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...
North Africa
Reimagining a more realistic “peace process”
“The peace process” is the name we’ve given to decades of attempts to resolve the Palestinian-Israeli conflict. The reality: These diplomatic efforts have never made meaningful...
Op-eds
Deceptive Deja Vu
In France, all right-thinking people know instinctively what the pensée unique is—the socially acceptable view on any subject that ensures a Parisian won’t get axed from the be...
Op-eds
Al-Qaeda in the Islamic Maghreb Relies On Drugs, Human Trafficking to Fund Terror Activities
Washington, D.C., December 7, 2017 – As the Trump Administration...
Press Releases
FDD launches national security and foreign policy podcast “Foreign Podicy”
WASHINGTON, D.C., Nov. 21, 2017 – Focused on the most consequential foreign policy and national security issues facing the United States today, Foundation for Def...
Press Releases
Replacing patriotism with tribalism
Just after last week’s terrorist attack in Barcelona, a pro-Islamic State website posted video from the scene along with a message in Arabic saying, “Terror is filling the hearts of t...
Op-eds
Congress Moves to Reassert Itself in Iran Policy Oversight
This week, Congress moved to sanction Iran, North Korea, and Russia in an attempt to reestablish the utility of financial restraints as a means of challenging the malign behavior of hostile regim...
Policy Briefs
Managing Terrorism Financing Risk in Remittances and Money Transfers
Download the full testimony here....
Legislative Testimonies
As pressure on IS grows, Western officials see terror threat ‘metastasizing’
As forces of an international coalition squeeze the Islamic State in Iraq and Syria, Western officials said they are bracing for a heightened terror threat by battle-hardened foreign fi...
Op-eds
Germany is a Hotbed of Iranian Spy Activity that Targets Israel
The German Interior Ministry notified a Left Party deputy last week that agents from Iran have been some of the most active spies in the Federal Republic between 2007 and 2017, including assassin...
Op-eds
The Real War in ‘Syria’ and the Strategy for Long-Term Victory
Of course I loathe Assad. And of course I despise the Obamans for that phony red line and the subsequent retreat-and-bogus-Russian-deal. But just carrying out vengeance against Assad isn’t...
Op-eds
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
What’s Really Behind Trump’s Laptop Ban
More than 15 years after the September 11 hijackings, the U.S. government has issued yet another warning about airline security. On Tuesday, the Department of Homeland Security (DHS) announced ne...
Op-eds
Despite Recent Losses, Islamic State Still Threatens North and West Africa, FDD Study Finds
(Washington, D.C., Feb. 20 2017) – The decline of the Islamic State in Iraq and Syria may paradoxically help the group in Africa, particularly as state and non-state actors shift resources...
Press Releases
Islamic State 2021
FDD Press
Monographs
Border disputes
Al Qaeda does not value diversity and it’s not an equal opportunity employer. The same can be said of the Islamic State. And when the rulers of the Islamic Republic of Iran want to commit a...
Op-eds
Will the Next Arab Revolt Be in Algeria?
A remarkable series of barely noticed counterterrorism operations, labor strikes, and social protests in Algeria in January showed that the North African country may be facing a year of upheaval....
Op-eds
Defending the civilized world
In an inaugural address that was more purposeful than poetic, President Trump last Friday vowed to “unite the civilized world against radical Islamic terrorism, which we will eradicate from...
Op-eds
Will the next Arab revolt be in Algeria?
A remarkable series of scarcely noticed counter-terrorism operations, labor strikes, and social protests in Algeria last week show the North African country may face a year of upheaval. Six years...
Policy Briefs
Protecting Palestine
Not long ago, I was talking to a Fatah official about Palestinian aspirations, especially his party’s sharp emotions about Hamas, the Palestinian fundamentalist movement that rules Gaza and...