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February 12, 2026 Without Full Disarmament of Hamas, Gaza Ceasefire is at Risk The latest efforts by the U.S. to secure the ceasefire in Gaza may not only permit Hamas to survive but also to retain some of its weapons. According to reports on February 10, the terrorist organization... February 12, 2026 U.S. Engagement With Lebanon Should Hinge on Dismantling of Hezbollah Some senior U.S. officials believe showering the Lebanese government with praise will hasten disarming Hezbollah. In a statement issued on February 9, U.S. CENTCOM Commander Adm. Brad Cooper lauded... February 11, 2026 Indian Seizure of Iranian “Shadow Fleet” Creates Opening for U.S.-Led Sanctions Enforcement Coalition The Trump administration is reportedly considering whether to seize additional tankers carrying sanctioned Iranian oil. This comes on the heels of the Indian Coast Guard’s first-ever seizure of “shadow... February 11, 2026 Iran Exploits Diplomacy With U.S. To Execute Protesters As the authorities in Iran staged nationwide rallies on February 11 to mark the 47th anniversary of the Islamic Republic, the spirit of last month’s wave of anti-regime protests was very much in evidence.... February 10, 2026 ‘We Don’t Care What Others Say’: Turkey Won’t Withdraw Its Troops From Syria Turkish Defense Minister Yasar Guler could not have been blunter. “We have no agenda for withdrawing or leaving those areas,” Guler told the Turkish daily Hurriyet when asked whether Turkey... February 10, 2026 Japanese National Elections Show Clear Limits of Chinese Coercion Towards Tokyo Despite the swirling snow, Japanese voters braved the cold to send a clear message to China. On February 8, the ruling Liberal Democratic Party (LDP) won a landslide victory in Japan’s national legislative... February 10, 2026 Foreign Investment in Syria’s Reconstruction Carries Terror Finance Risk Saudi Arabia and Qatar aim to reap the commercial rewards of rebuilding Syria now that the devastating civil war has ended and sanctions on Damascus have been lifted. Gulf investments are being deployed... February 9, 2026 China Denies U.S. Accusation of Nuclear Tests U.S. claims of secret low-yield nuclear explosive tests by China are “outright lies,” Beijing said on February 9. Such tests would violate the informal global testing moratorium. The... February 6, 2026 SpaceX Blocks Russia’s Starlink Access but Ubiquiti’s Tech Remains Ubiquitous Ukrainians are praising SpaceX founder Elon Musk for his actions to stop Russia’s military from using the satellite internet system Starlink for communications and drone guidance. But another U.S.-based... February 6, 2026 U.S. Must Encourage Nigeria To Adopt Preventive Measures Against Emboldened Islamist Terror Groups Islamist terror groups are becoming a nationwide scourge in Nigeria. A massacre of an estimated 170 civilians in Kawara state in central Nigeria on February 3-4 demonstrates that the Islamist insurgency... February 6, 2026 Taiwan Strengthens Energy Resilience With Planned Purchases of American LNG In the run-up to Lunar New Year, Taiwan is looking to keep the lights burning brightly. The Taiwanese Ministry of Energy pledged on February 5 to increase its purchases of liquefied natural gas (LNG)... February 5, 2026 Negotiating With Iran Is Wrong. Doing So in Oman Is Worse The scheduled talks in Muscat between the United States and Iran on February 6 shines much needed light on the regional role of their host, the Sultanate of Oman. Oman cannot be regarded as a trusted... February 5, 2026 Strict Enforcement Needed To Curb Indian Imports of Russian Oil Russian oil sellers are increasingly turning to Chinese purchasers to offset losses stemming from India’s decision to halt imports in accordance with New Delhi’s ambitious new trade deal... February 5, 2026 Sudanese Army Breaks Key Siege as U.S. Leads Humanitarian Aid Push A military breakthrough by the Sudanese Armed Forces (SAF) has ended the years-long siege of Kadugli, the capital of South Kordofan state. Isolated by the Rapid Support Forces (RSF) and allied militias... February 4, 2026 Jordan’s Hedging on Iran Is Standard Practice As the United States deliberates between negotiations with, or military action against, Iran. Jordan has become the latest Arab state to express disquiet over the latter option. Jordan is being characteristically... February 4, 2026 Expiration of New START Offers Chance for U.S. To Revamp Nuclear Posture Towards Russia and China The expiration of the last remaining U.S.-Russia nuclear arms control treaty offers the Trump administration an opportunity to reexamine and strengthen the U.S. nuclear posture to deter both Russia and... February 4, 2026 “Project Vault” Takes Aim at Broken Critical Mineral Markets The United States may finally be serious about breaking China’s control over minerals that are critical for commercial and defense technologies. The announcement of “Project Vault” on February... February 3, 2026 Russia Bombards Ukraine Ahead of Peace Talks, Ending Brief Energy Truce Amid Freezing Weather “I did call up President Putin and he’s agreed” to pause strikes on Ukrainian energy infrastructure amid bitter winter weather, President Donald Trump told reporters on February 2. Washington... February 2, 2026 Trump Administration Scores Major Victory as Panama Supreme Court Rules Against Chinese Shipping Firm The Danish shipping behemoth Maersk is now temporarily managing two ports along the Panama Canal after the Panamanian Supreme Court annulled a Chinese company’s contracts on constitutional grounds. The... February 2, 2026 Justice Department Marks First Successful Prosecution of Chinese AI-Related Economic Espionage Despite his efforts to flee the United States, the law finally caught up with Linwei Ding. On January 30, the Department of Justice convicted 38-year-old Ding, a former Google software engineer and... February 2, 2026 Rafah Crossing Reopening Could Enable Hamas To Resume Smuggling Operations Into Gaza The reopening of the Rafah border crossing linking the Gaza Strip with Egypt will ease travel restrictions on Palestinians seeking medical treatment abroad. At the same time, it has deepened Israeli concerns... January 30, 2026 Third Time Lucky? Syrian Government and Kurdish-Led SDF Announce Latest Agreement An escalation of conflict in northeastern Syria has been averted, at least for now. But questions persist over whether the disputes that sparked the recent offensive by Syrian government troops against... January 29, 2026 Houthi Actions Force World Food Programme to Close Operations in Northern Yemen In a dramatic move, the World Food Programme (WFP) is shuttering its operations in northern Yemen, which is currently controlled by the Iran-backed Houthis, UN officials confirmed on January 29. The... January 29, 2026 Syrian President Al-Sharaa Deepens Relationship With Putin During Latest Moscow Visit Syrian President Ahmad al-Sharaa was in an upbeat mood following his meeting in Moscow with his Russian counterpart, Vladimir Putin, on January 29 — the second encounter between the two leaders since... January 29, 2026 Without Conditions, Qatari Aid to Lebanon Isn’t Helpful Qatar wants to help a struggling Lebanon undo the damage wrought by the recent war between Israel and Hezbollah. The 13-month-long conflict, which Hezbollah launched in the immediate aftermath... January 28, 2026 Iran Fuels Repression in Myanmar Fuel shipments linked to Iran are helping Myanmar’s military regime to intensify air strikes on civilians trapped in the civil war that has raged since it seized power in a coup five years ago. According... January 28, 2026 Iran’s Executions Have Not Stopped Iranians are dying in their thousands, but the anti-regime movement endures nonetheless. The death toll from the latest protest wave is now estimated to have surpassed 36,000. Although the massacre... January 27, 2026 U.S. Launches Effort To Address Christian Persecution in Nigeria The Trump administration has launched an effort to help protect Nigerian Christians. In response to escalating attacks by armed Islamists, Washington established a joint working group to offer American... January 27, 2026 U.S. Cannot Allow Hamas Terrorists To Integrate Into New Palestinian Government in Gaza The U.S.-crafted plan for Gaza may yet produce the opposite of its intended effect, by allowing Hamas to retain large parts of its arsenal under a different guise. Reutersreported on January... January 26, 2026 Iranian Influence Operation Floods X With Anti-Protest Messaging Following weeks of intense protests against the ruling regime across Iran’s 31 provinces, Tehran is continuing to flood social media with bots, turning social media into a tool of domestic repression.... January 26, 2026 Treasury Sanctions a Hamas-Supporting Nonprofit With Ties to South Africa “The South African government does not have any relationship with Hamas.” The South African ambassador to Qatar, Ghulam Hoosein Asmal, made this claim in 2024 despite having met with a delegation from... January 23, 2026 Newly Signed Deal Offers Pathway for Chinese Company ByteDance Into TikTok’s New U.S. Operation After several years of courtroom wrangling, the social media app TikTok will remain active in the United States despite its continued ties to China. On January 22, ByteDance, TikTok’s Chinese parent... January 23, 2026 Russian Businesses Adopt ‘Tactical Poverty’ Measures, Signaling Growing Economic Stress “Tactical poverty” is what Russians are calling the belt-tightening measures Russian companies have been compelled to impose amid poor economic indicators for 2026. According to the Russian business... January 22, 2026 U.S. Must Apply Greater Pressure on Russia To Achieve Peace in Ukraine Presidents Donald Trump and Volodymyr Zelenskyy met at the World Economic Forum in Davos on January 22 shortly before U.S. officials flew to Moscow for another sit-down with Russian President Vladimir... January 22, 2026 Transfer of ISIS Prisoners To Iraq Exposes Fragile Nature of Ceasefire in Syria As northeastern Syria reels from the Syrian government’s offensive into areas held by the Kurdish-led Syrian Democratic Forces (SDF), detained Islamic State (ISIS) fighters are being transferred to Iraq... January 22, 2026 Trump Administration Should Be Wary of Granting Qatar and Turkey Executive Power in Gaza President Donald Trump’s Board of Peace is off the ground, and the first test of its capabilities is to maintain a shaky ceasefire in Gaza. The board, launched on January 16 and further outlined by... January 21, 2026 China May Have Accessed U.S. Supercomputing Resources To Fuel Its Military Modernization Efforts The United States may have inadvertently paid for China’s nuclear weapons research. On January 15, Rep. John Moolenaar (R-MI), chairman of the China Select Committee, sent a letter to the National... January 20, 2026 Preventing Houthi Rearmament Now Can Avert a Costly Future Confrontation Washington isn’t taking its eye off the Iran-backed Houthi terrorists in Yemen. On January 16, the Treasury Department designated elements of the Houthis’ smuggling and financial networks, including... January 20, 2026 Syrian Offensive Against Kurdish-Led SDF Risks Escape of ISIS Prisoners The ongoing conflict between Damascus and the Kurdish-led Syrian Democratic Forces (SDF) risks unleashing tens of thousands of ISIS-linked detainees, reviving a threat that the United States and the SDF... January 20, 2026 Canada’s Bet on Beijing Puts USMCA at Risk Does Canadian Prime Minister Mark Carney really consider China to be a “more predictable” partner than the United States? During a visit to Beijing last week, Carney unveiled a “new strategic partnership”... January 17, 2026 Washington’s Human Rights Sanctions Against Tehran Won’t Halt Regime Brutality The Trump administration issued its first round of Iran-related human rights sanctions on January 15, almost three weeks after Iranians took to the streets in the largest protests in the Islamic Republic’s... January 16, 2026 The U.S. Designation of Jordan’s Muslim Brotherhood Needs To Be Strengthened Following the U.S. designation of the Jordanian Muslim Brotherhood as a Specially Designated Global Terrorist (SDGT), Jordan has accelerated its crackdown on the Islamist group. The U.S. decision is... January 16, 2026 The Islamic Republic Kills, Europe Does Nothing The EU and European nations — purely symbolically — called Iranian ambassadors on January 13 to account for the Islamic Republic’s mass killing of as many as 12,000 unarmed demonstrators, even as... January 16, 2026 South Africa Eyes Confrontation With Trump Over Growing Ties to China, Russia, Iran South Africa is testing President Donald Trump’s patience, launching a week-long naval exercise alongside America’s adversaries. China, Russia, Iran, and several other countries in the loosely organized... January 16, 2026 Phase Two of the Gaza Ceasefire Announced Despite Core Obstacles Still To Overcome As the Trump administration presses ahead with the second phase of the ceasefire in Gaza, key challenges remain unresolved. U.S Presidential Envoy Steve Witkoff announced the start of the second phase... January 16, 2026 It’s Time To Rethink Al Udeid Air Base It’s been a busy week at Al Udeid Air Base in Qatar. On January 14, the U.S. military started evacuating some troops from America’s largest base in the Persian Gulf region in anticipation of potential... January 15, 2026 U.S. Issues Its First-Ever Designations of Muslim Brotherhood Branches as Terrorists For more than a decade, Washington avoided a definitive judgment about the Muslim Brotherhood. That changed on January 13 when the U.S. State and Treasury departments designated three Muslim Brotherhood... January 15, 2026 Lebanon’s Own Laws Require Disarming Muslim Brotherhood Branch Designated by U.S. as Terror Group The United States took aim at Islamic Group (IG), the Muslim Brotherhood’s Lebanese branch on January 13. The U.S. State Department designated IG as a Foreign Terrorist Organization (FTO) and designated... January 15, 2026 Egypt Sentences Christian Researcher Under Blasphemy Law, Underscoring a Recurrent Breach in U.S.-Egypt Relations An Egyptian court has sentenced Christian researcher Aughustinos Samaan to five years of hard labor under Egypt’s blasphemy law, following months of pretrial detention. Samaan, who runs a YouTube channel... January 14, 2026 Ukrainian Intelligence Claims Chechen Leader Was Hospitalized, Creating Risk of Destabilizing Succession Chechen President Ramzan Kadyrov has been hospitalized due to kidney failure and is reportedly undergoing dialysis, according to a report sourced from Ukraine’s Defense Intelligence and published January...

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