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Facebook Fatwa: Saudi Clerics, Wahhabi Islam and Social Media
The Foundation for Defense of Democracies has released the first-ever study of what radical Saudi Wahhabists are preaching to their followers about the United States and non-Muslims on social media sites.
Learn MoreAnalysis & Commentary - Tony Badran
News Update
Russia stood by President Bashar al-Assad today as Arab and Western countries sought to pile pressure on the Syrian leader to halt a violent crackdown on his opponents. more...
Syria Ruffles Turkey’s Feathers
The attack by Syrian regime thugs on Turkish missions in Syria last Saturday has spurred a strong rebuke and warnings from Ankara. However, while this may have been the most open Syrian attack against Turkey, it certainly was not the first, or the most dangerous. more...
News Update
The wealth and assets of President Assad and his immediate family. more...
Qatar’s Diplomatic Dynamism
In the entire drama of the negotiation between the Arab League and Bashar al-Assad’s regime over the crisis in Syria, perhaps most intriguing has been Qatar’s maneuvering. more...
Not Total Recall
The Obama administration is having a hard time explaining why the US ambassador to Syria, Robert Ford, has returned to Washington. more...
News Update
The US Ambassador to Syria leaving Damascus because of the security concerns. more...
Post-Arab Spring Politicking
Analysis of the deal between Israel and Hamas for the release of the kidnapped Israeli soldier Gilad Shalit has tended to focus on its implication for Israel’s security and on Western approaches to terrorism. more...
Ignoring the Iranian Threat
The alleged Iranian plot to murder the Saudi ambassador to the United States, and to target the Saudi and Israeli embassies in Washington, has left casual observers, analysts and regional experts shocked. more...
Obama Abandoning Interest in Syria
With the Syrian revolution on the verge of formally calling for intervention against the Assad regime, the Obama administration's refusal to lead will result in the US effectively taking itself out of the picture, and thereby ensuring an outcome detrimental to American regional interests. more...
This Morning
US policy towards Syria and the Arab Uprising. more...
The Uncomfortable Reality in Syria
The Obama administration is slowly coming to grips with the uncomfortable reality that its preferred scenario of a peaceful transition in Syria is looking less likely. more...
Nov/Dec 2011 Editorial Preview & Author Interview
Recent developments in the Syrian uprising. more...
Axis of Abuse: U.S. Human Rights toward Iran and Syria
On behalf of the Foundation for Defense of Democracies, thank you for inviting me to take part in today’s hearing. I also would like to commend you for holding this hearing at a critical time in the ongoing Syrian uprising against the regime of Bashar Assad. more...
The World Today
The political vacuum resulting from the failure of Turkish initiatives in Syria. more...
Fox News.com Live
Why Invest in Libya, Not Syria? more...
Saudi Ascendancy After Arab Spring
As Tony Badran observes in Foreign Affairs, the Obama administration’s hope of outsourcing Levant policy to Turkey has sunk (we might say that the Good Ship Obama has lost its Ankara). It is hard to make sense of what Erdogan is up to; his latest bombing campaign against Kurds in Iraq suggests fear that the Syrian problem might spill over into Turkey itself. But I hesitate to guess at this juncture. more...
U.S. Joins Calls for Syria’s Bashar Assad to Resign
Tony Badran, a research fellow at the Foundation for Defense of Democracies, said Obama's statement is a late-in-coming step but gives U.S. allies, the Syrian opposition and "fence-sitters" a clear message that Assad's days are numbered. more...
What’s Next for Syria?
So Obama, argues Tony Badran, a veteran Middle East watcher at the Foundation for Defense of Democracies, decided he had to call openly for regime change, while Turkey has continued “to hold out hope for a reform program led by Assad, precisely… to preserve its own influence as an intermediary between Iran, Syria, and Washington.” more...
Will Obama’s Call for Assad to Step Down Pack a Punch?
Yet there are other reasons to believe that the calls for Assad to step down and the tougher sanctions won't have much of an impact on the Assad regime. more...