Month: September 2024

Experts react: What’s behind the Hezbollah beeper and walkie-talkie explosions

Beep, beep, boom. Thousands were injured and dozens killed in Lebanon this week when beepers and walkie-talkies used by Hezbollah exploded in a coordinated manner on successive days. “We are opening a new phase in the war,” said Israeli Defense Minister Yoav Gallant, though Israel has not officially acknowledged that it was behind this operation. The

Putin is becoming entangled in his own discredited red lines

Vladimir Putin attempted to draw yet another red line on September 12, warning Western leaders that any decision to let Ukraine use long-range weapons against targets inside Russia would mean that NATO countries are “at war” with Russia. Speaking to the Kremlin media, Putin said that allowing Ukrainian strikes on Russian territory using Western-produced missiles

Reformists on the ropes: How they are battling their own irrelevance and conservative dominance in Iran

On August 21, after days of deliberation, Iran’s parliament approved President Masoud Pezeshkian’s “national accord” cabinet. Notably, the conservative-dominated parliament did not reject any of Pezeshkian’s proposed nineteen ministers, a decision that defied expectations—making it the first cabinet to pass with flying colors since 2001. While touted by some as an attempt at an all-inclusive

Countering Russia’s campaign to erase Ukrainian cultural identity

Russia’s full-scale invasion of Ukraine has included a wide range of attacks on Ukrainian heritage sites as the Kremlin seeks to erase Ukraine’s cultural identity. By September 2024, UNESCO had officially verified damage to 438 cultural sites in Ukraine including religious buildings, museums, libraries, and monuments. Writing earlier this year, Ukraine’s Prosecutor General Andriy Kostin

Time to make Russia worry about the West’s red lines in Ukraine

Since Russia’s full-scale invasion of Ukraine first began more than two and a half years ago, talk of Russian red lines has been a major feature of the international debate surrounding the war. Throughout this period, the Kremlin has relentlessly exploited this preoccupation with Russian red lines to fuel Western fears of escalation and limit

As Middle East tensions simmer, the world fixates on the wrong energy market risks

As the anniversary of Hamas’ devastating October 7 attack on Israel approaches and the escalation of the Israel-Gaza war continues, tensions in the Middle East show no signs of receding. Iran’s role in supplying, training, and facilitating attacks from Hamas, Hezbollah, and the Houthis is well-known, but fears persist that dismantling this network will lead

Adapting US strategy to account for China’s transformation into a peer nuclear power

Table of contents Introduction Findings summary Methodology Analysis Key findings and recommendations Appendix: Table-top-exercise timeline Introduction China’s rapidly improving nuclear capabilities and expanding nuclear arsenal underpin its recent rise as a nuclear peer power. For the United States and its allies in the Indo-Pacific region, the uncertainty of China’s intentions behind this nuclear expansion poses

How Ukraine’s Kursk incursion echoes the Gettysburg campaign

In the early days of Ukraine’s incursion into Russia’s Kursk region, the Atlantic Council’s Daniel Fried likened Ukraine’s bold maneuver to George Washington’s historic raid across the Delaware River. At the time, this analogy was fitting, given the information available and the perceived objectives. However, as the operation approaches the six-week mark, it has become

Part 3. Defense cooperation: Turkey’s triangular balancing in the Black Sea region

This chapter is part of a report on the prospects for enhanced cooperation between Turkey and Western countries in the Black Sea region in the new geopolitical setting following Russia’s full-scale invasion of Ukraine. Assessing the strategic environment In its Black Sea neighborhood, which includes Russia, Ukraine, Romania, Bulgaria, and Georgia, Turkey faces a centuries