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Newest Publications
The Islamic Armageddon Lies between Turkey and ISIS
Lebanon
Iran and Hizbullah Mourn Mughniyeh and Plan Revenge Worldwide
Iran’s top commander in Beirut to deliver a message and a prayer. Read More »
Iran: “Killing of Senior Hizbullah and IRGC Officials Will Hasten Israel’s Destruction”
After the death of their commanders in Syria, Hizbullah and Iran have a dilemma. Read More »
Is Lebanon on the Brink of a New Civil War?
Tripoli’s fall would have been the beginning of the disintegration of the Lebanese state Read More »
The Significance of the First Hizbullah Attack against Israeli Forces since 2006
For the first time since the Second Lebanon War in 2006, Hizbullah claimed responsibility for an attack against Israeli forces. Read More »
ISIS Moves on Lebanon
Lebanon may soon face a head-on confrontation with Jihadi forces coming from Syria and Iraq Read More »
The Rise of the Salafis in Lebanon: A New Sunni-Shiite Battlefield
The Sunni community in Lebanon is being led by a new breed of Islamist Salafi leaders such as Sheikh Ahmad al-Assir. Read More »
Will Lebanon Help Iran Circumvent Sanctions?
As part of its efforts to break the grip of Western sanctions, Iran is working intensively to develop its economic ties with Lebanon. Read More »
Michael Widlanski on the Strong Horse: Power, Politics, and the Clash of Arab Civilizations by Lee Smith
Jewish Political Studies Review 23:1-2 (Spring 2011) What is the key to understanding the Middle East? Sometimes a perceptive outsider can grasp the political culture of a state or a region better than a native observer or an academic. Lee […] Read More »
The Arab Peace Initiative: A Primer and Future Prospects
In the wake of the 9/11 terrorist attacks on the U.S., Saudi Arabia was under intense scrutiny since 15 of the 19 hijackers were Saudis. In Feb. 2002, Crown Prince Abdullah of Saudi Arabia proposed to Israel “full withdrawal” from the territories in return for “full normalization.” Read More »
The New Flare-Up between Israel and Lebanon Over Gas
The potential oil and gas fields off the Lebanese and Israeli coasts look set to become a source of conflict in the years ahead. Behind the tensions is the fact that the maritime border between Israel and Lebanon has never been delineated because the two states are still formally at war. Read More »
Toward a Radical Lebanon?
Lebanon’s Prime Minister Najib Mikati recently succeeded in forming a new government dominated by the Hizbullah-led March 8 alliance, thus ending a deadlock that left the divided country in a power vacuum for almost five months. The thirty-member cabinet was […] Read More »
The Arab Spring from a Counter-Terrorism Perspective
World War III is occurring right now. It is a religious war – first and foremost within the religion of Islam. It is a war of the culture of Islamic radicalism against the rest of the world, which includes the majority of Muslims worldwide. Read More »
Iran Changes the Balance of Power in Lebanon
Iran no longer hesitates to state publicly that its forward defense line now passes through “Lebanon and Palestine.” In practice, the Lebanese-Israeli border is in fact Israel’s border with Iran. Hizbullah is nourished by the growing strength and power of Iran and draws upon its successes. Both parties recognize that the fall of one also signifies the demise of the other. Read More »
Countdown to a New Lebanon Crisis: Iran Sends a Signal to Obama through Beirut
There is a tendency in the West to underestimate the Iranian role in Hizbullah decision-making.
Iran is signaling to the Obama administration that the main political developments in Lebanon are being decided today in Tehran and not in Washington. Iran is testing U.S. power and determination, and the states of the Middle East are closely following what will be the outcome. Read More »