Trump Administration Foreign Policy Tracker: March
Welcome back to the Trump Administration Foreign Policy Tracker. Once a month, we ask FDD’s experts and scholars to assess the administration’s foreign policy. They provide trendlines...
India
In Sign of Deepening Ties, China Signs Agreements With Cook Islands
China has increased its presence in Oceania, undermining regional confidence in the United States and threatening sea lines critical for Australia’s and New Zealand’s security. On February 22, China...
Policy Briefs
Turkey Marginalized? How Trump’s Middle East Strategy is Rewriting Alliances
Nearly a month into Donald Trump’s second term as U.S. President, we are beginning to see the contours of his foreign policy in the Middle East. Having campaigned on a promise to prioritize American...
Op-eds
U.S. Should Rescind Sanctions Waiver for Iranian Port at Chabahar
Donald Trump has reignited Washington’s economic war on Tehran, and New Delhi is now caught in the crossfire. India signed a 10-year deal in 2024 to develop and operate the port of Chabahar on Iran’s...
Policy Briefs
Iran Takes Delivery of Drone Ship as Supreme Leader Downplays Potential for New Nuclear Talks With Trump Administration
New Iranian Drone Carrier Delivered: Iran’s Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC) Navy received its first drone carrier ship, according to Iranian state media reports on February...
Flash Briefs
U.S. Treasury Should Target Iran’s Trading Partners
“Make Iran broke again,” declared Scott Bessent, the incoming Treasury secretary, shortly before his confirmation. That is a realistic goal given Iran’s isolation from the international financial...
Policy Briefs
Who’s afraid of China? Palau inauguration calls bluff of ‘friends to all, enemies to none’
For all the regional talk of “Pacific family” and “friends to all enemies to none” who did – and who didn’t – show up for the Jan. 16 inauguration of Palau President Surangel S. Whipps Jr....
Op-eds
Deconstructing the Inauguration: No, not that one
We have a country that is geopolitically sophisticated, with close ties to the U.S., Japan and Taiwan, and is in a highly strategic location. So who showed up to Palau’s party, and who didn’t?
Op-eds
Trump’s year of opportunity against Iran
What began as a year of resilience for Iran ended with the tide unmistakably turned against the Islamic Republic. Its Axis of Resistance is shattered, its currency is in freefall, its major cities...
Op-eds
Russia enters 2025 at a crossroads in a post-Assad Middle East
Having lost it's Syrian ally in the former Assad regime, Russia is shifting forces from Syria to other places.
Op-eds
Iran is trying to spin Syria crisis for its benefit
Iran is pushing several narratives via state media, including blaming US and Israel for toppling Assad regime, and turning to Russia and other countries.
Op-eds
How to Bring Back Maximum Pressure on Iran
At the end of 2020, the Islamic Republic of Iran was down to just $4 billion in accessible foreign exchange reserves. Its terrorist mastermind, Qassem Solemani, and the godfather of its nuclear weapons...
Op-eds
After COP29, Israel and the Region Can Reaffirm the Abraham Accords Vision
Cooperation on climate change is both an environmental necessity and a proven means of building peace with Israel’s Arab neighbors.
Op-eds
U.S. Sanctions Key Russian Banks, Yet Financial System Remains Accessible
The United States on Thursday sanctioned Russia’s third-largest bank, Gazprombank, the last major financial institution in the country that has escaped designation from Washington until now. While this...
Policy Briefs
Out with the old in the Old World: How Trump can usher in Eastern Europe’s moment
“In times of rapid change,” remarked industrialist J. Paul Getty, “experience could be your worst enemy.” For those in Washington, Brussels, and Berlin who are panicking about what a second...
Op-eds
Germany Shuts Down Iranian Consulates, Urges Sanctions Following Citizen’s Execution
Germany will close all three of its Iranian consulates in response to the Islamic Republic’s execution of a German-Iranian dual citizen and prominent dissident earlier this week,...
Flash Briefs
Putin’s cash crunch
It’s time for Europe and the US to tighten the financial screws on Russia and accelerate an end to the war.
Op-eds
North Korean Troops in Ukraine: Are We on the Path to World War III?
A new version of the defunct Warsaw Pact is emerging in front of our eyes. With Russia and China as its two major driving forces, joined by regional powers such as North Korea and Iran, that brings with it its proxy terror organizations.
Op-eds
Iran Executes German-Iranian Dissident Who Lived in California
Tehran executed Jamshid Sharmahd, a German-Iranian dual national who lived in Los Angeles for some two decades, Iranian state media reported on October 28. Iranian security forces...
Flash Briefs
Hamas Official Visiting Moscow Moots Hostage Release as ‘Gesture to Our Russian Friends’
Latest Developments Senior Hamas official Mousa Abu Marzouk met with Russian officials in Moscow on October 24, telling Russian media that Hamas was willing to prioritize the release of two hostages...