Behind the Beijing Summit: Taiwan, Iran, and a New Great-Power Deal
The meeting between Donald Trump and Xi Jinping can signal a broader geopolitical shift linking Taiwan and Iran within a shared framework of strategic bargaining. Rather than a formal deal, both powers could test indirect forms of restraint, leverage, and de-escalation across interconnected regional theaters. President Donald Trump’s high-stakes meeting with Chinese President Xi Jinping […]
Refighting Spain’s Conquest of Mexico
During her recent visit to Mexico, Isabel Díaz Ayuso, the fiercely conservative head of Madrid’s regional government, paid public homage to Hernán Cortés, the conquistador who overthrew the Aztec empire and brought Mexico under Spanish rule by 1521. This provoked a harsh response from Mexican President Claudia Sheinbaum, who emphasized the accepted view of Cortés […]
The UAE’s Seismic Foreign Policy Shift toward America and Israel
The United Arab Emirates has undergone a profound transformation in its foreign policy over the past several months, marking one of the most consequential realignments in the Middle East since the Abraham Accords of 2020. In the midst of the 2026 Iran war, Abu Dhabi has abandoned decades of hedging diplomacy in favor of an […]
Academic Freedom and Israel-Bashing on Campus
What is it about the end of the school year that brings Israel-bashing on campus to the fore? Since the beginning of May alone: the New School’s student government voted to outlaw their Hillel chapter, Swarthmore College was vandalized with hundreds of anti-Israel slogans spray-painted across campus property (including Hamas-inspired inverted red triangles), the Chair […]
Trump in Beijing: Respect, Leverage, and the New Realism of U.S.–China Relations
How President Trump’s China visit may open a new era of managed rivalry, strategic respect, and American-led realism. President Donald Trump’s visit to Beijing should be understood not merely as a diplomatic episode, but as a strategic signal. It revealed something essential about the future of the international order: the relationship between the United States […]
Egypt’s Pivotal Role in Regional Affairs: What Lies Ahead?
President ‘Abd al-Fattah al-Sisi’s recent visit to the UAE – which served as an opportunity to reveal that the Egyptian Air force has been playing a role in the defense of the Emirates – was an important reminder of an often overlooked aspect of the regional balance of power. Albeit beset by several significant internal […]
Why Britain is on the Comeback Trail
The United Kingdom is not collapsing. It is finishing something it started a long time ago. For more than a century, Britain has been shrinking—not only in territory, but in meaning. What looks today like political confusion or economic stagnation is not a temporary phase. It is the final stage of a process that began […]
Amir Ohana and the Dignity of Public Service
The Abraham Leadership and Public Service Award honors institutional responsibility, personal courage, and the values of dialogue in a difficult moment for the Middle East. At a time when the Middle East is facing one of its most difficult and uncertain periods, public service carries a special responsibility. Leadership is not only measured by power […]
Does Decapitation Work for Regime Change?
The U.S. and Israeli decapitation of Iran’s senior political leadership in 2026 failed to produce regime change. The clerical regime and the Revolutionary Guard Corps remain in power. But does this failure mean the strategy of decapitation never has any utility? This essay examines the historical record to identify the conditions under which political decapitation […]
The Countdown Starts Now:<br>Will 2026 Mark Al-Qaeda’s Strategic Breakthrough in the Sahel?
On April 26, 2026, Jama’at Nusrat al-Islam wal-Muslimin (JNIM), an affiliate of Al-Qaeda in the Islamic Maghreb (AQIM), in coordination with the Azawad Liberation Front, launched a large-scale offensive against government institutions across several regions in Mali, culminating in the assassination of the country’s Minister of Defense. This attack was not an isolated incident. Rather, […]
