When Syrian President Ahmed al-Sharaa officially assumed power after the fall of Bashar al-Assad in January 2025, he pledged to preserve “civil peace,” rebuild Syria’s military and security institutions, and restore state authority after years of fragmentation and civil war. It was an appealing proposition. Under Assad, weak…
The Israel-Lebanon agreement at the very least works against the equation established by the memorandum of understanding (MOU) between Iran and the U.S. As Hussein Aboubakr Mansour observes, this equation is as disturbing to Gulf governments as it is to Jerusalem: If…
U.S. President Donald Trump launched the war against Iran in part to remove the ballistic-missile threat he long railed against. On June 17, he announced that Iran can keep them. At the G7 summit in France, Trump said Iran’s missiles only “hurt a…
Excerpt Below: In 38 days of war, beginning on Feb. 28, the United States and Israel decapitated Iran’s leadership, and pummeled its missile and drone arsenals, defense industry, air defenses and navy. The Iranian regime was on its back and…
On Thursday morning, President Donald Trump threatened to hit Iran “VERY HARD,” seize its main oil export terminal at Kharg Island, and take “total control” of its energy industry. By the afternoon, he’d canceled it all on indications that Iran had approved “discussions…
The U.S. is spending billions of dollars to degrade Iran’s military. Iran is spending a fraction of that to degrade America’s society using social media platforms as a force multiplier. America must defend itself by ensuring proper transparency on the source and authenticity of social media…
For years, military doctrine in the United States and Israel rested on a powerful but flawed assumption: that clear superiority of arms would deter conflict or, failing that, bring wars to a swift and successful conclusion. The wars of this…
While the Iran war is currently on hold, the race to study and apply its lessons has only just begun. Distilled into three main points, the war demonstrated that the U.S. military is a) now proficient, though not exceptional, at…
Today, a consequential fault line in the Middle East runs not just between Riyadh and Tehran but between Riyadh and Abu Dhabi — two capitals that share a region, a border, and a security patron, but little else in terms…
IF THERE IS ONE STORY FROM THE PAST WEEK that best represents the brave new world we are entering as the Trump administration continues its dismantling of the much derided “liberal international order” that was underpinned by U.S. military power,…