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The Wave: Man, God, and the Ballot Box in the Middle East
The promise of democracy for Muslims offers something historically unparalleled. Where Islamist groups once dreamed of revolution, quietly developed paramilitary cells, and assassinated their secular opponents, mainstream Islamist groups today see elections as a means for society to maintain akhlaq; the mores that define good Muslims.
Learn MoreAnalysis & Commentary - Reuel Marc Gerecht
Obama’s Way of War
Is Barack Obama a warrior president? Not in the British tradition, of course, which gave us Winston Churchill, with his crazy cavalry charge against Sudanese spears, or the more cerebral Harold Macmillan, shot to pieces in World War I. more...
Negotiations That Matter
Since we don’t know what Saeed Jalili, Iran’s chief nuclear negotiator, said at the recent confab in Istanbul, we can’t be sure that Israeli prime minister Bibi Netanyahu was right to dismiss the powwow as a “freebie” for Tehran. more...
The Islamist Road to Democracy
For many on the American left and right, the "Arab Spring" has become the "Arab Winter" of triumphant fundamentalists. In Egypt, where Arab liberalism was once strong, religious parties overwhelmed secularists in recent parliamentary elections. more...
How Washington Encourages Israel to Bomb Iran
In recent speeches, interviews and private meetings, President Obama has been trying hard to dissuade Israel from bombing Iran's nuclear facilities. All along, however, he's actually made it much easier for Israel to attack. more...
Taking Damascus, One, Two, Three
Although Bashar al-Assad could still kill off the revolt against his tyranny, it seems increasingly unlikely. The rebellion today is far larger—geographically and numerically—than the rebellion of the Syrian Muslim Brotherhood in Hama in 1982. more...
Drones Are Not Enough
Has Barack Obama been a good counter-terrorist president? On the left, and even on the right, we usually hear a resounding “yes”: Obama has maintained, sometimes amplified, the programs that really keep us safe (predator drones, expansive use of domestic intercepts, unsavory intelligence liaison relationships, and rendition). more...
Economic Regime-Change Can Stop Iran Bomb
Iran’s threat to close the Strait of Hormuz, the choke-point for Persian Gulf oil shipments, reveals how deeply the latest Western sanctions -- and the threat of even tougher measures -- have spooked the clerical regime. more...
Reading IAEA in Tehran
Reading the Iranian press last week after the International Atomic Energy Agency released its report on the Islamic Republic’s nuclear program elicited a sense of déjà vu more...
Don’t Give Up on Sanctions
The release last week of the International Atomic Energy Agency’s report on Iran’s progressing nuclear program has to make one wonder whether more than 30 years of sanctions have helped to thwart — or even stall — the country’s nuclear designs. more...
Next Arab Domino May Be Oil Darling Algeria
The death of Muammar Qaddafi is a cause for joy in Libya, and for concern. Some worry that the ruling National Transitional Council will force its way to permanent power; others that Islamist elements will seek to put the country under Shariah law. more...
Iran’s Act of War
There is still much to learn about the Iranian-directed plot to blow up the Saudi ambassador in a Washington, D.C., restaurant. But if the Justice Department's information is correct, the conspiracy confirms a lethal fact about Iran's regime more...
FDD Remembers - The 9/11 Compendium
The Foundation for Defense of Democracies was created not quite 10 years ago in response to the attacks of September 11, 2001. But the need for such an organization was envisaged before that. more...
America vs. Jihadists
Has the United States been successful in its war against terrorism? Yes, without a doubt. Although Islamic militancy remains a potent force, especially in Central Asia and the Indian subcontinent, Washington’s relentless pursuit of armed jihadists has severely damaged the capacity of Sunni radical groups to strike the United States, at home and abroad. more...
Obama, American Liberator?
Libya was not a robust showing of liberal-internationalist conviction: The single greatest factor behind the West’s armed intrusion was the surreality of Moammar Gaddafi. more...
The Syrian Challenge
The administration’s policy toward Syria is shaping up to be the greatest missed opportunity of Barack Obama’s presidency. His failure of vision and nerve, paired with an acute Republican fatigue with the Middle East and foreign policy in general, has allowed Syria to drop off Washington’s radar screen. more...
The First Time
THIS BOOK IS an exquisite history of the excruciatingly difficult, perhaps pointless, often disastrous British invasion and occupation of Mesopotamia between 1914 and 1924. The publisher calls it a “cautionary tale for [today’s] makers of national policy.” more...
The Case for an Iranian-Oil-Free Zone
If we buy oil from despotic states, are we somehow complicit in their crimes? Even after the Arab Spring has highlighted tyranny in the Middle East, Americans and Europeans still generally remove oil and natural gas from their moral calculations. more...
Whither Jihad?
Islamic militancy preceded Osama bin Laden. Unfortunately, it will probably outlast him, too. more...
The Slaughter That Muslims Could Not Ignore
Like all fundamentalists, Osama bin Laden was attuned to the past. When his speeches weren't about the economic decline of America, they recalled Islam's classical age, especially the rise of the Prophet Muhammad through the Rashidun ("rightly-guided") period, which ended in 661. more...
It Will Get Worse, if the U.S. Leaves
It is entirely possible that the Central Intelligence Agency may have been a bit heavy-handed with the Pakistani military, as with the “unauthorized” drone attacks (the vast majority of these missile strikes inside Pakistan have unquestionably been coordinated and cleared by Islamabad). But it is increasingly clear that the primary problem between the two countries is the stubborn Pakistani dream that time can be reversed. more...