By Lama Al-Rakad On a strange day in the calendar of history, the ancient civilizations of the East convened an urgent session.Not because of a great war, nor the darkening of the sun, but because of a small piece of news, repeated over and over in the bulletins …
Read More »Finish the Job, Mr. President
Fourteen days into Operation Epic Fury, the most consequential American military campaign in the Middle East since the invasion of Iraq, the Trump administration has yet to say what victory will actually look like. The president has variously toggled between declaring Iran has “practically nothing left,” indicating that …
Read More »Partisanship on Iran Is Dangerous for America
Trump is doing the right thing for the U.S., and we Democrats should judge the war on the merits. WSJ Opinion: Trump’s War in Iran. Is It Justified? And Is It Wise? An Editor at Large: Gerard Baker looks at previous Republican incursions in the Middle East before …
Read More »The War That Was Supposed to be Easy
Beneath the visible theater of warfare, a more consequential dynamic appears to be unfolding. It is one that suggests the United States may have misjudged not merely Iran’s capabilities but the nature of the war itself. The assumption was that a few days into the war, especially after …
Read More »Preparing for the Pacific by Watching the Gulf: How China Is Turning the Iran Conflict into a Military Laboratory
While the world’s eyes are fixed on the Strait of Hormuz and the simmering U.S.-Israeli-Iran standoff, a subtler, far-reaching geopolitical play is unfolding: China is quietly treating Iran as a testing ground for the next generation of multi-platform warfare. The Chinese “Missile Saturation Theory,” long theorized in Beijing’s …
Read More »With barrage of missiles, Pyongyang responds to US-South Korea military drills
North Korea launched over 10 ballistic missiles into the sea on Saturday while U. S. and South Korean forces conducted military drills. Japan’s coast guard indicated that a missile might have fallen into the sea, but outside Japan’s exclusive economic zone. The missiles were fired from near Pyongyang …
Read More »Trump Signals Escalation in the Strait of Hormuz – But Who Will Join Him?
In a statement that underscores both America’s resolve and the uncertainty surrounding its allies, President Donald Trump declared that many nations would send warships to keep the Strait of Hormuz open. Yet, in a move that has left analysts scrambling, he did not specify which countries would participate. …
Read More »How China Sees the U.S. Terror Designation of Sudan’s Muslim Brotherhood—and Its Impact on the Iran Conflict
Dr. Nadya Hilmi China has not officially announced a detailed position on the United States’ designation of the Muslim Brotherhood in Sudan as a terrorist organization. However, Chinese intelligence circles view it with suspicion, seeing it as a tool for American pressure to increase influence. China is focused …
Read More »Al-Makahleh: When War Outruns Strategy: Notes from a Closed-Door Conversation in Washington
Dr. Shehab Al-Makahleh On Friday afternoon, I attended a closed-door meeting with a senior investment adviser in Washington whose career spans multiple U.S. administrations and institutions. Over the past four decades, he served in roles connected to the administrations of Ronald Reagan, George H. W. Bush, Bill Clinton, …
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