Middle East

Is a ‘New Middle East’ Still Possible?

With a weakened Iranian regime, middle powers on the edge of the Middle East will increasingly drive regional dynamics.

Turkey’s Missile Ambitions Should Alarm Europe and the United States

For years, European officials viewed Turkey’s growing defense industry as an important asset. Turkish drones proved effective in conflicts from Libya to Nagorno-Karabakh and Ukraine. Ankara...

Hezbollah Is Using FPV Drones Attached to Fiber Optic Cables That Are Impossible to Jam to Attack Israeli Soldiers

The Israeli Air Force struck a Hezbollah drone launch position in Lebanon on May 9. Hezbollah is using First Person View (FPV) drones attached to fiber optic cables to attack Israeli soldiers. Fiber-optic...

Can the NPT Survive Amid Global Disorder? 

The 2026 NPT Review Conference is unfolding against a backdrop of geopolitical upheaval. Absent strong U.S. leadership inside and outside the conference, even modest success appears remote.

Hamas commander Izz al Din al Haddad targeted in Israeli airstrike

Izz al Din al Haddad. (Khaled Safi on X) Israeli military aircraft attacked an apartment building in Gaza City’s Rimal neighborhood on Friday, targeting Hamas’s military chief, Izz al Din al...

Trump and Xi talk Strait past each other at summit

Trump and Xi met face-to-face, but their minds are worlds apart. Both sides described this week’s summit as constructive and there were no major surprises, but based on initial readouts, the two leaders...

Iran-Backed Houthis Assist Resurgent Somali Pirates

The western section of the Indian Ocean, with its key trade routes and its maritime chokepoints, has faced no shortage of crises between disruptions caused by the Houthis in Yemen and their backers in...

Israel trains new civilian security squads for 67 Gaza border communities

In early May, in the Nir Oz community on the Gaza border, members of a new civilian volunteer security team completed their second of eight training sessions conducted as part of a new program. Magen 48,...

The underground financial system keeping Iran afloat amid war, sanctions

A man walks into a Dubai currency exchange, intending to send money to Iran. He hands over $50,000 in cash, and provides a name and a location. Hours later, the money reaches a...

In Texas K-12 Public Schools, Qatari Money Funded Jewish Conspiracy Content

Foreign influence is reaching into our children’s schools in Texas and around the United States. Kids are being exposed to lesson plans and textbooks stained with propaganda and even antisemitism. Who...

Turkey’s Maritime Strategy Heightens the Risk of a New Eastern Mediterranean Crisis

Ankara’s New Legislative Initiative May Appear Technical or Bureaucratic, but It Represents a Calculated Escalation by Erdoğan

Iraqi security forces and politicians react to reports of ‘secret’ Israeli base

Iraqi politicians and security forces have responded to a May 9 report in The Wall Street Journal claiming that “Israel built and defended a secret Iran war base in Iraq.” The news provoked...

Turkey’s corridor dream won’t beat IMEC – but it could still reshape Eurasian trade

War has a way of redrawing maps – not just political ones, but commercial ones as well. The outbreak of conflict with Iran has disrupted longstanding trade arteries linking Asia to Europe, from Persian...

New U.S. Counterterrorism Strategy Spotlights Muslim Brotherhood

Amid the war with Iran, the Trump administration has not forgotten about the Muslim Brotherhood. On May 6, the White House released its 2026 counterterrorism strategy,  identifying the Muslim Brotherhood...

Protests in Syria’s Kurdish region highlight demand for rights

Protesters in Hasaka in eastern Syria tore down a government billboard at the Justice Palace on May 7. The protests by local Kurdish residents came after the Syrian government changed the...

Europe is writing itself out of the Middle East

The case for suspending the EU-Israel Association Agreement on grounds of human rights is a powerful argument – as long as one doesn't look at what else Europe is doing in the region

Previewing the Trump-Xi Summit 

Russian security assistance is creating problems on the Korean Peninsula

In a unique episode of father-daughter bonding, Kim Jong Un and his teenage daughter, Kim Ju Ae, observed a ballistic missile test on April 19 in which North Korea launched five missiles with...

KMT Risks Missing the Lessons of the Wars in Ukraine and Iran

Taiwan's opposition Kuomintang is poised to pass a defense budget that falls short of the lessons wars in Ukraine and the Middle East have made unmistakably clear on drones, layered air defense, and offensive deterrence. With the 2026 and 2028 elections approaching, can it afford to keep signaling weakness on the issue that matters most?

Oversights Mar Low-End Estimate of Tehran’s Nuclear Weapons Timeline

U.S. intelligence assessments have concluded that Iran is now 9 to12 months away from being able to build a nuclear weapon, according to a Reuters report. Taken at face value, the report would indicate...