Woke ideology, anti‑Americanism, Islamism and antisemitism have gripped America’s elite campuses. How? Follow the money.

Researchers at the Middle East Forum have been doing exactly that, and the result is a new report that's shocking but not surprising. It’s titled: “Beachhead: Georgetown University: How Foreign and Domestic Radical Actors Captured a U.S. University.”

Host Cliff May is joined by his FDD colleague Brandy Shufutinsky and report co-authors Asra Q. Nomani and Sam Westrop to discuss the Gulf autocrats and Saudi‑linked SAFA network pouring millions of dollars into Georgetown’s Al‑Waleed Center, warping future diplomats and even infiltrating K‑12 classrooms—and the actions that must be swiftly taken by policymakers to solve it.

Sam Westrop

Sam Westrop is an expert on nonviolent Islamist networks and has headed the Middle East Forum’s Islamist Watch project since March 2017. He previously ran Stand for Peace, a London-based counter-extremism organization that monitored Islamist movements throughout the UK and which guided British policy on terror finance and violent extremism. Combining open-source research with big data coding and scraping, his investigative work in the United States on the financial activities of seven leading Islamist movements active across America has sparked multiple congressional inquiries, generated law enforcement investigations, and effected federal policy changes.

Asra Nomani

Asra Q. Nomani is an investigative reporter, journalist, private investigator, author, educator, editor and former reporter for the Wall Street Journal. She is founder of the Pearl Project a nonprofit initiative dedicated to doing journalism in the public interest, defending press freedoms and preserving the legacy of a great journalist and friend. Asra is widely recognized for rational commentary, analysis and advocacy work across a diversity of issues and media platforms, including MSNBC, CNN, Fox News, the Washington Post, the New York Times and BBC, among others.

Brandy Shufutinsky

Brandy Shufutinsky serves as director of FDD’s Program on Education and National Security. Prior to joining FDD, Brandy was director of education and community engagement at the North American Values Institute. Brandy has been published in Newsweek, Jewish Journal, The Jerusalem Post, Sapir, White Rose Magazine, and JNS. She was a 2021 scholar-in-residence at the Institute for the Study of Global Antisemitism and Policy Oxford Summer Institute, where she worked to develop curriculum in critical antisemitism studies.

Just as Putin launched the largest drone assault of the war, President Trump overruled an order from the Pentagon that had halted the delivery of munitions to Ukraine. And despite what pundits say, new polling says his base isn’t mad about it. Cliff May is joined by Carrie Filipetti of the Vandenberg Coalition to break down its polling data that shows most of Trump’s base back peace through strength, see Russia and Iran as serious threats, support sanctions, and trust Trump to act decisively when force is needed. As it turns out, so-called "America First" voters want America to lead.

Guest host Bradley Bowman is joined by U.S. Air Force pilots Lt. Col. Brian “Bud” Leitzke and Lt. Col. Kevin “Rowdy” Murphy for an exclusive firsthand account of April 13, 2024, when Iran launched over 300 drones and missiles at Israel. Bud and Rowdy's squadron scrambled into the night sky in one of the largest U.S. air combat missions in years. What followed was a high-stakes, real-time defense of Israeli and American interests.

NATO summits are usually dry and wonky affairs. This one was different.

To unpack what was said, what wasn’t, and what actually matters, host Cliff May is joined by his FDD colleagues RADM (Ret.) Mark Montgomery and Bradley Bowman to discuss alliance politics, military power projection, strategic signaling, and more.

Israel and Iran are at war. To break down what’s happening and what could come next, host Cliff May is joined by Admiral (Ret.) Mark Montgomery and Behnam Ben Taleblu.

They dissect Israel’s targeted strikes on IRGC assets, the strategic pause before a possible U.S. strike on Fordow, and why this war isn’t just Israel vs. Iran. It’s the free world vs. the axis of aggressors. And it’s about finishing the job—or risking another historic failure.

Host Cliff May is joined by his FDD colleagues H.R. McMaster and Brad Bowman to assess the growing cooperation among adversaries like China, Russia, Iran, and North Korea—also know as the 'axis of aggressors.'

From the Kremlin's efforts to manipulate perceptions in the West, particularly regarding NATO, to Iran's nuclear ambitions and the geopolitical implications of its relationship with China and the continuing threat from North Korea, they discuss why a robust U.S. response to these challenges is needed in order to maintain global security.

Thirty-six years ago this week, the Chinese Communist Party crushed pro-democracy protests in Tiananmen Square with tanks and bullets. The death toll? Certainly in the hundreds, probably in the thousands, and deliberately hidden by the Communist Party of China.

How did that massacre reshape China’s path, and what did it mean for Beijing’s relationship with the U.S. and the West?

Host Cliff May sits down with his FDD colleague Matt Pottinger, Chairman of our China Program, to discuss Tiananmen’s legacy and global consequences.

Is Iran on the brink, or is the West getting played again? Filling in for host Cliff May, Behnam Ben Taleblu is joined by Andrea Stricker and Saeed Ghasseminejad to discuss Trump’s renewed demand for full nuclear dismantlement, the regime’s internal weakness, and why half-measures won’t cut it. From stalled negotiations to nationwide strikes and the case for a “strike fund,” they unpack how to confront the Islamic Republic in 2025.

President Trump’s May 19 phone call with Vladimir Putin does not appear to be two hours well-spent. According to readouts, the Russian ruler agreed to continue talking about talking.

Around the same time, Putin launched a massive drone strike against Ukrainian soldiers defending their country and civilians attempting to survive the long war waged against them by an enemy seeking to destroy their freedom and identity.

Despite President Trump’s multiple threats to impose “devastating” sanctions on Russia if Putin continues to refuse even a temporary ceasefire — to which Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky has agreed — Putin does not appear to be taking Trump’s threats seriously.

If Trump isn’t bluffing, a new FDD Memo details exactly how the president can exert significant economic pain on Russia to give Putin pause — and maybe even pause the missiles strikes.

Joining host Cliff May to discuss are memo co-author John Hardie and FDD’s RADM (Ret.) Mark Montgomery, who just returned from the frontline in Ukraine.

Following the Oct. 7, 2023 invasion of Israel and the pogrom carried out by terrorists from Hamas and affiliated Islamist organizations, and some Gazan civilians as well, UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres opined that the attack “did not happen in a vacuum.”

Well, he’s correct just not in the way he intended.

Hebron is an ancient city 20 miles south of Jerusalem in Judea, now more usually referred to as the West Bank. 

Hebron is the burial place of Abraham, and Jews and Muslims lived there mostly peacefully for centuries until the morning of Aug. 24, 1929 when 67 Jewish men, women, and children were slaughtered by their Arab neighbors. 

It was one of the worst pogroms ever perpetrated outside of Europe, where many pogroms were perpetrated over many years.

“Ghosts of a Holy War: The 1929 Massacre in Palestine That Ignited the Arab-Israeli Conflict” is a meticulously researched and beautifully written account of this pivotal event by the eminent journalist Yardena Schwartz, combining historical analysis with contemporary insights.

She joins host Cliff May to discuss the Hebron massacre and the long history of Arab-Israeli conflict.