterranean Chevron Corporation announced yesterday its agreement to purchase the American oil and gas company Noble Energy for $5 billion. Chevron’s acquisition has special geopolitical significance due to Noble’s... July 17, 2020 Turkey’s Bar Associations Become the Latest Target of Erdogan’s Iran-Inspired “Reform” The Turkish parliament passed a controversial law on July 11 to allow the creation of multiple bar associations in each of Turkey’s 81 provinces, amending the existing system that stipulates only one... July 17, 2020 Armenia-Azerbaijan Conflict Poses Threat to European Energy Security Fighting between the Armenian and Azerbaijani militaries resumed this week, resulting in both military and civilian casualties. These developments may threaten the major energy and transport corridor from... July 10, 2020 New Sanctions on Assad Regime Hit Lebanese Accomplices The departments of State and Treasury announced the designation of 39 sanctions targets, including two Lebanese firms, when the Caesar Act went into effect last month. The inclusion of these two firms reflects... July 9, 2020 At UN, Russia Seeks to Cut Vital Aid for Syrian Civilians The Security Council voted down a Russian proposal yesterday to stop deliveries of UN assistance to northwest Syria via one of the two available crossings on the Turkish border. The proposal is part of... July 8, 2020 New South Korean National Security Team Has Close Ties to Pyongyang South Korean President Moon Jae-in put in place a new national security team last week that is composed of figures known for their close ties to North Korean officials. The composition of the team indicates... July 2, 2020 Proliferant States Continue to Rely on China for Nuclear-Related Equipment A German intelligence report released last month found that Iran and other countries continue their longstanding practice of illicitly importing dual-use goods – items with both civil and military applications... June 26, 2020 Turkey and Iran Orchestrate Joint Military Operations Against Kurdish Insurgents Turkey and Iran last week carried out joint military operations against Kurdish insurgents in northern Iraq’s self-ruled Kurdistan region. This security cooperation shows that despite the lethal clashes... June 25, 2020 Iran Threatens to Repudiate Key Nuclear Verification Agreement The Iranian parliament, or Majles, ratified a motion on Tuesday directing the government to stop implementing a key nuclear verification agreement called the Additional Protocol (AP). While Iran has already... June 24, 2020 Cratering Economy Drives Iranian Rial to All-Time Low The Iranian rial has lost 10 percent of its value over the past two weeks, and more than 30 percent since the start of the calendar year. The regime may still have sufficient hard currency reserves to end... June 23, 2020 State Department Plays Key Role in New U.S. China Strategy The White House on May 26 unveiled its new strategic approach to China, which seeks to export its authoritarian political system around the world in order to dominate regions, co-opt or coerce international... June 19, 2020 COVID-19 in Morocco Although Morocco seems to have escaped the worst of the pandemic with a relatively low number of confirmed cases and deaths, the COVID-19 crisis has devastated the country’s economy. Morocco, which has... June 19, 2020 Washington’s Muted Response Emboldens Erdogan’s Hostage Diplomacy A Turkish court on June 11 convicted Metin Topuz, a Turkish national and liaison officer for the U.S. Drug Enforcement Administration at the U.S. Consulate General in Istanbul, to eight years and nine months... June 4, 2020 NSA Report Attributing Malware to Russian Hacking Group Sandworm Signals That the Group Is Still Active The National Security Agency (NSA) last week accused Sandworm Team, a Russian military hacking group, of ongoing efforts to target email servers around the world. The NSA’s attribution signals that Sandworm,... June 3, 2020 Exposing China’s Malign Influence Activities in the United States In its new “Strategic Approach to the People’s Republic of China,” the White House directly addresses the threat posed by Chinese media entities operating in the United States, along with other, less... June 3, 2020 Military and Veteran Groups Decry ICC Investigation The Military Coalition, “representing more than 5.5 million current and former service members, veterans, and their families and survivors,” delivered a letter yesterday to the president and congressional... June 2, 2020 Iran’s Parliament Chooses Khamenei Loyalist as Speaker Iran’s parliament on Thursday chose Muhammad Baqer Qalibaf as its new speaker, replacing Ali Larijani, who had held the post since 2008. A former air force commander in the Islamic Revolutionary Guard... June 2, 2020 Tehran’s Flawed Plans to Fight Inflation The Central Bank of Iran (CBI) announced an inflation target last week of 22 percent for the current Persian calendar year, which lasts from March 2020 to March 2021. After a two-year period during which... June 2, 2020 Trump’s New China Strategy Must Focus on International Organizations The White House released the “United States Strategic Approach to the People’s Republic of China” last month, outlining the Trump administration’s “National Security Strategy as it applies most... June 1, 2020 Justice Department Unveils Elaborate North Korean Sanctions Evasion Scheme The Department of Justice (DOJ) on Thursday released an indictment charging a number of North Korean and Chinese nationals who worked for a North Korean bank. These charges open opportunities for the United... June 1, 2020 China’s Coercion Threatens ROK-U.S. Alliance The White House released a report on May 20 outlining U.S. efforts to counter China’s threat to American interests and the sovereignty of nations and individuals worldwide. Among the strategic challenges... June 1, 2020 Wanted: A Strategy for Long-term Peacetime Competition With China The Trump administration last week released a report detailing the administration’s whole-of-government approach to China. The document marks an important step for framing the Chinese Communist Party’s... May 29, 2020 COVID-19 in India India is slowly emerging, after suffering severe economic damage, from its anti-virus lockdown. The country’s enormous economic and strategic potential as a U.S. partner and counterweight to China now... May 28, 2020 COVID-19 and the U.S. Air Force COVID-19 is testing every aspect of U.S. national defense readiness and mission execution. The Air Force is preparing for what the chief of staff, General David Goldfein, termed a “reset,” requiring... May 27, 2020 Israel Awards Desalination Plant Construction to Domestic Firm Over China Israel announced this week that it is awarding a $1.5 billion bid to build the world’s largest desalination plant to Israel’s IDE Technologies. Reports indicate that IDE Technologies offered to complete... May 26, 2020 The Fallout From China’s Hong Kong Power Play In a surprise move last week, the Chinese Communist Party (CCP) announced plans to impose a controversial national security law in Hong Kong. The CCP’s decision follows months of unrest in the special... May 26, 2020 Treasury Sanctions China-based Logistics Company Supporting Mahan Air The U.S. Department of the Treasury last week sanctioned Shanghai-based Saint Logistics Company, a Chinese general sales agent for the U.S.-sanctioned Iranian airline Mahan Air. The move marks a warning... May 22, 2020 COVID-19 in Latin America: Organized Crime Gains and States Weaken COVID-19 cases in Latin America are surging as the region heads into the Southern Hemisphere winter. Across the region, the pandemic has created opportunities for organized crime to step into the void left... May 21, 2020 Erdogan’s Fourth Attempt to Take Over Turkey’s Largest Private Bank Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan on May 12 asked the central executive committee of his Justice and Development Party to speed up plans for the government to take over a 28 percent stake in Isbank,... May 20, 2020 Oil Prices – More Like Post-9/11 After a precipitous drop, the oil market has rebounded significantly over the past month, much like it did during the post-9/11 period, when oil prices recovered as travel returned to normal levels. As... May 19, 2020 U.S. Government Releases Reports on North Korean Hacking Tools The Cybersecurity and Infrastructure Security Agency, FBI, and Department of Defense jointly released three Malware Analysis Reports (MARs) on May 12 detailing North Korea’s hacking tools. These reports... May 18, 2020 Tunisia’s ‘war against an invisible enemy’ Tunisia appears to have contained its COVID-19 outbreak despite a weak healthcare system and has begun to ease its anti-virus restrictions. Nine years after the ouster of the Ben Ali regime, successive...

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