The Trump 2.0 worldview is now on paper for the world to see. Late Thursday, the Trump administration released its National Security Strategy (NSS), a twenty-nine-page document outlining its principles and priorities for US foreign policy. The document articulates what US strategy is—for example, a focus on the Western Hemisphere …

In addition to providing discounted crude of a quality desired by American refiners, the resumption of oil flows via the ITP is already showing promise of furthering U.S. policy toward partners and adversaries alike. On November 24—two months after the reopening of the Iraq-Turkey Pipeline (ITP)—an oil tanker laden with …

Toplines Former senior Assad regime officials are likely funding and equipping clandestine networks in Syria to conduct insurgent activity against the Syrian transitional government. Reuters reported on December 5 that former Military Intelligence Chief Major General Kamal Hassan and Bashar al Assad’s cousin, Rami Makhlouf, have formed rival Alawite militias …

Toplines Iranian-backed Iraqi militia Harakat Hezbollah al Nujaba head Akram al Kaabi threatened on December 3 to attack US Special Envoy to Iraq Mark Savaya in response to Savaya’s “blatant interference in Iraqi affairs.”[1] Iranian-backed Iraqi militias are unlikely to attack Savaya due to the potential repercussions that such an …

Cairo reaffirmed its adherence to the plan and UN Security Council Resolution 2803, including the right of return for Palestinians. According to the Egyptian State Information Service, Egyptian authorities refuted on Wednesday afternoon reports that Israel claims it will open the Rafah crossing, the only lifeline for Gaza to the …

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Washington and its allies are waiting for Beirut to acknowledge the difficult but unavoidable truth: that war will resume unless serious action is taken to target all the pillars of Hezbollah’s power, bolster Shia political alternatives, and otherwise satisfy the ceasefire’s most important requirement: disarming the group. Although major military …

Latest Developments 2 Attacks in a Day: Two IDF soldiers were lightly wounded in a West Bank stabbing attack on December 2. The stabbing occurred when an IDF patrol was dispatched to the Israeli West Bank community of Ateret, near Ramallah, to investigate a suspicious individual who stabbed the soldiers …

The Syrian-Iraqi border is witnessing a new phase characterized by strategic competition and ideological disparity, and its importance goes beyond being just a bilateral border to turn into a geopolitical hotbed of tension that is likely to influence the future regional landscape. Despite the current relative calm, this stability remains …

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