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Middle East

SAUDI-YEMEN-US-ISRAEL-IRAN-WAR

How Far Should the U.S. Go to Defend Saudi Arabia?

Recent deadly attacks by Yemen's Iranian-backed Houthis inside of Saudi Arabia have raised questions about just how far the U.S. should go in helping [...] More

Middle East Expert View

The Latest

Afghanistan Lost the Cognitive War Before It Lost the State

Masoud Andarabi

Afghanistan Lost the Cognitive War Before It Lost the State

The collapse of Afghanistan in August 2021 is still widely interpreted as a military or political failure. That interpretation is [...] More

Middle East
Propaganda paintings with american flag an "Down with the USA text" in Tehran, Iran - stock photo

What Iran Wants and How It Can Still Fight

U.S. Vice President JD Vance is touting success out of the latest round of talks in Switzerland focused on seeking a permanent end to the war in [...] More

Middle East Iran
U.S. Continues Maritime Blockade In Strait Of Hormuz

Middle East at the Brink: Norm Roule on Iran, Israel, and the High-Stakes Struggle Taking Shape

As tensions between Israel and Iran continue to evolve following a weekend Iranian ballistic missile attack against Israel, policymakers and markets [...] More

Middle East Iran
Cybersecurity Photo Illustrations

Iran's Digital War Machine Targeting U.S. Infrastructure

The first missile strikes hadn’t even cooled before Iranian-linked hackers were moving. When the U.S. and Israel launched military operations against [...] More

Middle East Iran
CHINA-RUSSIA-IRAN-DIPLOMACY

How Russia and China are keeping Iran lethal

The ceasefire between the United States and Iran is barely holding. Pakistani mediators are still shuttling between capitals, fighting has flared in [...] More

Middle East Iran

Houthi's are Positioned to Close the Bab el-Mandeb Strait

Chip Usher

Houthi's are Positioned to Close the Bab el-Mandeb Strait

Despite suffering heavy losses to combined U.S.-Israeli military strikes, the Iranian regime remains defiant. It’s recent reluctance to send a [...] More

Middle East Chip Usher

Trump, Iran, and the Stress Test of Western Alliances

Sami Omari

Trump, Iran, and the Stress Test of Western Alliances

The war with Iran has grown beyond just a regional war; it is also a preliminary test of the cohesion of Western alliances under President Donald [...] More

Alternative Perspectives Iran Middle East
Iranian president meets with Putin, discusses ways to boost cooperation in all sectors

What Iran Is Learning from Russia’s War and Why the U.S. Should Be Concerned

KREMLIN FILES/COLUMN: The war in Ukraine is often framed by optimistic academics, and some policymakers as a cautionary tale—an example of how [...] More

Middle East Iran
U.S. And Israel Wage War Against Iran

U.S. Intel’s Sobering Assessment of Iran’s War Resilience

Six weeks into Operation Epic Fury, with airstrikes having killed a sitting supreme leader, wiped out scores of top military and intelligence [...] More

Middle East Iran

A Declining Demand for Strategic Intelligence? U.S. and Israeli cases

Itai Shapira

A Declining Demand for Strategic Intelligence? U.S. and Israeli cases

Strategic intelligence, usually perceived as intelligence supporting the formulation of strategy, has always had limited influence over national [...] More

Itai Shapira Middle East Israel

Iran War Scorecard Looks Bad for America’s Strategic Interests

Beth Sanner

Iran War Scorecard Looks Bad for America’s Strategic Interests

While the war has yet to conclude, we have enough information to create a preliminary net assessment of its effects on U.S. security and prosperity. [...] More

Middle East Iran Beth Sanner

While the U.S. Focuses on Iran, Russia and China See Strategic Gain

Dave Pitts

While the U.S. Focuses on Iran, Russia and China See Strategic Gain

Russia and China are certainly concerned about the desperate state of Iran’s regime, an invaluable transactional partner to both countries. Yet they [...] More

Middle East Iran Dave Pitts