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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
Israel’s Strategic Clarity in Syria
It was perhaps fitting that the multiple Israeli strikes in Damascus last week followed Hezbollah chief Hassan Nasrallah’s address from Tehran. Nasrallah had warned last Tuesday... more...
Hezbollah’s Drone to Israel: Calculated Adventurism
On Thursday, Israeli fighter jets shot down a drone off of Haifa’s coastline. The drone, according to a statement from the Israeli military, was identified as it flew north to south along... more...
Assad Reading the Signs
On Monday, the pro-Assad regime Lebanese newspaper As-Safir reported that Syrian dictator Bashar al-Assad hosted a large delegation of loyalist Lebanese parties in Damascus. more...
Protracted Syria War Not in US Interests
Thirty years ago today, at Iran’s behest and supported by Hafez al-Assad’s regime, Hezbollah attacked the US embassy in Beirut, killing 63 people. The embassy bombing, which took place... more...
Iran Uses Lebanese to Project Its Regional Power
Last week, Saudi Arabia announced that the spy cell it had arrested in March, and which included a reportedly key Lebanese member, had “direct links” to Iranian intelligence. more...
Challenges Ahead for Lebanon’s Next Prime Minister
On March 22, the Hezbollah-dominated government of Lebanon collapsed after its Prime Minister, Najib Miqati, resigned. Following consultations with members of parliament, President Michel Suleiman tasked MP Tammam Salam with forming a new government. more...
Return to Realism
Last Friday, Israel’s Prime Minister, Benjamin Netanyahu, made a call to his Turkish counterpart, Recep Tayyip Erdogan, resolving the dispute between the two countries following the 2010 Mavi Marmara incident. more...
Israeli Leader Apologizes to Turkey for Fatal Ship Raid
Apologizing to Turkey should be seen as a concession by Prime Minister Netanyahu to President Obama because escalating tensions between Turkey, a NATO member, and Israel, America’s most reliable... more...
The End of Syria
Last week marked the second year anniversary of the popular uprising in Syria. On its current trajectory, Syria is headed toward geographical fragmentation. As the security situation deteriorates and Washington... more...
A Nifty Conceit: the EU, Hezbollah, and Lebanon
The Hezbollah bus bombing in Bulgaria as well as their foiled operation in Cyprus have put Europe in an uncomfortable position, as pressure increases on the EU to designate Hezbollah as a terrorist organization. more...
Iran’s Lebanon Arm
The recent death of Revolutionary Guards Corps-Quds Force (IRGC-QF) senior officer Hassan Shateri, alias Hessam Khoshnevis, has cast the spotlight on the direct role the IRGC... more...
Iran and Israel Fight, Lebanon Loses
It’s been more than two weeks since the Israeli airstrike in Syria against the arms convoy headed for Hezbollah in Lebanon. Bits of information, coupled with ominous warnings, are coming out from Jerusalem... more...
Hollow Praise for the LAF
On Monday, the US ambassador to Lebanon, Maura Connelly, called the Commander of the Lebanese Armed Forces (LAF) and expressed condolences for the officers killed or injured in last week’s raid... more...
Israel’s Free Hand
Yesterday, reports emerged of an Israeli airstrike against a truck convoy suspected of carrying “game changing” weapons systems from Syria to Hezbollah in Lebanon. While previous reports had mainly... more...
Whose Side is America On?
In President Barack Obama’s inaugural address marking the start of his second term in office, he dedicated little space to foreign policy. While the president made no specific mention of Iran, he did... more...
The Kurds’ Sensitive Juncture
Last week’s killing in Paris of three female Kurdish activists with the Kurdistan Workers’ Party (PKK) has spurred much speculation about the party responsible for the assassinations and the purpose... more...
Obama’s Flexible Red Lines
In response to Syrian President Bashar al-Assad’s latest address, US officials and spokespersons have dismissively described the embattled dictator as someone “detached from reality” and “delusional,”... more...
Diplomatic Theater
If you’ve been following Syria news over the past week, you’d be forgiven for thinking that feverish, Moscow-centered diplomatic activity was on the cusp of producing an agreement for a political... more...
A Historic Settlement?
On Monday, the Hezbollah-aligned al-Akhbar published an interview with Syria’s Vice President Farouq al-Sharaa entitled “Decisive military victory is an illusion. The solution is a historic settlement.” more...
Assad’s Chemical Card
Last week, president Obama issued another warning to Syria’s embattled dictator against making the “tragic mistake” of using chemical weapons (CW). There remain a number of real scenarios in which... more...