Central Intelligence Agency

Why the Coming Iranian Elections Will Challenge the Biden Administration

Supreme Leader Ali Khamenei seems inclined to promote a candidate who will quash dissent over someone who could work with the West.

Biden Administration Foreign Policy Tracker: Late May

Analysis: Predicting the coming Taliban offensive

As the U.S. withdraws from Afghanistan after two decades, the Taliban is doubling down on its efforts to retake the country by force of arms to restore its Islamic Emirate. The question isn’t whether...

President Biden Should Refuse to Free Iran’s Proliferation Agents

The Biden administration should condition sanctions relief on Tehran’s termination of hostage-taking. The United States’ European allies, currently negotiating alongside Washington, would be wise to demand the same.

The Realignment

On Iran, Biden is finishing what Obama started. And his top advisers are all on board.

The intersectional CIA

When I first saw the “I am a cisgender millennial” recruitment video for the Central Intelligence Agency, I thought it was a spoof, an attempt to bring Monty Python to Langley. Then, I realized the...

Bin Laden Is Long Gone, but He Sparked a Jihadist Revolution

An Islamic caliphate was his ultimate political goal and remains al-Qaeda’s chief objective to this day.

Turkey Needs to Change its Policy and Rhetoric Toward Religious Minorities

Turkish president Recep Tayyip Erdogan stunned his country’s Christians and Jews by publicly using the slur “gavur” (infidel), a pejorative designation for non-Muslims, to criticize...

Iran Is More Than Persia

Ethnic Politics in the Islamic Republic

America’s mission in Afghanistan isn’t accomplished

The Taliban and al-Qaeda remain threats to the Afghan government — and to Americans.

The Flawed Reasoning Behind Biden’s Afghanistan Withdrawal

The president isn’t all wrong about leaving Afghanistan, but he misunderstands the history of the war and the terrorist threat emanating from the region.

Saudi Arabia Sentences Aid Worker to 20 Years

Saudi Arabia last week sentenced Abdulrahman al-Sadhan, a 37-year-old aid worker for the Saudi Red Crescent, to 20 years of imprisonment followed by a 20-year travel ban for tweets criticizing the government,...

OPCW Member States Must Counter Russian Obstruction

Why Assad crossed Obama’s red line

He calculated, correctly, that he could commit war crimes with impunity

Joe Biden Shouldn’t Return to the Iran Deal

But he probably will anyway.

Armenia’s nuclear power plant is dangerous. Time to close it.

In late 2020, the Armenian government announced that its Metsamor nuclear power plant would close for five months in 2021 to attempt significant upgrades. Soon after, the EU urged Armenia to make the closure...

What Red Line Tells Us About Syria’s Chemical Weapons

Book review: Joby Warrick’s book brings to life the history and reaction to Syria’s chemical weapons program and the difficulty in eliminating it.

Russia-Turkey Pincer Movement Threatens Ecumenical Patriarchate’s Survival

It is time the West offered robust support to the Istanbul-based Patriarchate – now being squeezed by Ankara and Moscow, both of which see it as a threat to their illiberal projects.

What’s wrong with appeasement?

Only the fact that concessions don’t actually conciliate despots

A strong offense can decrease cyberattacks on critical infrastructure

Excerpt After years of malicious cyber activity targeting U.S. critical infrastructure, hackers linked to Russia recently infiltrated numerous American companies and federal government agencies, including...