The Iran ceasefire is dead. FDD Research Analyst Janatan Sayeh and Bill Roggio discuss whether Europe may finally be turning on Tehran, whether Israel will rejoin the active fight, and whether the weakened Islamic Regime survives by unleashing its terror proxies across the Gulf.
A new 14-point trilateral framework toward ending hostilities in Lebanon puts Hezbollah, Iran’s strongest terror proxy, at a crossroads. Disarm and let Lebanon reclaim its southern border—or keep threatening Israel and risk blowing up the fragile US-Iran peace deal. FDD Senior Fellow David Daoud joins Bill Roggio to break down what’s really at stake in these negotiations.
One week after President Trump signed a landmark Memorandum of Understanding (MOU) with Iran, the 60-day negotiation window is already under pressure—and the concessions are piling up. So, is this two-page MOU actually worth the paper it’s written on? FDD Iran Program Senior Director and Senior Fellow Behnam Ben Taleblu joins Bill Roggio to break it all down.
President Trump said that a two-page memorandum of understanding (MOU) has been signed between the US and the Islamic Republic of Iran that will end the war and open the Strait of Hormuz. But will this deal bring about a lasting peace in the region, or has peace just become another five-letter word? FDD Senior Fellow David Daoud and Bill Roggio speculate as to what will become of the Middle East and America’s influence in the region as this very thin MOU moves forward.
Despite multiple attempts by Israel to quell the fighting in Gaza and decapitate Hamas’s leadership, the group continues a guerilla-style resistance. The IDF now fights on three active fronts: Lebanon, Iran, and Gaza. But it’s perhaps the forgotten war in Gaza that could resume major hostilities if left unchecked. Bill Roggio speaks with FDD Research Analyst Samuel Ben-Ur about next steps in Gaza.
While attention remains fixed elsewhere, jihadist groups are expanding across Africa. Bill Roggio and Caleb Weiss revisit the growing threats in Mali, Nigeria, and Somalia—and why the continent remains one of the most consequential battlegrounds in the war against Al Qaeda and the Islamic State.
Iran’s military has been shattered. The Strait of Hormuz remains contested. Three months in, Bill Roggio and FDD’s Jon Schanzer examine why quick victories are rare, patience is scarce, and this war is entering its most consequential phase yet.
Hezbollah’s missiles may be depleted, but cheap FPV drones are changing the battlefield — slipping past defenses, targeting Israeli troops, and exposing a dangerous new vulnerability. Bill Roggio and David Daoud unpack Hezbollah’s drone evolution, the psychological warfare behind the footage, and why Israel may be drifting back toward the failed security zone dynamics of the past.
FDD’s Long War Journal responds to the former ambassador’s assertion that assessments of Afghanistan once again becoming a terrorist safe haven are false.
Thomas Joscelyn, Bill Roggio, Wall Street Journal reporter Jessica Donati, and FDD founder and president Clifford D. May discuss the dire situation in Afghanistan, how we got here, where we are going, and negotiations with the Taliban.
Al Qaeda and ISIS have spawned such groups as Boko Haram and Al Shabaab that are spreading their influence across the Sahel, in the Horn of Africa, and beyond. A recent study shows that African jihadists are increasingly attacking Western targets.
Iranian-backed Hezbollah is leveraging its growing global network to launder huge amounts of money, traffic weapons, and engage in a long list of illicit activities that are increasingly overlapping with the work of Latin American narcos.
The editors of FDD’s Long War Journal were featured as guests on the debut episode of a new podcast from the Foundation for Defense of Democracies (FDD) titled Foreign Podicy to discuss Osama bin Laden’s files.
On Nov. 17, The Foundation for Defense of Democracies and FDD’s Long War Journal held an event to discuss the findings from the recently released documents from Osama bin Laden’s compound.
A New York Times map, based on data provided by The Long War Journal, shows the deteriorating situation in Afghanistan. President Obama’s decision to keep 5,500 troop in country past 2017 will not be enough to turn the tide.
The Nigerian military reported that an impersonator of Boko Haram leader Abubakar Shekau has been killed. It remains to be seen what this means for the group.
Continuing its campaign in northeastern Nigeria, Boko Haram appears to have won its battle with Nigeria’s armed forces for control of Bama, a city of over a quarter million in Borno state.
Two explosions that targeted religious and political leaders in Kaduna, Nigeria have killed at least 82 people.
Suspected Boko Haram militants shot and killed a local emir in an attack on a funeral convoy in northern Nigeria.
In an interview, a Boko Haram member threatened that the group will conduct more kidnapping operations similar to its attack in Chibok where the group abducted over 300 schoolgirls.
From ‘Fallujah Awakens’: a chlorine truck bomb deployed by insurgents against the village of Albu Aifan on March 16, 2007.
The story of the tribal “Awakening” and counterinsurgency campaign in the famous battleground.
US Defense Secretary Leon Panetta tells tall tales about the Taliban’s dying “last gasp.”
A monthly cartoon that tackles the issues of the war. This month’s topic: NATO’s supply lines from Pakistan to Afghanistan.
Abu Yahya al Libi and other al Qaeda leaders “were actually a moderating force” and killing them leads to the promotion of leaders “less likely to be amenable to restraining their actions,” a CT analyst would have you believe.
The Obama administration is pulling back from the war on terror, even as al Qaeda and its allies remain a serious threat.
Coalition forces killed a former Gitmo detainee and “al Qaeda associate” in Nangarhar. Security forces killed and captured several Taliban fighters in Helmand, Khost, Wardak, and Balkh. The Taliban killed two ISAF soldiers in the south.
A suicide bomber killed himself in a premature detonation. An “Iranian sniper” killed an Iraqi civilian in Haj Omran. Ninewa police discovered the body of an escaped prisoner.
A suicide bomber killed six Yemeni soldiers at a checkpoint in the southern port city of Aden. President Saleh’s son halted negotiations with the opposition and will not support a transition of power.
Six people were killed as Somali security forces fought amongst themselves in Mogadishu. African Union soldiers accidentally shot and killed a Malaysian reporter in the Somali capital.