Recent Posts

What Does Trump Want in the Middle East?

This week, U.S. President Donald Trump is set to visit three key American partners in the Middle East: Qatar, Saudi Arabia, and the United Arab Emirates (UAE). It is not yet clear what he hopes to achieve. He may be seeking to secure arms deals and investments in the United …

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The Resurgence of Europe

How the Continent Can Survive American Antagonism and Come Out Stronger At the beginning of this year, many were hailing a triumphant American economy buoyed by the prospect of tax cuts, deregulation, cheap energy, and massive investments in artificial intelligence. In January, the World Economic Forum in Davos celebrated the …

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What Most Palestinians Really Want

Palestinians who are saying that they are unaware of Hamas’s October 7 atrocities against Israelis are either engaged in self-deception or influenced by Hamas’s venomous propaganda machine, including the Qatar-owned Al-Jazeera TV network, which has long been serving as the terror group’s unofficial mouthpiece. Notably, according to several polls, Al-Jazeera …

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Lebanese Positions on Disarming Hezbollah

E_093_25Download The ceasefire between Israel and Lebanon in November 2024, which ended the fighting between Israel and Hezbollah, led the Lebanese authorities to declare their willingness to impose a state monopoly on weapons throughout the country. Their commitment was reinforced by the new president, Joseph Aoun, and the new government …

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Iran Update, May 9, 2025

A variety of Syrian armed groups, including those associated with the new transitional government, the Assad regime, and hardline Islamic groups, have committed a series of extrajudicial killings since the fall of the Assad regime in December 2024. CTP-ISW absolutely condemns these extrajudicial killings. The verbal ceasefire between the United …

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The View From Damascus – Sectarian Tensions, State Complicity, and the Marginalisation of Minorities in Post-Assad Syria – The Syrian Observer

The eruption of violence in Ashrafiyet Sahnaya and surrounding areas has exposed the profound failures of the Syrian state to protect its citizens—especially its minorities—in the supposed aftermath of dictatorship. Far from being an isolated flare-up, the events represent a deepening crisis rooted in sectarian marginalisation, government negligence, and a …

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