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Middle East

U.S.-Israel Ties Have Deepened Under Trump’s Presidency

There has never been an American president like Donald Trump regarding his relationship with Israel. No less a figure than Benjamin Netanyahu, the prime minister of Israel who has worked closely with Trump during his two presidential terms, has repeatedly hailed him as the most pro-Israel president in history. This is quite a claim, but […]

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Middle East

Israel’s Conflict With Lebanon May Be Easing

Israel’s protracted conflict with Lebanon may well be easing, judging by the most recent developments. On April 14, Israel and Lebanon conducted preparatory talks in Washington ahead of what may be more substantive negotiations in the near future. A day later, the Israeli security cabinet met to consider a short-term ceasefire in Lebanon to pause […]

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Middle East

Israel, Lebanon And The Iran War Ceasefire

On April 8, shortly after the United States and Iran accepted a Pakistani proposal to abide by a two-week ceasefire in the war in Iran, Israel carried out a massive wave of air strikes aimed at Hezbollah sites in Lebanon. These attacks, the deadliest in decades, complicated the peace talks between the United States and […]

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Middle East

The United States And Iran Head Into Difficult Talks

High-level U.S.-Iran talks are due to begin in Islamabad on April 11, four days after the United States and the Iranian regime accepted a two-week ceasefire proposal brokered by Pakistan to pause the war in Iran. The fighting  erupted on February 28 after the United States and Israel launched joint air strikes in Iran. These […]

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Middle East

Iran Remains Resilient Despite U.S. and Israeli Strikes

When the United States and Israel jointly went to war with Iran on February 28, President Donald Trump predicted that the conflict would last from three to five weeks. Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu did not commit himself to a deadline, preferring to keep his options open. Almost six weeks on, there is no end in […]

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Middle East

The Iran War Has Been Mostly Beneficial To Russia

As Russia watches the current war in Iran play out, it is caught between its support of the Iranian regime and its desire to preserve bilateral relations with the United States and Israel, which attacked Iran a little more than a month ago. Hewing to a calibrated policy of strategic equilibrium, Russian President Vladimir Putin […]

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Middle East

Iran Activates Its Regional Proxies

Two more members of Iran’s Axis of Resistance have been drawn into the month-long war waged by the United States and Israel in Iran. On March 28, the Houthis of Yemen launched their first attack against Israel since the end of the two-year war in the Gaza Strip last October. Targeting “sensitive Israeli military sites,” […]

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Middle East

Lebanon Caught In The Vise Of The Israel-Hezbollah War

Nearly a month into its third war with Hezbollah since 2006, Israel has expanded its ground and air operations in Lebanon and may yet launch a fullscale invasion of southern Lebanon. As Defence Minister Israel Katz indicated, Israel intends to create a buffer zone in territory south of the Litani River, a distance of some […]

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Middle East

The U.S. And Iran Are Not Close To Ending The War

The nearly one-month-old war pitting the United States and Israel against Iran shows no signs of letting up, but President Donald Trump is clearly trying to end it on his own terms. Over the past few days, as U.S. and Israeli aircraft have continued to bomb Iran, Trump has issued both optimistic and threatening pronouncements. […]

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Middle East

Iranian Missile Strikes Exact A Toll On Israel

Israel has absorbed four rounds of punishing Iranian ballistic missile and drone bombardments since the spring of 2024. Although Israel has managed to intercept about 90 percent of the projectiles, the few that have gotten through have caused damage and claimed lives, proving that even the best air defence system is not 100 percent hermetic. […]