Nixon, Kissinger, and the Shah: A Troika of Realists
There was once a different Iran. At its helm was not a mullah but a monarch — secular, allied with the West, and committed to his country’s development and modernization. In a new boo...
Ba'ath Party
The Islamic State’s Anbar Offensive and Abu Umar al-Shishani
The recent gains in Iraq’s Anbar province by the Islamic State in Iraq and the Levant (ISIL) have, justifiably, garnered a great deal of media attention. McClatchy ...
Op-eds
Sandstorm
The great medieval historian Ibn Khaldun centered his understanding of history on asabiyya, which is perhaps best translated as esprit de corps mixed with the will to power. In his maste...
Op-eds
The Islamic State’s Vulnerability
As the U.S. military joins with its allies and temporarily-aligned enemies to fulfill President Obama’s promise to “...
Op-eds
Syria Spillover: The Growing Threat of Terrorism and Sectarianism in the Middle East
Chairman Menendez, Ranking Member Corker, and distinguished members of the committee, on behalf of the Foundation for Defense of Democracies,it is a...
Legislative Testimonies
Barbarians at Jordan’s Gate
AMMAN – The terrorist army formerly known as ISIS has conquered about a...
Op-eds
A Nasty Piece of Work
A tawdry new book accuses the late Christopher Hitchens of plagiarism—and worse.
Op-eds
The Creation of an Unbridgeable Divide
The transformation of the Syrian Revolution from a nonviolent and inclusive pro-democracy protest movement into a civil war, pitting majority-Sunni and majority-Alawite militias against each othe...
Op-eds
Syrian Jihadists form ‘Supporters of the Khilafah’ Brigade
Five Syrian jihadist groups based in western Aleppo have joined together and announced the formation of the Supporte...
Op-eds
Who Killed Wissam al-Hassan?
Who killed Brigadier General Wissam al-Hassan? Following the assassination last Friday, Druze leader Walid Jumblatt blamed Syrian...
Op-eds
Paper Trail Leads to Damascus
In December 2010, the New York Times' Robert F. Worth wrote an article about the newspaper Al-Akhbar, "the most dynamic and daring in Lebanon, and perhaps anywhere in the Arab world." The pa...
Op-eds
A Thorn in the Lion’s Paw
The politics of the Druze in the Syrian revolution have witnessed serious developments over the last couple of months, as evidenced by the escalation in the rhetoric of Lebanese Druze leader Wali...
Op-eds
Questions for the Pentagon: Who is Hesham Islam?
In the sorry tradition of shooting the messenger, the Pentagon is cashiering its top expert on Islamist doctrine, Stephen Coughlin. Some members of Congress are now contemplating hearings to ask...
Op-eds
America and Syria
If Pres. Barack Obama prefers not to intervene on behalf of the protesters being slaughtered in Syria, the least his administration could do is refrain from endorsing their tyrant. In Obama&rsquo...
Op-eds
Syria’s Assad No Longer in Vogue
It was slow in coming, but the Arab revolutionary wave of 2011 has reached Syria. Its arrival has forced a reassessment of the Bashar al-Assad regime’s domestic legitimacy and prospects for...
Op-eds
Democracy in The Middle East?
Since the end of the Ottoman Empire, through the many conflicts of the 20th century, the Middle East and North Africa have undergone two countervailing trends: the rise of authoritarian regimes a...
Op-eds
Syrian Pretension And Reality in Iraq
Recent news reports about the arduous process of government formation in Iraq suggest that a deal may be in the works that would see incumbent Prime Minister Nouri al-Maliki keep his post. If tru...
Op-eds
Iran’s Global Terrorist Reach
The United States became painfully aware of the threat posed by global jihadism after the terror attacks of September 11, 2001. Until that day, Iranian-backed terrorist networks, such as Hezbolla...
Op-eds
The Death of A Marja
The passing of Grand Ayatollah Sayyed Mohammad Hussein Fadlallah over the weekend marks the end of an era for Lebanese Shiism. What comes next, and who will attempt to fill his shoes as the leadi...
Op-eds
Syriana
In the annals of “big policy ideas,” perhaps none has had as much staying power in the face of a dismal track record than the seemingly perpetual conviction that integrating Syria int...