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March 18, 2021 The Biden Administration’s Playbook for Lifting Iran-Related Terrorism Sanctions In his confirmation hearing, Secretary of State Antony Blinken stated that lifting terrorism sanctions on Iran would not advance U.S. national security interests. Weeks later, however, the Biden administration... March 17, 2021 There Is No Going Back: Xi’s Vision at China’s National People’s Congress In preparation for the 100th anniversary of the Chinese Communist Party’s (CCP’s) founding in July, Chinese President Xi Jinping used this month’s National People’s Congress (NPC) to cement his... March 15, 2021 Ahead of U.S.-ROK Meeting, Unresolved Policy Disputes Still Trouble the Alliance Secretary of State Antony Blinken and Secretary of Defense Lloyd Austin will meet with their South Korean counterparts in Seoul on March 17, at which point the U.S. secretaries will likely share preliminary... March 5, 2021 Biden Must Do More to Deter Russian Aggression and Uphold Global Norms The United States on Tuesday joined its European allies in imposing sanctions in response to Moscow’s August 2020 chemical weapons (CW) attack against, and subsequent imprisonment of, Russian opposition... February 22, 2021 Biden Administration Should Not Provide Sanctions Relief for Terrorism As President Joe Biden looks to rejoin the 2015 Iran nuclear agreement, or Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action (JCPOA), Iran is likely to pressure the Biden administration to provide broad sanctions relief,... February 19, 2021 North Korean Hackers Could Ramp Up Cyberattacks on COVID-19 Targets in Near Future During a closed-door parliamentary session on Tuesday, South Korea’s National Intelligence Service (NIS) informed the National Assembly that North Korea’s state-sponsored hackers are attacking South... February 18, 2021 Iran, Terrorism Finance, and Money Laundering: A Status Update Before FATF Meets Next Week When the Financial Action Task Force (FATF) convenes its plenary next week, while not formally on the agenda, buzz on the sidelines will concern Tehran’s constant push to be removed from the FATF blacklist.... February 16, 2021 Fakhrizadeh Killing Reveals Dissent Within the Regime in Iran In a revealing comment, the Islamic Republic’s intelligence minister, Mahmoud Alavi, said last week that the November 2020 assassination of Mohsen Fakhrizaded, Iran’s top nuclear scientist, was arranged... February 5, 2021 Biden Should Heed Navalny’s Call to Crack Down on Russia’s Dirty Money A Moscow court on Tuesday sentenced leading opposition figure Alexei Navalny to almost three years in a penal colony, ruling he violated parole while in Germany recuperating from a recent chemical weapon... January 22, 2021 Challenges and Opportunities Ahead for U.S. Sanctions in Yemen Antony Blinken, President Joe Biden’s nominee for secretary of state, has vowed to evaluate the recent designation of Yemen’s Houthi rebels as a Foreign Terrorist Organization (FTO). Pushed through... January 15, 2021 The Biden Administration and Congress Should Support the Houthi Terror Designations The Trump administration designated the Iranian-backed Houthi organization, or Ansar Allah, as both a Foreign Terrorist Organization (FTO) and a Specially Designated Global Terrorist (SDGT) on January 11.... January 13, 2021 Kim Jong Un Seeks to Bully Biden on the Diplomatic Stage North Korean leader Kim Jong Un finally broke his silence last week on his regime’s policy toward the incoming Biden administration, labeling the United States as Pyongyang’s “foremost principal enemy.”... January 8, 2021 U.S.-Israel Operations-Technology Working Group Authorization Provides Opportunity for Biden Administration The National Defense Authorization Act (NDAA) for Fiscal Year 2021, which became law last week, includes a provision authorizing the establishment of a U.S.-Israel Operations-Technology Working Group (OTWG).... January 7, 2021 Opening of Eighth Party Congress Shows Kim Jong Un Stays True to His Roots North Korea’s ruling Korean Workers’ Party kicked off its Eighth Party Congress on Wednesday. This periodic meeting seeks to outline the North Korean government’s strategic objectives for a broad... December 11, 2020 Taking on China – Breaking Down the FY21 NDAA At its core, the National Defense Authorization Act for Fiscal Year 2021 (NDAA), which passed the House on Tuesday by a veto-proof majority, seeks to strengthen deterrence initiatives involving China and... December 8, 2020 Congress Poised To Enact Unprecedented Cyber Defense Legislation The National Defense Authorization Act (NDAA) for Fiscal Year 2021 (FY21) is the most significant attempt ever undertaken by Congress to improve national cybersecurity and protect U.S. critical infrastructure... December 3, 2020 Fakhrizadeh Assassination Underscores Iran’s Refusal to Come Clean About Nuclear Weapons Activities The assassination last week of Iranian nuclear scientist Mohsen Fakhrizadeh eliminated the leading source of institutional knowledge about the Tehran regime’s once-flourishing nuclear weapons program.... November 25, 2020 Iranian Proxies in Bahrain Determined to Sabotage Peace With Israel Bahraini Foreign Minister Abdullatif al-Zayani made history on Wednesday, becoming the first-ever minister from the island kingdom to conduct an official visit to Israel. The visit marked the second meeting... November 24, 2020 Follow the Money: Exposing China’s Influence Operations at Academic Institutions and Think Tanks Secretary of State Michael Pompeo issued an ultimatum last month to think tanks and academic institutions around the country: Publicly disclose funding received from foreign governments or risk losing access... November 24, 2020 Getting Erdogan’s Turkey Right: Reflections on Ambassador Jeffrey’s Exit Interview In a recent exit interview with Defense One, Ambassador James F. Jeffrey, the outgoing special representative for Syria engagement, asserted that President Recep Tayyip Erdogan of Turkey poses challenges... October 30, 2020 U.S. Issues Timely Alert on Another North Korean Hacking Group The Cybersecurity and Infrastructure Security Agency (CISA), the Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI), and the United States Cyber Command Cyber National Mission Force (CNMF) issued a joint alert on Tuesday... October 22, 2020 The Trump Administration’s High-Stakes Gambit to Curtail Rocket Attacks in Iraq In an unexpected announcement on October 10, a group of Iran-backed Shiite militia groups declared their intention to suspend forthwith their attacks on U.S. interests in Iraq, while conditioning the ceasefire’s... October 21, 2020 Russia and China Obstruct UN Reporting on North Korea At its annual military parade this month, the Democratic People’s Republic of Korea (DPRK) unveiled what may be the world’s largest road-mobile intercontinental ballistic missile (ICBM) as well as a... October 16, 2020 Prime Minister Suga Must Reassess His Priorities for the Korean Peninsula New Japanese Prime Minister Yoshihide Suga refused to attend an annual trilateral summit with the leaders of China and South Korea until Seoul meets Tokyo’s demands regarding a disputed court case over... October 14, 2020 North Korea’s Parade Confirms Kim Jong Un Holds True to His Revolutionary Political Warfare Strategy On October 10, North Korea celebrated the 75th anniversary of the founding of the Workers Party of Korea with a well-choreographed military parade. After months of speculation among the Korea watcher community,... October 14, 2020 Corruption, Not Sanctions, Is Causing Medicine Shortages in Iran Hassan Rouhani, the Iranian president, says that new sanctions on 18 Iranian banks are part of a deliberate U.S. effort to cause shortages of food and medicine. It’s a claim that the Tehran regime has... October 2, 2020 Ransomware Rising: Steps for The Public and Private Sector to Address the Growing Threat Last weekend, a major U.S. healthcare provider, Universal Health Services, was the victim of what may have been the largest ransomware attack in the history of the United States. The attack caused the company... October 1, 2020 Coordinated U.S. Actions Combat Wide Range of Iran’s Malign Cyber Activities In a series of coordinated actions in mid-September, the U.S. departments of Justice and the Treasury exposed more than 50 Iranian hackers and took steps in concert with the FBI to thwart their ability... September 29, 2020 Don’t Trust Kim Jong Un’s Unexpected Apology Over Murder of South Korean Official Kim Jong Un issued a rare apology to the South Korean government on September 25th after North Korean soldiers killed and then burned the corpse of a South Korean government official, which sparked outrage... September 28, 2020 Trudeau Fails Canadian-Iranians Recent developments confirm that Canada has become a major hub for the Islamic Republic in Iran and its supporters, and perhaps an unsafe place for Canadian-Iranian democracy activists. On January 8, 2020,... September 10, 2020 How Washington Can Help Bridge the Gap Between Seoul and Tokyo Japanese Prime Minister Abe Shinzo’s resignation has raised hopes of a resolution to Japan and South Korea’s ongoing dispute over Tokyo’s abuses during World War II. However, a change in Japanese... September 10, 2020 To Succeed in Competition with China, Don’t Abandon the Middle East As the United States somberly observes the 9/11 anniversary this week, some Americans are in a mood to withdraw military forces from the wider Middle East. Long-time advocates for withdrawal on the political... September 2, 2020 Iran Nuclear Challenge Looms for the Next U.S. President The International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) reached an agreement with Iran last week for the IAEA to inspect two of Tehran’s alleged nuclear sites. According to the IAEA’s director-general, Rafael... August 26, 2020 Debunking the Legal Argument Against a U.S. Snapback The United States sent a letter to the UN Security Council last week alleging that Iran was in “significant non-performance” of its commitments under the 2015 nuclear deal, formally known as the Joint... August 25, 2020 Beijing Seeks to Divide Seoul and Washington Last week, the South Korean and Chinese governments held high-level meetings to enhance coordination on North Korea policy. Beijing seeks to erode Seoul’s commitment to working with the United States... August 17, 2020 Tensions in Gaza and on Israel’s Northern Border – What Next? Tensions are once again escalating on the border between the Hamas-controlled Gaza Strip and Israel. What started with explosive-lade balloons has given way to the firing of rockets and even riots at the... August 14, 2020 North Korean Hackers Target Israeli Defense Companies North Korean hackers launched attacks against Israel’s defense sector, according to a new report from ClearSky, a private cybersecurity company. The hackers likely sought to uncover military secrets essential... July 22, 2020 Amazon Pays a Fine for Crimea Business, but Occupied-Territories Policy Remains Murky Amazon.com, Inc., settled with the U.S. Department of the Treasury earlier this month for violating U.S. sanctions by delivering products to Crimea, a region of Ukraine under Russian occupation, and several... July 13, 2020 Iran Could Face a Summer of Nuclear Sabotage A powerful explosion destroyed an advanced centrifuge assembly plant in Iran earlier this month, an event which anonymous sources told U.S. journalists was the result of Israeli sabotage. An attack by Jerusalem... July 6, 2020 UPDATE: COVID-19 In Iraq Iraq’s luck with the coronavirus appears to have run out. Though it weathered the pandemic’s first two months better than anticipated, in recent weeks the virus has spread at an alarming rate. As Iraq’s... June 30, 2020 The Regime in Iran Is Struggling. It’s Time for Washington to Exploit Its Weaknesses. The Islamic Republic has been preparing for more nationwide demonstrations. Under the guidance of Supreme Leader Ali Khamenei, the Islamic Revolutionary Guards Corps (IRGC), the theocracy’s praetorians,... June 26, 2020 Will COVID-19 Motivate Congress to End Anonymous Incorporated? Our Financial and Collective Security Increasingly Depends on It. The $10 trillion global stimulus to combat COVID-19 is already triple that spent for the entire 2008-2009 global recession. The fraud that is sure to follow will be larger than the entire GDP of some countries.... June 25, 2020 Congressional Momentum Builds to Establish U.S.-Israel Working Group The Senate Armed Services Committee (SASC) released its version of the Fiscal Year 2021 National Defense Authorization Act (NDAA) on Tuesday, and it includes a provision to require the establishment of... June 23, 2020 America in 2020: “Insurrection” or “Incipient Insurgency”? In the two weeks of disorder that followed the death of George Floyd, 200 cities imposed curfews; 31 states and the District of Columbia called out the National Guard; active-duty U.S. troops deployed in... June 17, 2020 The Revolutionary Potential of the Coronavirus Pandemic Picture Europe in the mid-15th century. The continent was recovering from the bubonic plague. Elites controlled access to information, with monks laboriously copying books letter by letter. Recovery from... June 16, 2020 The U.S. Natural Gas Crash: Geopolitical Implications While the dramatic drop in global oil prices since the COVID-19 outbreak has grabbed headlines, more geopolitically important developments may be occurring in natural gas markets. These developments could... June 8, 2020 Israeli and American Strategic Opportunities Amidst the COVID-19 Crisis Albert Einstein once said that in the middle of any difficulty lies an opportunity. The COVID-19 pandemic poses enormous challenges to the Middle East, but the strategic opportunities for the United States... June 5, 2020 COVID-19 in Iran and Turkey: Mismanagement, Crackdowns, Economic Crises, and Corona-Diplomacy Iran and Turkey have been the two countries in the Middle East hardest hit by COVID-19. Their respective epidemics – which both governments have largely mismanaged – have amplified their democratic... June 3, 2020 How Supply Chain Vulnerabilities Endanger Every Part of National Security Out of all the supply chains in the U.S. economy, the supply chain of the defense industrial base (DIB) is the most vital to secure. In 2018, a Presidential Task Force report observed that Department of... May 28, 2020 Kim Jong Un Returns to Preside Over Central Military Commission Kim Jong Un made his first public appearance in three weeks to oversee a May 25 meeting of North Korea’s Central Military Commission (CMC). The key takeaway: Pyongyang remains fully committed to developing...

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