Middle East

May 13, 2026 | Simone Weichselbaum |

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...

May 13, 2026 | Sinan Ciddi |

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

May 12, 2026 | Seth J. Frantzman |

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...

May 11, 2026 | Sinan Ciddi |

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...

May 8, 2026 | Mariam Wahba, Natalie Ecanow

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...

May 8, 2026 | Seth J. Frantzman |

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...

May 8, 2026 | Simone Rodan-Benzaquen |

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

May 7, 2026 | Craig Singleton, Elaine K. Dezenski, RADM (Ret.) Mark Montgomery, Joe Dougherty

Previewing the Trump-Xi Summit 

May 7, 2026 | Logan Rolleigh, Ryan Brobst

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...

May 7, 2026 | Matt Pottinger, Seamus Boyle

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?

May 6, 2026 | Andrea Stricker |

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...

May 6, 2026 | Seth J. Frantzman |

Iran targets Kurdish Iranian opposition groups in northern Iraq

Two Kurdish Iranian opposition groups claimed they were targeted by Iranian attacks on May 5 and 6. The Komala of the Toilers of Kurdistan and the Kurdistan Democratic Party of Iran...

May 6, 2026 | Clifford D. May |

Iran’s rulers are true believers  

That’s why they’re so difficult to deter or constrain

May 5, 2026 | Ahmad Sharawi |

Jordanian Warplanes Strike Drug Traffickers in Southern Syria, Where Damascus Exerts Little Control

In an operation codenamed “Jordanian Deterrence,” Amman’s fighter jets carried out strikes on at least five separate locations in the Syrian governorate of Suwayda on May 2, targeting “sites belonging...

May 1, 2026 | Ben Cohen |

London stabbings shine light on Hamas’s success

Like other countries where anti-Jewish and anti-Israel outrages have reached epidemic proportions, the British public has remained fairly silent in the face of an upsurge in Jew-hatred.

May 1, 2026 | Seth J. Frantzman |

US offers rewards for 3 Iraqi militia leaders

On April 27, the US State Department’s Rewards for Justice program offered a $10 million reward for information on Haydar Muzhir Malak al Saidi, the leader of Harakat Ansar Allah al Awfiya,...

April 30, 2026 | Craig Singleton, Jack Burnham

5 Things To Know About China’s Wartime Support for Iran

China is Iran’s top trading partner and one of the regime’s most important economic lifelines. Beijing is not seeking a wider Middle East war, especially one that threatens energy flows through the...

April 30, 2026 | Daniel Swift |

To Squeeze Hezbollah, Look to West Africa

With Iran blockaded and weakened, Hezbollah may be increasingly dependent on its West African financial schemes.

April 29, 2026 | Reuel Marc Gerecht, Ray Takeyh

Reopening the Strait Is Now Job One in the Iran War

The regime has concluded that the ability to control the route is its ticket to survival and rejuvenation.

April 29, 2026 | Joe Truzman |

2 Jewish men stabbed in London, Ashab al Yamin claims attack

UK authorities declared a terrorist incident in London following a stabbing attack that wounded two Jewish men on April 29. Hours after the stabbings, the Iran-linked front group Ashab al Yamin published a...