Trump’s question for Arab rulers
Are they with America or against America?
Empress Elisabeth of Austria
How the State Department Circumvented US Law
The U.S. decision to grant Egypt its full allotment of $1.3 billion in military aid, despite Egypt’s ongoing human rights abuses, represents a troubling circumvention of U.S. law. Of this sum, $320...
Op-eds
Turkey’s Erdogan must take concrete action on Hamas and the Muslim Brotherhood
Prior to the devastating earthquakes that struck Turkey in early February, President Recep Tayyip Erdogan was attempting to pull off several foreign policy magic tricks ahead of the country’s May...
Op-eds
Why Palestinian Islamic Jihad Rockets Kill So Many Palestinians
Roughly 200 Gaza rockets misfired in the recent conflict, killing at least 15 civilians. So why are Islamic Jihad’s projectiles so fatally unreliable? And what are Iran’s plans for its proxy?
Op-eds
Trump Is Crude. But He’s Right About Saudi Arabia.
On the strategic questions that matter in the Middle East, the president is cleareyed.
Op-eds
Why the Saudis despised Jamal Khashoggi
With the likelihood growing that the Saudi government was behind the murder of Jamal Khashogg...
Op-eds
U.S. Bright Star Participation and the Push for Egyptian Reform
U.S. and Egyptian military forces, beginning Saturday, will participate in a joint exercise in Egypt called “Bright Sta...
Policy Briefs
The problem with promoting democracy
In a better world, I’d be enthusiastically in favor of democracy promotion and even nation-building -- more correctly called state-building. But we don’t live in a better world....
Op-eds
The Egyptian riddle
With presidential elections coming up on March 26, Egypt’s capital is festooned with campaign billboards and posters. That’s an encouraging sight in the Middle East, and yet I sense t...
Op-eds
Not So Fast
On January 19, the Pentagon released its new National Defense Strategy. The second paragraph of the 14-page declassified summary painted a dire picture. “Today, we are emerging from a perio...
Op-eds
Stand up against these terror groups to bolster the US-Egypt alliance
The Trump administration sent shock waves through Cairo last month when it denied Egypt almost $100 million in military and economic assistance. The Senate followed up by slashing military assist...
Op-eds
Hamas’s New Document: More of the Same
Hamas’s outgoing political leader Khaled Meshaal announced the release of a...
Policy Briefs
Russia’s Charm Offensive in North Africa
With the world’s attention focused on the question of Russian influence in the United States and the European Union, the Kremlin is quietly making inroads in anot...
Op-eds
Trump Offers Sisi Praise, but Unclear What Else
Egyptian President Abdel-Fattah al-Sisi traveled to Washington on Monday for his first-ever Whi...
Policy Briefs
A Temporary Thaw in Egyptian-PA Relations
Egyptian President Abdel Fattah al-Sisi...
Policy Briefs
Analysis: Saudi-Egypt deals part of Gulf effort to unite Sunnis against Iran
Recently signed agreements between Saudi Arabia and Egypt appear to be part of a broader Saudi effort to build a regional Sunni alliance against Iran, yet the results of such an alliance are stil...
Op-eds
Inside The Slow-Burning Internal Crisis That’s Gripping The Palestinian Leadership
"Palestine cannot be run by bullying, dictatorship and the falsification of facts which Mahmoud Abbas and his gang use on daily basis.” So ...
Op-eds
Terrorist Attack In Paris Proves We Must Defeat The Islamist Jihadists
Ever since 9/11, Western leaders have scrambled to convince the public of two things: that terrorist acts are not driven by religious beliefs, and that Islam is a “religi...
Op-eds
Blockbuster Story. Spiked!
I had lunch yesterday with three gentlemen who are very well read, who follow the news attentively, and who would shudder to think they are victims of ideological censorship. Yet not one of them...
Op-eds
Sinai Crisis Binds Egypt and Israel
Last week, Sinai-based extremists targeted the North Sinai security headquarters with a massive blast, causing damag...