U.S. President Donald Trump’s multi-country tour of the Middle East has received widespread attention, as his visits to Saudi Arabia, Qatar, and the United Arab Emirates (UAE) have garnered more than $1 trillion in investments. Of note, Trump did not visit Israel during his trip, which brought criticism from pro-Israel camps within the U.S. government. […]| The Soufan Center
Global and regional officials anticipated that Israeli Prime Minister Netanyahu’s visit to Washington last week, capped by a meeting with President Trump on February 4, would produce a clear roadmap toward a permanent end to the Israel-Hamas war, a release of all hostages, and a rebuilding of the devastated Gaza Strip. Toward the end of […]| The Soufan Center
President Trump and his foreign policy aides are divided over how to address Iran’s advancing nuclear program. The issue has become progressively more acute – for the United States and particularly for Israel, which identifies Iran’s nuclear program as an “existential threat” – as Iran assembles the fissile material and knowledge it would need to […]| The Soufan Center
Trump’s Special Envoy for the Middle East Steven Witkoff and Iranian Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi met for the second time on Saturday at the Embassy of the Sultanate of Oman in Rome, Italy| The Soufan Center
The horrific attacks by Hamas on October 7, 2023, fundamentally shifted the security posture of the Middle East, while also having severe humanitarian consequences and ripple effects in countries throughout the globe, including many in the West. This TSC Special Report, generously sponsored by the Airey Neave Trust, aims to explore how October 7 impacted several Western countries, including the United States, the United Kingdom, France, Germany, and Italy. While the conflict remains ongoing ...| The Soufan Center
As many experts expected, the January ceasefire agreement between Israel and Hamas unraveled last week as Israel undertook major airstrikes and began a ground offensive in the Gaza Strip. Hamas responded with a rocket volley against Israel, using its indigenous production capabilities still active in the enclave. Phase one of the ceasefire agreement had expired […]| The Soufan Center
Hamas and Israel continue to engage in halting, mediated talks to try to achieve an end to the Gaza conflict. On Saturday, a senior Hamas delegation including Muhammad Darwish, Khaled Meshaal, Khalil al-Hayya, Zaher Jabarin, and Nizar Awadallah held talks in Cairo on a proposed five-year truce and the release of all remaining Israeli hostages. […]| The Soufan Center
As several protracted conflicts rage on, threatening to proliferate into regional conflagrations, humanitarian aid workers have faced increased threats, including arbitrary detention, kidnapping, and attacks that result in injury and death. Senior UN officials highlighted these increased dangers for humanitarian workers during a recent UN Security Council meeting on the protection of civilians in armed […]| The Soufan Center
The recent escalation of tensions in the Middle East, careening toward a wider regional war, has led to severe humanitarian consequences in Lebanon, the Gaza Strip, and parts of Israel. The broader conflict has resulted in mass displacement and significant civilian casualties in several theatres, insufficient shelter, supply shortages, and widespread food insecurity, compounded at […]| The Soufan Center
As the humanitarian crisis in Gaza deepens, the U.S. military began dropping food over the Strip in a “combined humanitarian assistance airdrop” conducted by U.S. and Jordanian air forces over the weekend, according to a statement by the U.S. Central Command (CENTCOM). The initial drop consisted of more than 38,000 meals along Gaza’s coastline, with […]| The Soufan Center
Interdependent economies are the hallmark of our globalized world, held together by webs of global supply chains now being reshaped amid political instability. Populist politics, renewed interest in economic protectionism, the growing Great Power Competition between the People’s Republic of China (PRC) and the United States (U.S.), as well as disruptive events such as the […] The post Weaponized Interdependence: Supply Chains Reconfigure Globally appeared first on The Soufan Center.| The Soufan Center
Since Trump’s 2018 exit from the landmark 2015 Iran nuclear agreement (JCPOA), during his first term, it was perhaps inevitable that Iran and the six major powers (the United States, United Kingdom, France, Russia, the People’s Republic of China and Germany) would face a crisis over a key provision of the agreement — the ability of […] The post Major Powers Try to Avoid Crisis Over Iran Sanctions “Snapback” appeared first on The Soufan Center.| The Soufan Center
Western counterterrorism analysts are frequently asked to evaluate the terror threat landscape and assess which terrorist groups are the most dangerous. In many ways, this gets to the heart of the question—how do we accurately assess whether a terrorist group is a success, or failure, or something in between? For most Western countries attempting to […] The post What Determines Whether a Terrorist Group is Considered Successful? appeared first on The Soufan Center.| The Soufan Center
Iran’s leaders are reacting forcefully to the challenge to their carefully crafted national security architecture posed by Israeli and U.S. military action over the past year. The post Iran Resists Disarmament of Its Regional Allies appeared first on The Soufan Center.| The Soufan Center
The Gaza conflict continues to defy U.S. and regional efforts to achieve a resolution, as both Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and Hamas see leverage in pursuing the fighting while also indicating openness to a negotiated settlement. Last week, developments on both diplomacy as well as military tracks accelerated, as Israel moved forward with its plans to […] The post Talking and Fighting Intersect in Gaza appeared first on The Soufan Center.| The Soufan Center
Security in northwestern Nigeria is deteriorating rapidly amid a surge of violent, coordinated attacks by a host of non-state armed groups. The theater of conflict in northwestern Nigeria exhibits a distinct hybrid security landscape where criminal economies, communal grievances, and jihadist insurgency converge, blurring distinctions between organized crime and ideology. The crisis — characterized by […] The post From Criminality to Insurgency: The Convergence of Bandits and Jihadists in...| The Soufan Center
On 15 August, U.S. Central Command (CENTCOM) announced that Iraq had successfully repatriated over 25,000 – around 80 percent – of its nationals from the al-Hol and al-Roj detention camps in northeast Syria. This uptick in the repatriation of Iraqi nationals from the Syrian Democratic Forces (SDF)-controlled camps, which accommodate thousands of family members of […] The post The Prisons and Detention Camps in Syria Deserve a Greater Sense of Urgency appeared first on The Soufan Center.| The Soufan Center
India is one of the latest countries to be affected by U.S. President Donald Trump’s tariff agenda, which has dampened relations following decades of rapprochement. The Trump administration set an initial 25 percent tariff on Indian goods in early August and an additional 25 percent tariff for India’s purchase of Russian oil — effective August 27 […] The post Trump’s Tariffs Push New Delhi Closer to Beijing, Testing U.S.-India Ties appeared first on The Soufan Center.| The Soufan Center
An armed clash at a government agricultural office in late July laid bare an escalating power struggle between Iraq’s national institutions, including the office of Prime Minister Mohammed Shia al-Sudani, and a parallel structure of militia groups, some of which often act independently and can challenge the Iraqi leadership. U.S. officials and global diplomats characterize […] The post Iraqi Militias Come Under Pressure to Demobilize appeared first on The Soufan Center.| The Soufan Center
U.S. President Donald Trump met with Russian President Vladimir Putin in Alaska on Friday to discuss a possible peace deal for Ukraine, marking Putin’s first visit to the U.S. since 2007. Notably absent was Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy, whose delegation was not invited to join the talks. Zelenskyy is scheduled to meet with President Trump […]| The Soufan Center
U.S. President Donald Trump and Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky were set to sign a landmark bilateral agreement related to Ukraine’s natural resource supplies, particularly Kyiv’s critical minerals reserves, but the deal collapsed last week during a shocking televised meeting at the White House. Since then, both leaders have expressed a willingness to move forward, with […]| The Soufan Center
Since Russia’s invasion of Ukraine three years ago estranged Moscow from the United States and its European allies, Iran has counted on an expanding strategic partnership with Russia to insulate it from U.S. pressure, further spread Iranian influence in the Middle East, and receive needed advanced conventional weaponry. However, recent developments are likely to drive […]| The Soufan Center
The Trump administration ordered airstrikes against a range of Houthi targets in Yemen over the weekend, following through on threats that came on the heels of redesignating the Houthis as a foreign terrorist organization (FTO). American fighter jets and warships participated in the assault, according to United States Central Command (US CENTCOM), with fighter planes […]| The Soufan Center
In its first days in office, the second Trump administration fulfilled widespread expectations that it would use economic sanctions as a key lever with which to effect outcomes and advance U.S. and allied interests. Outside the region, Trump restored Cuba to the list of state sponsors of terrorism, repeating an action he took late in […]| The Soufan Center
As Israeli Prime Minister Binyamin Netanyahu began his visit to Washington last week, including meeting with President Trump in the Oval Office on February 4, global experts expected the meeting to produce an unequivocal commitment by Trump to use––or support Israel’s use of––military action to destroy Iran’s nuclear program. President Trump and all of his […]| The Soufan Center
Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu visited President Donald Trump at the White House yesterday, with the meeting focusing on a range of issues, including the Gaza ceasefire and hostage deal, what a “victory” over Hamas would look like, and the necessity of continuing to counter Iran, among other topics. Also on the agenda between Trump […]| The Soufan Center
Hungarian Prime Minister Viktor Orban declared victory in elections this week, laying claim to his fourth consecutive term leading the government. Orban is now the longest-serving leader of any country in the European Union (EU), concerning for many given his illiberal tendencies which frequently make him an outlier in the EU| The Soufan Center
Throughout his presidential campaign, U.S. President Donald Trump ran on a platform that included extricating the United States from “forever wars,” and avoiding getting bogged down in internecine conflicts where a narrowly defined U.S. national interest is unclear.| The Soufan Center
Even as the Trump administration is signaling a desire to pull back from conflict zones and other global hot spots, the first several weeks of the president’s second term have witnessed multiple kinetic strikes against the Islamic State-Somalia (IS-S) branch. The group boasts approximately 1,000 fighters and has more recently been successful in expanding its […]| The Soufan Center
Al-Shabaab’s 2025 Shabelle offensive has achieved significant territorial gains and racked up key operational successes in the Shabelle regions of Somalia since its initiation in February. The group’s advances have left Mogadishu scrambling for reinforcements, seeking international support from the United States, Türkiye, and the African Union to bolster its defenses. The current Somali threat […]| The Soufan Center
Somalia and Türkiye recently agreed to a ten-year defense deal that will see Ankara helping Mogadishu with security cooperation and building the capacity of its naval forces.| The Soufan Center
On June 19th the government of Somalia announced that 43 al-Shabaab fighters, including two high-level commanders, were killed in an airstrike by the Somali National Army (SNA) in the Lower Juba region.| The Soufan Center
With U.S President Donald Trump’s deadline for Moscow to reach a ceasefire deal with Kyiv originally set for today, the White House announced an imminent meeting between Trump and Russian President Vladimir Putin. A top Kremlin aide stated that the meeting would take place “in the coming days,” and the scheduled sit-down appears to be […]| The Soufan Center
The sharp deterioration of the humanitarian situation in the Gaza Strip is forcing Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu to face choices he has been able to avoid in the nearly two years since the October 7, 2023, Hamas attack on Israel. In March, Netanyahu brushed aside a ceasefire to resume ground operations in Gaza in […]| The Soufan Center
Historically, women have played active roles in most terrorist movements, and narratives about women, gender and society permeate nearly all major terrorist ideologies| The Soufan Center
Federal prosecutors in New York City revealed earlier this week that a United States Army private, 22-year old Ethan Phelan Melzer, conspired to release classified information to a neo-Nazi group called Order of Nine Angles (O9A)| The Soufan Center
A recent study commissioned by the Conference on Jewish Material Claims Against Germany (Claims Conference) revealed an astonishing lack of awareness about the Holocaust among young adults in the United States| The Soufan Center
A newly released unclassified report by the Office of the Direction of National Intelligence (ODNI) details the extent of the domestic violent extremism (DVE) threat to the United States. The report defines DVEs as “US-based actors who conduct or threaten activities that are dangerous to human life in violation of the criminal laws of the United States or any state| The Soufan Center
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For more than six months, Trump officials have sought to bring an end to the war in Gaza, anticipating that ending the conflict will open opportunities to broaden Middle East integration and shift the regional balance of power away from Iran and its constellation of non-state armed allies.| The Soufan Center
On July 20, al-Shabaab, al-Qaeda’s branch in East Africa, recaptured the towns of Sabiid and Anole, located roughly 40 kilometers southwest of Mogadishu in Somalia’s Lower Shabelle region| The Soufan Center
On Friday, the United States House of Representatives passed a final vote approving President Donald Trump’s proposal to cut $9 billion from public broadcasting and foreign aid. Among the foreign aid reductions were $800 million in refugee assistance, $496 million for natural disaster relief, and, most notably, $4.15 billion from programs aimed at strengthening economies […]| The Soufan Center
Last week, Acting Secretary of Defense Christopher Miller announced a drawdown of U.S. troops in Afghanistan, shifting to 2,500 troops in early January just before President-elect Joseph R. Biden, Jr. is set to assume office| The Soufan Center
The global jihadist movement is alive and well, even after the so-called Islamic State’s territorial caliphate has collapsed. IS franchises and affiliates continue to expand, including in Afghanistan, Yemen, Libya, Egypt and elsewhere| The Soufan Center
“Afghanistan’s on the brink of anther humanitarian crisis,” warned Spokesman for the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR), Babar Baloch, in mid-July. The United Nations estimates that 330,000 Afghans have been newly displaced since January| The Soufan Center
In the last two decades, massive efforts of the so-called Global War on Terror (GWoT) in the Afghanistan-Pakistan (AfPak) region resulted in severe blows to al-Qaeda. However, the group maintains deep, covert roots in the AfPak's jihadist landscape, ensuring its longevity in the region| The Soufan Center
As 2018 begins, it is worth noting how the so-called Islamic State has changed from a group that governed substantial territories at the start of 2017, including Mosul and Raqqa, its most significant symbolic and logistics centers in Syria and Iraq, to a shrunken version of its former self.| The Soufan Center
It is both fitting and necessary to acknowledge the magnitude of the Iraqi people’s military defeat of the so-called Islamic State (IS).| The Soufan Center
On October 13, President Trump announced a new U.S. strategy to constrain Iran, following a six-month policy review that examined how Washington might counter Iranian policies it objects to that were not addressed in the landmark 2015 multilateral Iran nuclear agreement, the Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action (JCPOA).| The Soufan Center
Major combat is winding down in Syria. The so-called Islamic State faces defeat from forces including a U.S.-led coalition, while Syrian government and Iran-backed militias have recaptured most of the territory lost to other rebel groups in the first years of the country’s civil war.| The Soufan Center
Turkish President Erdogan has always sought to outwardly present himself as a strong leader, especially in matters of foreign and security policy, as he continues to edge Turkey further away from the West| The Soufan Center
On 8 April, Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan traveled to Moscow to meet with Russian President Vladimir Putin. Around this same time in Ankara, the opposition candidate for mayor of the capital city was sworn in| The Soufan Center
Under Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan, Turkey has expanded its military footprint abroad in an attempt to establish Ankara as a major player in numerous regional foreign policy scenarios| The Soufan Center
Tensions between Iran and Azerbaijan have opened the door for exploitation and competition between regional powers, particularly Turkey and Israel, Iran’s key rivals in the region. Even though the populations of both countries are predominantly Shia Muslim| The Soufan Center
Signs of a growing rift between NATO members emerged this week when the United States imposed sanctions on a number of Turkish entities in response to Ankara’s purchase of the Russian-made S-400 air defense system| The Soufan Center
U.S. Secretary of State Mike Pompeo traveled to Jeddah, Saudi Arabia on Wednesday, labeling the recent attack on Saudi oil infrastructure as an 'act of war,' and suggesting that Washington would work with Riyadh to build a coalition of allies to deter future attacks against the kingdom| The Soufan Center
On April 28, Turkey’s President Recep Tayyip Erdogan arrived in Saudi Arabia to meet with controversial de-facto leader Crown Prince Mohammad bin Salman (MBS), a landmark visit signaling that the two leaders had decided to rebuild relations after a long period of rivalry| The Soufan Center
In mid-June, U.S. officials resumed their long-stalled efforts to mediate an agreement on the maritime border between Israel and Lebanon, as part of a broader campaign to accelerate the development of natural gas resources in the eastern Mediterranean| The Soufan Center
After months of a military stalemate in Libya, Turkish-backed forces are beginning to push back militias commanded by warlord Khalifa Haftar| The Soufan Center
Just last week, France agreed to send war frigates to the eastern Mediterranean, a decision welcomed by Greece and decried by Turkey| The Soufan Center
Several of the Arab monarchies of the Persian Gulf states have been involved, to varying degrees, in the more than 40 years of internal conflict in Afghanistan that appear to have ended with the Taliban movement’s second takeover of Afghan governance| The Soufan Center
Members of the Taliban’s leadership were on the defensive last week, attempting to downplay reports of infighting within the organization. Abdul Ghani Baradar, deputy prime minister in the Taliban’s current government configuration| The Soufan Center
Twenty years after being ousted by United States-led forces, the Taliban have returned to power in Afghanistan. Just last week, the Taliban installed several members of the Haqqani Network—an insurgent group and subset of the Taliban—in senior government positions, including Sirajuddin Haqqani as interior minister and Khalil Haqqani| The Soufan Center
U.S. sanctions against the Taliban movement in Afghanistan have been in place, although with periodic modifications, since the 1996-2001 period of Taliban rule. U.S. sanctions imposed during that period were intended to pressure the movement to expel al-Qaeda leader Osama bin Laden and to end abuses against Afghan| The Soufan Center
Recent reports suggest that girls have been able to attend school in Kunduz Province but remain barred from classrooms throughout much of Afghanistan, with many young women destroying evidence of higher education or employment for fear of retribution from the new Taliban government| The Soufan Center
Within weeks of the Taliban’s conquest of Afghanistan in late August, the movement’s leadership indicated that it would not allow foreign jihadist groups, including from Central Asia, to operate on Afghan territory| The Soufan Center
A recently released report by the UN Taliban Sanctions Monitoring Team confirms what many in the counterterrorism community have been warning about — ties between the Afghan Taliban and al-Qaeda remain strong and could grow stronger after the United States completes its troop withdrawal| The Soufan Center
In recent weeks, the United States has struggled to engineer a safe and orderly exit for Afghans seeking to depart the country, despite being the one to set the extraordinary timeline for an August 31 deadline| The Soufan Center
Throughout the bloody stalemate that is Libya’s civil war, widespread allegations have surfaced that strongman Khalifa Haftar operates as a modern-day warlord seeking to consolidate his grip on power to further his burgeoning criminal enterprises| The Soufan Center
At this month’s ten-year mark since the NATO intervention in Libya that toppled longtime dictator Muammar Gaddafi, Libya strides closer to transitioning from conflict to a tenuous peace| The Soufan Center
UN-brokered peace talks in Geneva have led to a sort of breakthrough, however tenuous, in the formation of an interim government in Libya, known as the Government of National Unity (GNU)| The Soufan Center
As of early May 2012, Islamic Republic of Iran Navy Admiral Ali Fadavi stirred international tensions by alluding to a possible future Iranian naval visit to the Gulf of Mexico and East Coast of the United States.| The Soufan Center
On September 14, 2018, the Secretary-General of the Organization of American States (OAS), Luis Almagro, visited a border crossing between Colombia and Venezuela and delivered an unusual warning when speaking about options to address the long-running crisis in Venezuela| The Soufan Center
On Monday, November 5, the remaining U.S. secondary sanctions on Iran went back into effect after nearly two years of suspension under the landmark Iran nuclear deal, from which the Trump administration withdrew in May| The Soufan Center
The May 8, 2018, Trump Administration announcement that the United States is exiting the 2015 multilateral nuclear agreement with Iran has produced the effects on Iran’s economy that the Administration intended| The Soufan Center
On January 7, Iran responded to the death of IRGC-QF Major General Qassim Soleimani by launching nearly two dozen ballistic missiles at Iraqi bases where American troops are stationed| The Soufan Center
Iran’s Foreign Minister Mohammad Javad Zarif said on U.S. television during the late September 2018 meetings at the U.N. General Assembly that Iran will, for now, remain in the 2015 multilateral nuclear agreement (Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action, JCPOA)| The Soufan Center
Just yesterday, the U.S. State Department issued its annual report outlining country reports on terrorism to provide a global snapshot of the threat landscape| The Soufan Center
Since the United States and Iran tacitly cooperated to defeat the challenge to Iraq’s integrity posed by the so-called Islamic State, the two powers have conducted a bare-knuckled competition to align Iraq with their respective interests| The Soufan Center
The incoming Biden administration will likely change U.S. Middle East policy marginally, not dramatically. The limitations of the Biden administration’s ability to alter policy are a function of the U.S. public’s increasing reticence to support U.S. military interventions or the expenditure of significant U.S. diplomatic and economic resources in the region| The Soufan Center
Until mid-April, U.S.-Iran tensions had appeared to be confined to Iraq, where Iran-backed Shia militias have continued to periodically attack locations that host U.S. forces| The Soufan Center
While much of the world has been struggling to respond to the fallout from the coronavirus (COVID-19) pandemic, the Islamic State has been quietly ramping up attacks in both Iraq and Syria| The Soufan Center
The restraint by the United States and Iran since Iran’s January 8, 2020 missile retaliation in the response to the U.S. strike that killed Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps –Qods Force (IRGC-QF) commander Qasem Soleimani appears to be ending.| The Soufan Center
Despite the COVID-19 pandemic that has consumed the attention of both Iran and the United States, as well as that of Iraq, Iran has continued to try to ensure that it maintains preponderant influence in Iraq| The Soufan Center
Last weekend, Iraqi Prime Minister Adel Abdul-Mahdi submitted his resignation to the country’s parliament, which accepted it and will now look to replace him| The Soufan Center
The January 3, 2020 U.S. strike that killed Iran’s Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps – Qods Force (IRGC-QF) commander Qasem Soleimani and Abdul Mahdi Al Muhandis, the head of the main Iraqi surrogate for Iran, the Kata’ib Hezbollah (KAH) militia, was a major blow to Iran’s militia infrastructure in Iraq| The Soufan Center
Several high-level reports published over the past few weeks reiterate what most terrorism and security analysts have been saying for months—the so-called Islamic State (IS) is alive and well in Iraq and Syria| The Soufan Center
Russia has solidified its position as one of the most significant international actors in the Middle East in recent years, both a result of President Vladimir Putin’s push to increase his country’s role there and the simultaneous decline in U.S. influence| The Soufan Center
After seven long years of hard fighting in Syria’s bloody civil war, it is unclear whether Hezbollah will come out of the conflict on the positive or negative side of the ledger| The Soufan Center
The Syrian civil war continues to rage, with most of the intense fighting taking place in northwestern Syria in Idlib Province| The Soufan Center
Yesterday morning, U.S. President Joseph Biden announced that U.S. forces conducted a raid targeting Islamic State (ISIS) leader Abu Ibrahim al-Hashimi al-Qurayshi in Syria’s Idlib province that resulted in his death| The Soufan Center
Nearly 3.4 million Syrians are at risk of imminently losing access to humanitarian aid currently delivered through multiple border crossings and facilitated through United Nations Security Council Resolution 2533 (2020), which is set to expire on July 10| The Soufan Center
By all accounts, Saturday’s fifth round of nuclear talks between the U.S. and Iran, in Rome, registered limited progress. The meeting apparently did not address, let alone try to resolve, the core question still dividing the two sides: whether a new agreement would provide for Iran to continue enriching uranium. Ahead of the meeting, Iranian […]| The Soufan Center
Tensions in the Persian Gulf and broader Middle East escalated dramatically on Thursday when Israel undertook what it said was a “preemptive” attack on Iranian nuclear facilities. Israeli leaders stated more such attacks would follow. According to reports and Iranian state media late Thursday night, Brigadier General Mohammad Bagheri, chief of staff of the Iranian […]| The Soufan Center
After 12 days of missile and drone exchanges between Iran and Israel, and the U.S. striking Iranian nuclear facilities last week prior to a ceasefire, global oil and gas markets remained on high alert, reminding the world once again how energy markets and geopolitics are inextricably linked. The price of Brent crude fluctuated as the […]| The Soufan Center
Iranian Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi met with Russian President Vladimir Putin in Moscow on Monday. During the meeting, both leaders emphasized the strength of their ties and condemned what they called a “completely unprovoked act of aggression” by Israel and the United States. While Russia has offered Iran moral support, many are left wondering what, […]| The Soufan Center
On Monday, Iran retaliated for the U.S. strike on three key nuclear sites by launching a missile assault on the Al Udeid Air Base in Qatar, which normally hosts nearly 10,000 U.S. and allied forces that enable the U.S. to project power and secure the Gulf region. The base houses the forward headquarters for U.S. […]| The Soufan Center
The outbreak of war between Israel and Iran presents a profound geopolitical test for the People’s Republic of China (PRC), exposing the structural limits of Beijing’s ambitions in the Middle East and its global strategy. Beijing has enjoyed strong economic, energy, and trade ties with countries in the region — walking a tightrope between rival […]| The Soufan Center
The conflict between Israel and Iran has continued to escalate, with Israel now claiming complete aerial superiority over western Iran, including Tehran, after eliminating Iranian missile launchers and surface-to-air missiles. In both the April and October exchanges last year, Israel targeted Iranian air defense systems, including in the October attack, four S-300 systems, according to […]| The Soufan Center
