Sadly, the present combination of power players in Tehran seems intent on staying in power: after all, if they were to face the full force of their people’s frustration, they are likely to end up decorating the city’s lampposts and crans – hence their tenacious and brutal grip on the tools of repression. The cracks […]

The April 8 ceasefire between Iran, the United and Israel provides an opportunity to take stock of the degradation to Iran’s core capabilities following more than five weeks of sustained airstrikes by the Israeli and American air forces, and Iranian ballistic missile attacks on Israel, US bases in the Gulf, and Gulf countries themselves.  Recent […]

Russia seized Crimea in 2014 and has held it since. The full-scale invasion of Ukraine in 2022 was supposed to consolidate that position. Instead, it transformed Crimea from a strategic asset into a liability — contested, costly, and increasingly difficult to defend. Before 2022, Kyiv sought to reclaim Crimea through diplomatic means. There was no […]

For decades, Poland has been one of the most pro-American countries in Europe, and often the most pro-American of all. That is now beginning to change, and Washington should treat this trend as a strategic warning. In 2024, 86 percent of Poles viewed the United States favorably, the highest figure among all countries surveyed by […]

The end of the Israel-U.S.-Iran war is unlikely to restore the Gulf to its prewar equilibrium. Instead, it leaves behind a region unsettled, recalibrating, and more internally complex than at any point since the 2017 Gulf crisis. The Gulf Cooperation Council (GCC) may emerge with a stronger impulse toward coordination in the face of shared […]

What happened at the U.S. State Department was not a routine diplomatic encounter. It was a strategic moment of rare consequence. Lebanese and Israeli representatives sat down in direct talks under American auspices, breaking through a political and psychological barrier that for decades had seemed immovable. In a region disfigured by war, proxy violence, fear, […]

President Trump’s decision to launch Operation Epic Fury, alongside Israel’s Lion’s Roar campaign against Iran, was driven by considerations extending far beyond the immediate threat that pre-war Iran posed to American interests in the Middle East and the rest of the world. It was also shaped by the broader strategic competition between the United States […]

“We have replaced the Orbán regime and liberated Hungary,” exulted a triumphant Péter Magyar, who was until just two years ago a staunch supporter of former Hungarian prime minister Viktor Orbán and an insider of the country’s long-governing Fidesz Party. On April 12, Magyar’s recently founded Tisza Party decisively won national parliamentary elections and secured […]

Over the past few years, Israel has won tremendous victories. It has neutered Hamas and Hezbollah. It has defanged Iran, which has for decades been Israel’s most powerful antagonist. And it is now unquestionably the strongest country in the Middle East. Israel’s strategic outlook has never been brighter. But Israel’s might masks vulnerabilities in public […]

Melania Trump has done it again. On the eve of Easter, the First Lady helped rescue seven Ukrainian children from Russian captivity, bringing her tally up to 26. Without fanfare, Mrs. Trump is the only first spouse actively negotiating with Russian President Vladimir Putin. Her valiant efforts are key to remedying this vital moral issue.   […]

Media attention has recently focused on Kurdish fighters from various armed factions with different political views and their potential battle against the clerical regime in Iran. However, many observers barely reflect realities on the ground, ignoring Kurdish agency, perspectives, and expectations. To address these, the Kurdish Forum at the Moshe Dayan Center (MDC) and the Alliance Center for […]

President Trump has made it clear that after what he views as success regarding Venezuela, he has his eye on effecting change in Cuba.  But his Venezuela formula—using force to choke its economy and spark some changes within the ruling elite, to be followed by a foreign investment boom, while leaving a democratic transition for […]