Tehran’s Trump Trap
Iran is seeking to gain leverage while hoping that Washington will misread its own weakness and fear as goodwill and restraint.
Joe Biden
‘Common Strategy’: Secretary of State Rubio Visits Israel, Meets With Netanyahu
Rubio in Israel: U.S. Secretary of State Marco Rubio met with Israeli officials on February 16 during his first visit to the country as the top U.S. diplomat, reiterating the United...
Flash Briefs
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
Israel SitRep: February 14, 2025
Today’s Issue: | IDF Chief of Staff Meets With Surveillance Soldiers Released by Hamas; Apologizes For Ignoring Their Warnings | Alma: Iran Assisting With Hezbollah’s Reconstruction Project for Shiites,...
Israel at War Situation Report
Disruptions and Challenges in the Middle East
Significant challenges await the Trump administration’s attention.
Op-eds
Marco Rubio must convince Europe that ‘America First 2.0’ has replaced Biden-era US decline
Secretary of State Marco Rubio has a historic opportunity at this week’s Munich Security Conference to define what an “America First” foreign policy means for Europe in President Trump’s second...
Op-eds
The Trump Administration Acts to Arm Israel and Signals Desire to Reform U.S. Security Assistance
The Trump administration formally notified Congress on Friday that it plans to sell Israel over $8 billion in weapons, advancing sales that the Biden administration slow-rolled for months. The Trump administration’s...
Insights
Trump’s question for Arab rulers
Are they with America or against America?
Op-eds
Trump Administration Foreign Policy Tracker: February
Welcome to the inaugural edition of the Trump Administration Foreign Policy Tracker. As readers of our Biden Administration Foreign Policy Tracker will know, this is a monthly publication...
Policy Tracker
PA to Modify ‘Pay to Slay’ Policy in Apparent Overture to Trump
PA Reportedly Agrees to U.S. Demands to Modify Terror Incentives: Palestinian Authority (PA) officials have reportedly informed the Trump administration that the Palestinian government is prepared to reform...
Flash Briefs
Nuclear Power Plant Project Highlights Turkish Role in Russia’s Sanctions Evasion
The United States dealt Russian efforts to evade international sanctions a significant blow by ordering the American bank J.P. Morgan to freeze $2 billion of Russian funds destined for Turkey. The move...
Policy Briefs
The major opportunity Trump is giving Israel? Not what you think
It is no coincidence that Secretary of State Marco Rubio and National Security Adviser Michael Waltz clarified that the US does not intend to use military force in Gaza and does not support the forced removal of the Gazan population.
Op-eds
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
Trump Takes Aim: Executive Order Targets China’s Role in the Fentanyl Epidemic
Frustrated by Beijing’s failure to curb fentanyl precursor production and transshipment, the Trump administration issued a sweeping executive order outlining China’s role in facilitating synthetic...
Policy Briefs
Trump must keep arming Ukraine if he wants a good peace deal
Europe must do its fair share, but it cannot carry the burden alone.
Op-eds
‘No Jurisdiction Over the United States or Israel’: Trump Signs Executive Order Sanctioning International Criminal Court
Trump Signs Executive Order Sanctioning the ICC: President Donald Trump signed an executive order on February 6 sanctioning the International Criminal Court (ICC) for targeting...
Flash Briefs
Iran May Be on the Verge of a Nuclear Weapon; Will Israel and the United States Act?
US President Donald Trump and Israeli Prime Minister Netanyahu just met in Washington — and not a moment too soon. A team of scientists in Iran is reportedly working to short-cut Tehran’s route to nuclear weapons in case the Iranian leadership orders their complete construction.
Op-eds
What does – and doesn’t – make sense about Trump’s Gaza plan
‘The US will take over the Gaza Strip – and we will do a job with it, too’, Donald Trump has said. He also stated that the US would ‘own’ it.
Op-eds
Defeating the Houthis
Biden didn’t try; Trump can and should
Op-eds
Israel SitRep: February 5, 2025
February 5, 2025 | Israel at War Situation Report Israel SitRep: February 5, 2025 Today’s Issue: | IDF Eliminates 55 Terrorists and Arrests 380 in West Bank Operations in January; Operations Are...