Weekly Briefing: Geneva Talks, Iranian War Games, and Trump's New National Security Advisor
In this week’s Monday Briefing, contributors Randa Slim, Alex Vatanka, Paul Salem, and Antoun Issa provide analysis on recent and upcoming events including the next round of Syria talks in Geneva, Iranian war games directed at President Trump, the appointment of a new U.S. National Security Advisor to replace Michael Flynn, and Israeli PM Netanyahu’s trip to Australia.
Ali Akbar Velayati, the top foreign policy advisor to Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, has dismissed Turkish charges that Tehran is engaging in dangerous sectarian policies in the Middle East.
In a fiery speech, Hassan Nasrallah, the head of Lebanon’s Hezbollah organization, has threatened Jerusalem with devastating military response in the event of a new round of conflict between Hezbollah and Israel.
Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan’s official trip to Bahrain, Saudi Arabia and Qatar has prompted anxiety in Tehran. Erdogan arrived in Riyadh on Monday night after a visit to Bahrain, and he is scheduled to go to Qatar next.
Monday Briefing: Trump’s Executive Orders Don’t Reveal a Coherent Strategy
In this week’s Monday Briefing, MEI experts Paul Salem, Paul Scham, Randa Slim, W. Robert Pearson, and Marvin G. Weinbaum provide analysis on recent and upcoming events including the Trump administration’s apparent lack of a coherent strategy in the implementation of executive orders, the possibility of an improved relationship between Israel and the UK in the wake of Brexit, the Astana meeting to discuss the Syrian cease-fire deal, bilateral efforts to improve Turkish-Israel relations, and the uncertainty surrounding U.S.-Pakistani relations under the Trump administration.
Iran Paper Warns Israel about Hezbollah’s Missile Power
Kayhan newspaper, arguably Iran’s most reactionary paper whose editor-in-chief is appointed by Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, ran an extensive background of what it claimed to be Israeli fears about Lebanese Hezbollah’s missile arsenal. “Zionists [Israel] are deeply worried about Hezbollah’s missile strength,” the paper said.
Monday Briefing: Trump Scores a Ruinous ‘Own Goal’ in the Middle East
In this week’s Monday Briefing, MEI experts Paul Salem, Robert S. Ford, and W. Robert Pearson provide analysis on recent and upcoming events including the Trump administration’s controversial travel ban, the Syrian regime’s dismissal of calls for a cease-fire, and the upcoming meeting between German Chancellor Angela Merkel and Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan.
Six Challenges to U.S.-Israel Relations under Trump
In the early 2000s, the Bush administration’s global ratings were at historic lows. There was only one allied country in which public opinion was favorable to U.S. policies—Israel. Like its citizenry, the Israeli government was strongly supportive of “the freedom agenda,” “the global war on terror,” and the need to eradicate “the axis of evil.” A decade later, President Donald Trump’s inauguration created a very similar effect, winning overwhelming governmental support and backed by a majority of Israelis.
Weekly Briefing: Confirmation Hearings, Syria Peace Talks, and OPEC
In this week’s briefing, MEI experts Gerald Feierstein, Robert S. Ford, Yousef Munayyer, Eran Etzion, and Ruba Husari provide analysis on recent and upcoming events including the ongoing confirmation hearings for key members of the incoming administration’s foreign policy team, the upcoming Syria talks, the recently convened Paris talks on Israel and Palestine, and OPEC’s assessment of its agreement to cap oil output.
Kayhan, a leading newspaper that represents the most hardline of voices inside the Iranian regime, has been raising doubts about Turkish intentions in the Syrian conflict. The reservations the paper expressed come shortly after the late December 2016 Turkish-Russian-Iranian ceasefire deal aimed to kick-start the political process to find a solution to the six-year Syrian war.
