Regional Destabilization

Since withdrawing from the Iran nuclear deal in May 2018, the Trump administration has pursued a “maximum pressure” campaign against Iran predicated on expanding and stepping up enforcement of sanctions in order to compel the regime to return to the negotiating table for an improved deal.  Yet in order for the “maximum pressure” campaign to be truly effective, it must go beyond economic considerations, and prevent Iran from expanding its regional influence.

Last Thursday, Lebanon erupted with ongoing popular protests demanding governmental reform. Thousands of Lebanese took to the streets, particularly its major cities, to call for economic reform and the resignation of the current government for mismanagement, which has brought the country to the brink of economic collapse. A protest leader in Tripoli’s Al-Nour Square claimed “70,000 protesters” had congregated there alone.

On June 6, 1982, the Israel Defense Forces (IDF) invaded Lebanon to eliminate the threat from Palestinian militias on its northern border.

By David Daoud

Lebanon announced the formation of a new government today, headed by Prime Minister Saad Hariri, nine months after Beirut held parliamentary elections. However, this otherwise auspicious occasion for a U.S. ally is marred by Hezbollah’s increased empowerment in Beirut’s new government lineup.

By: Bob Feferman 

The recent discovery of Hezbollah terror tunnels under Israel’s border with Lebanon made a tense situation even more dangerous.  In fact, as I write this blog, we do not yet know if there will be open hostilities between Hezbollah and Israel. The context for these events can be found in Iran’s dangerous regional ambitions. 

A car bomb killed high-ranking Syrian regime scientist Dr. Aziz Esber on Saturday as he was leaving his home in Masyaf, in the countryside of Syria’s Hama Governorate. The explosion also claimed the life of Esber’s driver.

Lebanon just concluded its first parliamentary elections in nine years. The results are in, and the March 14 Alliance, Beirut’s pro-Western political bloc, has suffered a setback. For the first time since the 2005 Cedar Revolution, the parties aligned with the Hezbollah-dominated March 8 camp will now control a majority of Lebanon’s parliament.

Explaining the Outcome

On Wednesday night, on orders from its commander, Qassem Soleimani, an Iranian Islamic Revolutionary Guards Corps-Quds Force (IRGC-QF) detachment fired rockets at Israeli positions in the Golan Heights.

Empowered by a new electoral law, last weekend

The Trump White House’s approach to Syria is beset by contradiction, with the Commander in Chief’s impulses diverging from his defense and foreign policy principals, and at times, even from his own prior pronouncements. This policy incoherence has dramatically played out this month, as Trump swung from declaring his desire to disengage from Syria one day to leading missile strikes against Syrian targets involved in the research, production, and storage of chemical weapons less than two weeks later.