Violence in Gaza, Yemen and Syria Tests Middle East – and the Trump Administration
EXPERT INTERVIEW – Just a few weeks ago, the Middle East seemed in a rare moment of relative calm: ceasefires were holding in Gaza and […] More
Hamas
Why Jordan and Egypt Are Critical to Trump’s Gaza Proposal
BOTTOM LINE UP FRONT – On Tuesday, with Jordan’s King Abdullah II at his side, President Donald Trump exuded confidence that the Arab world will […] More
Expert Q&A: Trump’s Proposal Sparks Call for ‘Practical’ Change in Gaza
EXPERT Q&A — The Cipher Brief turned to Ambassador Dennis Ross to discuss President Donald Trump’s proposal to “take over” Gaza, and the debate it has […] More
Could Trump’s Shocking Plan for Gaza Lead Anywhere?
BOTTOM LINE UP FRONT – As President Donald Trump doubles down on his idea of a U.S. takeover of Gaza, Arab governments are also doubling […] More
The Latest
Iran, the Nuclear Program, and Trump 2.0
As the second Trump Administration took office, it found a Middle East landscape that had been transformed dramatically in the last year alone. Nowhere is […] More
How a Gaza Deal Could Change the Middle East
BOTTOM LINE UP FRONT — Might a Gaza peace agreement bring benefit beyond the besieged Gaza Strip? That’s the tantalizing hope expressed by several U.S. officials […] More
Correcting the Record on the IDF and Lethal Targeting
OPINION — Just because they could, they did. That is the gist of a recent New York Times article suggesting the Israel Defense Forces (IDF) made […] More
8 Global Security Questions For 2025
SPECIAL REPORT — Given how unpredictable 2024 proved to be – did anyone foresee the fall of Bashar Al-Assad, the decapitation of Hezbollah, an invasion of […] More
Memo to the 47th President: A New and Dangerous Middle East
EDITOR’S NOTE — Since Donald Trump’s victory in the November 5 election, The Cipher Brief has reached out to our network of experts for thoughts on what the […] More
Lessons from Israel’s Tale of Two Fronts
OPINION — On Oct 6th, Hamas was ready to launch an audacious attack. It was complex, involved thousands of fighters, and aimed to kill, capture, […] More
Iran’s ‘Ring of Fire’ Is In Trouble. What Comes Next?
DEEP DIVE — It may be the most consequential change to the Middle East since the October 7, 2023 Hamas attacks against Israel, and the wars […] More
How Trump’s Win Alters the Landscape in the Middle East
DEEP DIVE — The Middle East has changed dramatically since President Donald Trump left office in 2021. An always-tense part of the world has seen an […] More
Militant Islam is Under Attack – But Its Root Causes Endure
OPINION — As the Israeli assault on Gaza passes the 13-month mark, and as Hezbollah reels under the massive Israeli bombing campaign on its leaders […] More
Israel’s New Military and Security Strategy: Could it Work?
EXPERT INTERVIEW — The Israel-Iran conflict has intensified in unprecedented ways over the past year, since Hamas — one of Iran’s anti-Israel proxy militias — breached […] More
After Sinwar: Questions for Israel, Iran and the Mideast Wars
BOTTOM LINE UP FRONT — Israel announced Thursday that it had killed its most wanted man, the Hamas leader Yahya Sinwar, an act that several Cipher […] More
Sinwar is Dead. What Does it Mean for Power Dynamics in the Region?
EXPERT Q&A – In what many Cipher Brief Experts are calling one of the most significant events in the year-long war in Gaza, the killing […] More
Might Sinwar Killing Lead to Peace in Gaza?
DEEP DIVE — More than a year after Israeli leaders unleashed a punishing war to destroy Hamas, the end for Hamas leader Yahya Sinwar came in […] More
Behind the U.S. Letter – and Ultimatum – To Israel
DEEP DIVE — It’s one of those “private” documents that was almost certainly written for public consumption. A spokesman for Secretary of State Antony Blinken insisted […] More
Could Israeli Attacks Prompt Changes in Iranian Intelligence?
OPINION — Iran’s intelligence services, particularly its Ministry of Intelligence (MOIS), must have been awestruck by Israel’s late-September airstrike on Hezbollah’s underground Beirut headquarters. The Israeli […] More