Western Hemisphere

September 25, 2024 | Richard Goldberg |

Iran on the March: Restoring Deterrence and Stability in the Middle East

A Response By Richard Goldberg

September 18, 2024 | Emanuele Ottolenghi |

Iran Is Using Foreign Islamic Centers to Spread Terror and Hatred; the World Must Close Them

Last month, Germany announced that it would deport Mohammed Mofatteh, the former director of Hamburg’s Shi’a Islamic Center, which local authorities had ordered shut down five weeks earlier for propagating extremism, and for its financial links to Hezbollah. ...

August 5, 2024 | Ivana Stradner, Jason Jay Smart

Maduro Is Putin’s Proxy and Must Be Stopped

After claiming victory in what observers deem to be falsified elections, Venezuela’s autocrat is benefitting from Putin’s support. It is in America’s strategic interest to defeat both of them.

July 19, 2024 | Toby Dershowitz, Emanuele Ottolenghi

The AMIA Bombing: Thirty Years Later

Victims of Iranian and Hezbollah terrorism in Argentina now have hope of bringing their perpetrators to justice.

June 28, 2024 | Richard Goldberg, Connor Pfeiffer

Post-Biden, we must secure the border to address the looming national-security threat

Just two days after that 50 ISIS-linked illegal migrants were on the loose somewhere in the United States, President Biden dismissed the threat of terrorists entering our...

June 22, 2024 | Emanuele Ottolenghi |

Nicaragua, Venezuela, and Cuba Exploit the U.S. Border Crisis

Latin America’s authoritarians are cooperating to increase illegal immigration to the United States.

May 23, 2024 | Sinan Ciddi |

Erdogan’s Turkey: Champion of Hamas, and an adversary of the West

Press conferences convened by heads of government, are usually carefully planned and choreographed occasions. Typically, prior to taking the podium, each leader’s staff usually finesse their agreed-upon...

April 25, 2024 | |

Iran Rebuffs Argentine Request for Extradition of Key Terrorist Mastermind

Tehran on April 24 rejected an Argentine request for the extradition of Iran’s interior minister for his alleged role in the 1994 bombing of the AMIA Jewish community center in...

November 8, 2023 | |

Brazilian Authorities Disrupt Hezbollah Plot 

Two alleged Hezbollah agents were detained by Brazilian authorities for plotting to carry out terror attacks against Jewish targets in Brazil. The arrest of the Brazilian-Lebanese...

October 28, 2023 | Emanuele Ottolenghi |

Hezbollah’s Terror Threat In Latin America

In the land of symmetrical war, the asymmetrical warrior is king. The U.S. and Israeli governments are rightly concerned that Hezbollah – Iran’s oldest and best-armed proxy – could open a second front in the Israel-Hamas conflict. But who says Hezbollah would limit itself to striking U.S. or Israeli targets in the Middle East? 
For decades, Hezbollah has patiently built a global web of networks, engaged in illicit financial activities, and supported terrorist plots. Hezbollah and Iran have repeatedly struck at Israeli, Jewish, and other Western targets overseas. Latin America is a region of particular concern in this respect, for several reasons. 
Emanuele Ottolenghi is a Senior Fellow at the Foundation for Defense of Democracies.

September 13, 2023 | |

U.S. Treasury Sanctions Latin America-Based Hezbollah Financial Network

The U.S. Department of the Treasury on September 12 sanctioned three people and their Latin American-based companies for conducting illicit financial activities for Hezbollah. The...

July 13, 2023 | |

Iran’s President Conducts Influence Tour in Sub-Saharan Africa

Iranian President Ebrahim Raisi wrapped up the final leg of his three-day visit to Sub-Saharan Africa with a stop in Zimbabwe on July 13, seeking to bolster Iran’s influence, trade, and business...

June 30, 2023 | Elaine K. Dezenski |

Washington Needs a New Economic Security Framework for the Americas

Washington must bring powerful answers to pressing issues in the region: populism, political unrest, and disinformation; water and food insecurity; extreme weather; mass migration; the evolving drug trade; money laundering and corruption; and weakened democratic institutions.

June 21, 2023 | Emanuele Ottolenghi |

In the Tri-Border Area, Hezbollah Agents Are Again in the Wind 

An Argentinian federal judge issued an international arrest warrant last week against four Lebanese nationals suspected of involvement in the July 1994 terror attack against the AMIA building, the Jewish...

June 16, 2023 | Emanuele Ottolenghi |

Tehran Takes Caracas

On Monday, Iranian president Ebrahim Raisi began a five-day tour of Venezuela, Cuba, and Nicaragua, three Latin American countries governed by authoritarian, anti-Western regimes. Raisi’s three predecessors...

June 13, 2023 | |

Iran’s Raisi Embarks on Five-Day Tour of Latin American Countries

Iranian President Ebrahim Raisi landed in Caracas on June 12, the first stop of a five-day visit to Venezuela, Cuba, and Nicaragua. Accompanying Raisi is a large delegation, including the Iranian ministers...

April 19, 2023 | Clifford D. May |

Losing Latin America

The U.S. retreats while China’s Communist rulers advance

March 24, 2023 | Elaine K. Dezenski |

The United States’ Energy Future Needs Critical Minerals—and Latin America

Energy is a weapon in wartime and a key to prosperity in peacetime. As the world moves towards greater adoption of renewable energy sources and electric vehicles, we need to ensure that America’s...

January 28, 2023 | Sinan Ciddi |

Only America Can Resolve the Cyprus Question

Without a viable solution to the Cyprus dispute, Western security will remain in a perpetual state of fragility.

January 18, 2023 | Toby Dershowitz |

A Prosecutor Was Murdered for Investigating Iran and Argentinian Corruption

Argentina has “serious corruption problems,” according to Transparency International’s Corruption Perception Index. Will this regrettable condition continue to conceal the truth behind the identity...