FDD's Foreign Podicy

Israel is a tiny country: its land area about a fourth the size of the United Arab Emirates, its population less than that of Tehran—capital of the Islamic Republic of Iran. Yet Israel is the subject of constant comment and controversy, and is frequently attacked—both kinetically and rhetorically—by its enemies, its adversaries, and too often even by those who should be its allies.

For seven long years, Syria has been engulfed in civil war. The death toll now exceeds a half million. More than five million refugees have fled abroad, and millions more are internally displaced.

The dynastic dictatorship of Bashar al-Assad almost certainly would have fallen had it not been for the intervention of the Islamic Republic of Iran, its Lebanese proxy, Hezbollah, various Iranian-controlled Shia militias, and the Russian military.

Lately, Tehran also has been building a military machine in Syria aimed at Israel. And Israel is responding.

To examine how these conflicts are likely to evolve, FDD president and Foreign Podicy host Clifford D. May is joined by FDD Research Fellow and Levant expert Tony Badran, Security Studies Group Senior Fellow Matt Brodsky, and FDD Senior Vice President for Research Jonathan Schanzer.

Kazakhstan is one of the ten largest countries in the world, yet most Americans couldn’t find it on a map. Today, the former Soviet Republic is an anti-Islamist, Muslim-majority nation, yet most Americans have no idea we have friends there. To learn more about this distant and intriguing corner of the world, host Clifford D. May is joined by Svante Cornell, Director of the Central Asian Caucasus Institute at the American Foreign Policy Council.

Syria has been at war for seven long years. More than a half million people have been killed. More than 11 million – close to half Syria’s pre-war population – have been displaced either internally or as refugees in other countries. 

But Syrians are not the only ones involved in this fight.  The Islamic Republic of Iran, Lebanese Hezbollah – the Iranian regime’s foreign legion – and Russia have helped keep dictator Bashar al-Assad in power. Israel, Turkey and the U.S. also have been playing significant roles.

To discuss the conflict in Syria, where it is heading, what U.S. policy is and where it should be, host Clifford D. May is joined by FDD’s senior counselor John Hannah and director of research David Adesnik.

Syria has been at war for seven long years. More than a half million people have been killed. More than 11 million – close to half Syria’s pre-war population – have been displaced either internally or as refugees in other countries. 

But Syrians are not the only ones involved in this fight.  The Islamic Republic of Iran, Lebanese Hezbollah – the Iranian regime’s foreign legion – and Russia have helped keep dictator Bashar al-Assad in power. Israel, Turkey and the U.S. also have been playing significant roles.

To discuss the conflict in Syria, where it is heading, what U.S. policy is and where it should be, host Clifford D. May is joined by FDD’s senior counselor John Hannah and director of research David Adesnik.

Not so long ago, Turkey appeared to be the model: a Muslim-majority nation that was becoming free, democratic and prosperous; a NATO ally; a friend of America and Europe.

Today, all of that is very much in doubt. To discuss Turkey’s trajectory in the aftermath of elections that have strengthened the hand of the President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan, FDD president and Foreign Podicy host Clifford D. May is joined by former U.S. Ambassador to Turkey Eric Edelman, FDD senior fellow Aykan Erdemir and FDD research analyst Merve Tahiroglu.

Episode resources:

Turkish Elections: A Win That Cannot Be Stolen 

Erdogan’s Hostage Diplomacy: Why We Need a Transatlantic Response 

Erdogan’s Hostage Diplomacy: Western Nationals in Turkish Prisons 

Lebanon and Iraq both recently held elections, which is good news – or is it? Hezbollah, Iran's terrorist foreign legion, is now more firmly in control of Lebanon than ever before. Meanwhile, Iraq still faces many perils, not least from the Islamic Republic of Iran as it pursues its imperialist ambitions in the region.

In episode 14 of Foreign Podicy, host Clifford D. May discusses these developments with Tony Badran, an FDD research fellow born and raised in Lebanon who focuses on the Levant, and Zalmay Khalilzad, born and raised in Afghanistan who served as U.S. ambassador to Iraq, Afghanistan, and the UN.

Episode resources:

• After an Iranian Missile Attack on the Golan Heights, Israel Strikes Syria 
  

A peril that may not be on your radar screen: Cyber-Enabled Economic Warfare (CEEW). Computers and the Internet have made our lives easier but they’ve also left us vulnerable to an arsenal of cyber weapons that threaten us as much as terrorists, guns and bombs.

Episode resources:

• http://www.defenddemocracy.org/content/uploads/documents/MEMO_CyberDefinitions_07.pdf

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War will always be hell – but the laws of war were meant to make wars at least a little less hellish. In Syria, however, the brutal regime of Bashar al-Assad – backed by the Islamic Republic of Iran and by Russia – has many times used prohibited chemical weapons to murder innocent men, women, and children. President Trump has now twice responded with punitive attacks. What has he achieved and what still needs to be done to protect American interests?

Foreign Podicy host Clifford D. May is joined by John Hannah, senior counselor at the Foundation for Defense of Democracies, who has served on the national security teams of both democratic and republican administrations, to discuss the ongoing crises and potential ways forward in Syria and the broader region.

Episode Resources:

• “Trump Was Right to Strike Syria,” John Hannah, Foreign Policy

It’s been eight years since what was called—with more hope than accuracy—the “Arab Spring.” Last month, Egyptian President Abdel Fattah el-Sisi won reelection, surprising no-one since he had no serious competitors. Mr. Sisi may not be a democrat but he does appear to be a reformer, and he’s battling jihadis on Egyptian soil. Should the United States support him, challenge him – or both?

Foreign Podicy host Cliff May discusses these and other issues with Hudson Institute Senior Fellow Samuel Tadros, an expert on Egypt’s history, politics and religions.

Show resources: 

• www.hudson.org/experts/635-samuel-tadros