No Stabilization in Gaza Without Dismantling Hamas
It is time to confront one of the most dangerous illusions of our time: the belief that the International Stabilization Force for Gaza can bring order, reconstruction, or peace without dismantling Hamas.
Defining an Acceptable Outcome to the Russo-Ukraine War
Nikolas Gvosdev discusses alternative ways that modern wars end in the context of the Russo-Ukraine war.
US Involvement in the Post-October 7 Middle East
In the years preceding the Hamas attack on October 7, 2023, two alternative strategic trajectories seemed to shape the discourse on US involvement in the Middle East: gradual disengagement or intensified great-power competition. By late 2025, following two years of war, a third strategic option has reemerged: American dominance. The US Options Before the October […]
Can Europe Go It Alone?
Andreas Umland asks whether Europe can really go it alone in the Trump era.
How to Flood Gaza with Aid without Enriching Hamas
The key to success of President Donald Trump’s 20-point plan is to remove Hamas from power, permanently. A key to achieving that is to take away Hamas’s profit centers in Gaza, which allow it to pay fighters and smuggle in weapons. Hamas currently makes money by taxing and exercising control over critical humanitarian supplies in […]
AIPAC’S Dilemma
Congressman Seth Moulton is one of the most highly respected members of the House Armed Services Committee. The Massachusetts Democrat and retired Marine has a record of working both sides of the aisle. He and Jim Banks, a conservative Republican from Indiana, co-chaired the Future of Defense Task Force; their 2020 report garnered considerable attention […]
The Fragile Peace
The relief that swept across Israel this past week was profound. Twenty living hostages returned home from Gaza captivity. Families who had braced themselves for permanent loss suddenly found themselves whole again. For a few days, the streets filled with tears of joy. Mothers embraced sons they thought they’d never see again. In a country […]
Where We Are Headed with the Trump Peace Plan
It was a holiday like no other in recent memory. On the eve of Simhat Torah 2025, exactly two years on the Jewish calendar to the day of the Hamas attack in 2023, the 20 remaining live hostages were released to ambulances. Watching from a respectful distance, Israeli crowds on the Gaza border cheered. Later […]
No Real Alternative: Why the Gulf Will Rely on the US
Israel’s attack on Hamas leaders in Doha, Qatar, on September 9 jarred the region and spurred a new outburst of skepticism about the value of US security commitments. The US has long sought a stable regional environment in which American partners do not attack one another, which the Doha attack obviously disrupted. Nevertheless, the Middle East simply has […]
Postwar Gaza as Leadership Opportunity for Egypt
President Donald Trump’s visit to Sharm el-Sheikh demonstrated the joint convening power of the US and Egypt, gathering at short notice the leaders of Europe and the Middle East to support the Trump Peace Plan. Having helped broker the ceasefire, President Abdel Fattah al-Sisi now faces the far harder challenge of shaping what comes next. […]
