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July 16, 2026 Iran’s Renewed Aggression Should Spur U.S. To Revive Maximum Pressure Campaign Iran’s repeated attacks on commercial shipping may ultimately force the United States to take a more aggressive posture by reviving its maximum pressure campaign against the Tehran regime. Following... July 16, 2026 Even Limited Sales of High-End Chips to Chinese Buyers Pose a Serious Risk China has a new opportunity to use American chips to achieve its artificial intelligence (AI) ambitions. On July 14, Jeffrey Kessler, the head of the Commerce Department’s Bureau of Industry and Security... July 16, 2026 Lebanon Seeks Turkey’s Help To Avoid Acting Against Hezbollah Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan asserted a strong interest in his neighbors’ affairs last month, declaring that, “Turkey’s security does not begin in Hatay [in southern Turkey], but rather... July 15, 2026 Riyadh Strikes Houthi-Controlled Airport To Block Flight From Iran The Houthis and Saudi Arabia broke a four-year truce after Iran and its Yemeni proxy attempted to establish a direct flight path between Tehran and the Houthi-controlled capital of Sanaa. The flight openly... July 14, 2026 Ceasefire Collapse Restores U.S. Leverage as Sanctions, Strikes Weaken Iran’s Hand The memorandum of understanding (MOU) between the United States and Iran was meant to secure a 60-day ceasefire. Instead, the Islamic Republic has repeatedly attacked commercial vessels operating in... July 14, 2026 Kazakhstan Bets on Iranian Port Investment Landlocked Kazakhstan is seeking port access, and Astana is banking on Iran to provide it. On July 8, Kazakhstan signed an agreement to build a logistics and transport terminal at Iran’s largest seaport... July 13, 2026 China Is Treating AI Companions as a National Security Risk. The U.S. Should Too. Chinese regulators don’t want their people getting too attached to their AI “friends,” requiring companies to curb features that foster emotional dependency by July 15. In response, Chinese firms... July 10, 2026 Suspicious Firms Still Seek Professionals With Military and Government Experience Suspicious consulting sites continue to target Western security experts despite U.S. efforts to curb suspected Chinese virtual espionage. On June 30, China specialist Bill Hayton publicly asked on X... July 10, 2026 Belarus Highlights Contribution to Russia’s Defense Industrial Base As the United States and allies met in Turkey for the NATO summit, Russia hosted its own parley aimed at strengthening a technological bloc to compete with the West. Addressing the INNOPROM exhibition,... July 10, 2026 Pick To Run Iran’s Judiciary Shows Repression Will Live on Long After Ali Khamenei’s Death If Iranians were hoping for a softening of the Islamic Republic’s iron rule, new Supreme Leader Mojtaba Khamenei has wasted no time in disillusioning them. He has appointed Gholam Hossein Mohseni Ejei... July 9, 2026 Syria’s Terrorism Delisting Should Not Mean a Free Pass “I promised to remove all barriers stopping you from rebuilding your country, and very soon, you will finally be able to do so,” President Donald Trump wrote in a letter to Syrian President Ahmad al-Sharaa... July 9, 2026 Beijing Grapples With Controlling Its Domestic AI Sector China is increasingly concerned over what its AI investments have wrought. On July 7, Reuters reported that Beijing is considering placing export controls on Chinese AI models, mirroring a move by the... July 8, 2026 Iran Continues Work at Key Nuclear Site, Violating U.S.-Iran Agreement New analysis of satellite imagery indicates that Iran is continuing construction at the deeply buried nuclear facility known as Pickaxe Mountain, in violation of the U.S.-Iran Memorandum of Understanding... July 8, 2026 As China Frees Pastor Jin, Christianity Remains a Target After spending 266 days in a Chinese prison for practicing his faith, Pastor Ezra Jin is now free. The July 3 release comes weeks after President Donald Trump raised Jin’s case with Chinese paramount... July 7, 2026 Sanaa-Tehran Direct Air Route Would Aid Iranian Efforts To Arm Houthis in Yemen Despite an air blockade imposed by Saudi Arabia, a delegation of Iranian-backed Houthis from Yemen arrived in Tehran on July 3 — marking the first time in roughly a decade that a commercial... July 7, 2026 Ahead of NATO Summit, Turkey’s Foreign Minister Calls Israel an ‘Unbearable Burden’ Turkish Foreign Minister Hakan Fidan declared on July 3 that Israel has become a “burden that humanity can no longer bear” and called for international sanctions against the Jewish state. Israeli Foreign... July 7, 2026 Hamas Dissolved Its Government on Paper but Still Rules in Practice Two decades after the curtain rose on Hamas’s reign in Gaza, the terrorist group would have us believe that it has taken its final bow. On July 6, Hamas said that it had dissolved its “Emergency... July 2, 2026 Washington Aims To Get Cyber Collaboration Back on Track After more than a year without a formal framework for government-industry coordination on critical infrastructure cybersecurity, the Department of Homeland Security (DHS) finally unveiled the Alliance... July 2, 2026 A Parliament Without Real Opposition in Syria A year and a half after the overthrow of former dictator Bashar al-Assad’s regime, Syria’s new parliament is finally taking shape. On July 1, Syrian President Ahmad al-Sharaa appointed 70 lawmakers,... July 2, 2026 The Israel-Lebanon Framework Agreement Will Only Succeed if Washington Enforces It The Pentagon may have missed a significant deadline on Lebanon. Congress, in the 2026 National Defense Authorization Act, gave the secretary of defense until June 30 to report on how to assess Lebanese... July 1, 2026 Gulf States Sanction Hezbollah, but Qatar Has a Flawed Record on Terror Finance Enforcement There may be a ceasefire in Lebanon, but Hezbollah’s pocketbook is still in the world’s sights. On June 30, the United States and members of the Gulf Cooperation Council (GCC) jointly imposed sanctions... July 1, 2026 China and Russia Hold Combined Counter-WMD Training China and Russia are deepening their military cooperation. On July 1, Reuters reported that Russian forces, with the express approval of Russia’s defense minister, participated in a series of trainings... July 1, 2026 Quantum Computers Are Coming. Washington Is Finally Paying Attention. Encryption protects your data from prying eyes. The complex math problems that underpin encryption, however, may soon no longer keep your data safe. Quantum computers test multiple answers simultaneously,... June 30, 2026 FCC Introduces New Bans on Chinese-Produced Equipment Linked to Cyber Risks Washington is seeking to push older Chinese technology out of the nation’s core networks. On June 26, the Federal Communications Commission (FCC) moved to bar the importation of all equipment and... June 30, 2026 U.S. Quietly Shelves Proposed Hezbollah ‘Deconfliction Mechanism’ The new U.S.-brokered Israel-Lebanon framework has its strengths and weaknesses. But one immediate and unequivocal benefit is that it buries the misguided idea that Hezbollah should have a seat at the... June 29, 2026 Sanctioning DR Congo’s Blood Gold Is Smart, but Not Enough The east of the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC) is now at the center of the U.S.-China critical mineral conflict. On June 25, the U.S. Treasury sanctioned a network based in the Rwandan capital of... June 29, 2026 Russian Gasoline Shortages Compound Economic Struggles Russia is running short on gas. On June 24, Reuters reported that Russia petitioned Kazakhstan to provide 50,000 metric tons of AI-92 gasoline to alleviate domestic shortages. Despite its status as... June 25, 2026 Israel’s New AI Directorate Is an Opening for the U.S. On the sidelines of the Pax Silica Summit hosted by Under Secretary of State for Economic Growth Jacob Helberg, Israel unveiled the strategy for its new national AI directorate. The... June 25, 2026 Kim Pushes for Faster North Korean Defense Buildup With Russia’s Help Kim Jong Un is interested in “overtaking the world,” according to his speech at the Second Plenum of the Ninth Central Committee of the Workers’ Party of Korea, which was held from June... June 24, 2026 HHS Proposes Clinical Trial Reform To Catch Chinese Biotech Sector The United States is looking to catch up with China’s expanding biotechnology sector. On June 23, the Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) issued a new proposal to accelerate clinical trials... June 24, 2026 To Police Any New Nuclear Deal, IAEA Access Is Needed — Urgently Will the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA), the UN nuclear watchdog, journey to Iran following the inking of a memorandum of understanding (MOU) between Tehran and Washington? According to Vice... June 24, 2026 China Targets the U.S. Rare Earth Comeback The short pause in U.S.-China minerals warfare is over. The May 2026 Trump-Xi summit in Beijing raised hopes of extending the critical minerals truce that began at the October 2025 Busan summit, where... June 24, 2026 The Deal With Tehran Comes at the Expense of Iranians As Washington negotiates, Tehran executes. Iran’s judiciary announced on June 22 that authorities had arrested more than 3,000 people since the start of the conflict on charges of collaborating with... June 23, 2026 Hamas Haven Provided by Turkey Fuels Terror in the West Bank Israel’s Shin Bet security agency announced that it had foiled dozens of planned terror attacks in the West Bank directed by Hamas operatives in Turkey over the past year. According to the agency,... June 23, 2026 Trump Administration Provides Billions in Unrestricted Oil Sanctions Relief to Iran The Trump administration is laying the groundwork for a major cash infusion for the Iranian regime. On June 22, the Treasury Department issued General License (GL) X, a 60-day authorization for the... June 22, 2026 Taiwan Debates Spending To Close Drone Development Gap Taiwan is looking to enhance its investment on domestic drones. On June 22, the legislative caucus of Taiwan’s governing party, the Democratic Progressive Party, urged the island’s major opposition... June 22, 2026 Sudan Turns Away From Iranian Weapons in Hopes of Courting Washington Sudan’s civil war, now in its fourth year, has become one of Africa’s first drone wars. Yet the drones dominating this battlefield are overwhelmingly foreign. From approximately 3,000 miles away,... June 22, 2026 EU Report Slams Authoritarian Rule in Turkey, Urges Sanctions Against Justice Minister An EU report has leveled the most scathing criticism of Turkey’s government in recent memory, recommending sanctions against a number of Turkish officials. They include Turkish Minister of Justice... June 19, 2026 Iran Prioritizes Protection of Hezbollah Over Negotiations With U.S. Days after signing a Memorandum of Understanding (MOU) to end the U.S.-Iran war, the Tehran regime is testing whether it can use Lebanon — and its Lebanese terror proxy Hezbollah — as leverage over... June 18, 2026 China’s Chokepoint Problem: Why Beijing Is Welcoming a Leader Nobody Likes No one likes Min Aung Hlaing. Nevertheless, the leader of Myanmar’s military government kicked off a five-day state visit in China on June 16, seeking legitimacy after a sham election that few inside... June 18, 2026 Squeezing Al-Qard Al-Hassan Could Weaken Hezbollah’s Chances of Survival If President Trump has his way, the Third Lebanon War, which Hezbollah began by attacking Israel on October 8, 2023, will soon end. But even as the group’s most intense fight against Israel comes to... June 18, 2026 Washington Wants a Relationship With Iraq Focused On Business, but Security Can’t Be Ignored Amid a tense regional situation, Iraq’s new government is engaged in a high-stakes balancing act. Tom Barrack, the U.S. special presidential envoy for Iraq and Syria, met with Iraq’s new prime minister,... June 18, 2026 Ukraine Takes an Important — if Small — Step Toward Joining the EU After more than four years of war, the European Union has stepped up its efforts to bring an end to Russia’s invasion of Ukraine with two new measures. First, Brussels announced the addition of 34... June 17, 2026 Gifting Iran Early Concessions Surrenders Washington’s Upper Hand The U.S. has reportedly granted Iran sanction waivers for selling oil, with one Iranian supertanker transporting crude oil having already crossed the U.S. naval blockade. This development came one day... June 16, 2026 Deploying Syrian Troops in Lebanon Would Help, Not Hurt, Hezbollah “I told Israel it should let Syria handle Hezbollah because, frankly, I think Syria would do a better job,” President Donald Trump said during the G7 summit in Paris. Trump’s comment was the second... June 16, 2026 Dilution Is Not the Solution: Disposing of Iran’s Enriched Uranium Stockpile The critical question of how to handle Iran’s enriched uranium stockpile will be addressed in a long-term peace agreement between the United States and Iran, to be negotiated over the 60 days following... June 15, 2026 Turkey’s Hejaz Railway Revival Is a Bid To Undermine Israel’s Regional Role A railway originally built by the Ottoman Empire to project power across the Arab world is receiving a second lease on life as Turkey launches its latest bid to become the Middle East’s logistics... June 15, 2026 AI Is Outpacing NATO’s Hybrid Defense Playbook NATO just received a glimpse of how a blackout can quickly become a crisis. At a three-day exercise in Bydgoszcz, Poland, NATO tested its ability to respond to a multi-domain crisis that combined cyberattacks... June 15, 2026 FBI Web Domain Seizures Highlight China’s Virtual Espionage Strategy Jobseekers in the national security space must take a closer look at prospective employment opportunities. A June 10 Department of Justice press release announced that the FBI had seized 13 web domains... June 15, 2026 China-Linked Technology Companies Target U.S. AI Companies and Data Centers Jensen Huang, the CEO of Nvidia, said earlier this year that “AI is no longer a single breakthrough or application — it is essential infrastructure. Every company will use it. Every nation will build...

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