Don’t Forget the Air Highways
While U.S. Secretary of Transportation Pete Buttigieg is focusing his remaining months in office on attaining compensation fees for U.S. air travelers, a much bigger threat to air travel and transport...
Tbilisi
Georgia’s democratic opposition is begging for our help
It's time to sanction the oligarchs that are pulling the country into Russia's orbit.
Op-eds
Iranian Terrorist Attack on Israelis Thwarted in Cyprus
An Iranian terrorist attack against Israelis in Cyprus was foiled, said Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu on June 25. The statement followed a Cypriot newspaper report about a counterterrorist...
Flash Briefs
Putin’s hybrid warfare diverts Western attention and resources from Ukraine
If America wants to end the Ukraine war, the first step is to see the conflict through the Kremlin’s eyes. Russian President Vladimir Putin’s tanks and jets might not be powerful, but his hybrid-warfare...
Op-eds
Iran Caught Again Trying to Kill Israeli Civilians Abroad
Georgia’s state security announced last Tuesday the arrest of a Pakistani national affiliated with al-Qaeda and of two Iranian nationals who attempted to murder a prominent Israeli in the capital of Tbilisi. An Israeli media report, citing an unnamed Israeli security official, said the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps’ (IRGC) Quds Force orchestrated the assassination attempt, which sought to target Israeli-Georgian businessman Itzik Moshe. Georgian security alleged the would-be attacker received weapons from Iranian citizens living in the country via drop-offs and hideouts.
Flash Briefs
Grounded: Why Biden Must Sanction Iranian Aviation
Iran’s airlift does not rely on a massive fleet. The Biden administration’s sanctions arsenal can make a difference.
Op-eds
Russia-Georgia 2008: a Blueprint for Russia-Ukraine 2022?
The Olympics were about to start in Beijing. Thousands of miles to the west, Russia was wrapping up a big military exercise in a border region. Across the border, women and children were evacuated from...
Insights
Unfinished Business
How a Department of Justice forfeiture complaint may be an opening gambit against Iranian sanctions’ evasion.
Op-eds
Snap-Back: A Journey Through Iranian Sanctions Evasion in Georgia
Two Iranian truck drivers sat idly in the parking area of the Poti Free Industrial Zone(FIZ), waiting for customs authoriti...
Op-eds
The Central Pillar Supporting the Iran Deal Has a Big Crack In It
There is a key flaw in the emerging nuclear deal with Iran that is likely to quickly turn this historic agreement into a monumental failure. The most important thing Iran gets from a dea...
Op-eds
The Sanctions on Iran Are Already Falling Apart
The Obama administration insists that the November 2013 interim nuclear deal with Iran gave Tehran’s economy only limited sanctions relief and that it can respond to Iranian misbe...
Op-eds
How Iran Is Skirting Sanctions in the Southern Caucasus
Proxies and agents, merchants and middlemen, peddlers and enablers of the Iranian regime have been scouring the globe for years in search of ways to evade U.S. sanctions and help Iran acquire nuc...
Op-eds
Prepaid Cards May Be Iran’s Latest Sanctions-Busting Tactic
Is Iran using virtual currency and other new payment methods to circumvent financial sanctions? As recently revealed by an exclusive Reuters ...
Op-eds
Rouhani’s Rooster Tail
Co-authored Bijan R. Kian and David J. Smith Hassan Rouhani, Iran’s new president, is back in Tehran after an all-smiles visit to the United Nations in New York....
Op-eds
Iranian Influence in the South Caucasus and the Surrounding Region
Introduction On behalf of the Foundation for Defense of Democracies, I would like to thank Chairman Burton and Ranking Member Meeks for the opportunity to submit written...
Congressional Testimonies
Georgian Dream Shows Its Dark Side
Georgia's president-elect is putting the country in strong danger of losing its hard won democracy.
Op-eds
In Defeat, Georgia’s President Confounds his Critics
Mikheil Saakashvili's conciliatory reaction to his party's loss in the election seems to prove his critics wrong.
Op-eds
A Russian Victory in Georgia’s Parliamentary Election
Billionaire winner Bidzina Ivanishvili owes his wealth to the Putin regime in Moscow.
Op-eds
Georgia’s Electoral Showdown
Emotions are running high as Georgians vote in a watershed parliamentary election.
Op-eds
Is Iran Behind the Death of its Own Scientists?
The way attacks were conducted against the car of an Israeli diplomat’s wife in Delhi has contributed to an interesting, if disconcerting theory among pundits. Iran’s wave of attacks...