Arab Spring

“Natural Allies”: Israel to Cultivate Kurdish, Druze Ties

Latest Developments Outreach to Arabs, Minorities by New Foreign Minister: Gideon Sa’ar, Israel’s new foreign minister, gave remarks on November 10 in which he spoke in favor of expanded...

The Houthis have challenged the Rules-Based International System and must be defeated

In my first analysis and opinion piece on the so-called Axis of Resistance, I set the scene by describing Iran’s 45-year trajectory from the Khomeini revolution to its current challenge to...

Responding forcefully to the Axis of Resistance

Iran has defined itself in opposition to Israel, the United States, and the wider West since the 1979 Islamic Revolution. Over the course of half a century of complex regional and global events, the clerical...

Egypt’s relationship with Hamas: What does history tell us?

October 7 deeply impacted Egypt, however, Cairo has not appeared to excoriate Hamas for the attack, leaving questions about how this all transpired.

Did Raisi’s outreach to Arab states pave the way for Oct. 7?

Iran sought to derail any Saudi-Israeli normalization deal, which October 7 did; as such, it exploited October 7 to change the regional order.

Raisi set the Middle East aflame but his death will not put out the fire

With Raisi and Amir-Abdollahian gone, Iran will fall back on the IRGC which controls much of the country behind the scenes.

Kuwait: Islamists and the end of Arab democracy

Installing democracy in a society without a tradition of liberty is like handing car keys to an unlicensed driver

Iran Is Winning the War

Right now things look good for Israel. But the Islamic Republic is playing the long game. And its advantages, alas, are many.

US Should Sanction Lebanon’s pro-Iran ‘Resistance TV’

On December 27, an Israeli missile hit a home in the Southern Lebanese town of Bint Jbeil, killing brothers Ali and Ibrahim Bazzi and Ibrahim’s wife. Within hours, Al Manar, Hezbollah’s official media...

Will China-Russia summit impact Israel’s war with Iran-backed Hamas?

Despite years of favorable Israeli foreign policy, both Beijing and Moscow are now openly hostile to Israel.

Report from the Gaza Front: A New Playbook

I spent the first days of the war on the Gaza border, mostly near Kibbutz Zikim. On the fifth day, October 11, I went to the Gaza border city of Sderot and spent time in the community, speaking with locals...

Small steps to a Saudi-Israel ‘mega-deal’

But Washington shouldn’t pursue comprehensive Middle East peace at the expense of localized wins

Israel Missed Its Moment

It might have had a chance to stop Iran’s nuclear ambitions a few years ago, but the Middle East has changed.

Militias are a symptom, not a cure

Armed militias, wherever they operate, break existing systems, but like ruling regimes before them, typically fail to offer anything new or better.

Analysis: Al Qaeda in the Islamic Maghreb encourages its Sahelian wing to continue fighting the Islamic State

In a newly released video, Abu Yasir al-Jaza’iri, a senior ideologue within al-Qaeda in the Islamic Maghreb (AQIM), sends a message of encouragement to AQIM’s Sahelian wing, the Group for Support of...

Iran’s Slow Boil

The clerical regime in Tehran has held the streets. It remains to be seen, however, if the strategies employed to keep the ayatollahs afloat will prevail. When Mahsa Amini, a young Sunni Kurdish-Iranian girl, died on September 16 in the custody of the morality police, nationwide demonstrations erupted, often with young women and girls on the frontlines.

Turkey After Erdogan

Obama’s Anti-Imperialist Fantasy Bears Bitter Fruit

The longer we refuse to acknowledge the mistakes of the Iran deal, the greater a price we pay

Iran’s Protesters Want Regime Change

America Should Lend Them a Hand

Why Iran’s Protests Could Topple the Regime

The country has a rich history of political dissent that has brought it to the edge of revolution.