FDD is a nonpartisan national security and foreign policy institution. Defending democracies without fear or favor. Views are our experts' own.

Washington DC
Joined July 2009
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🏫 America’s primary and secondary schools have become targets of foreign influence campaigns. Over $10M in QFI grants have reached nearly two dozen school districts, mainly supporting Arabic language and culture instruction. @76brandy76, @JenRichmond & @SimoneJWei dive into how the American K-12 education system is vulnerable to foreign influence: fdd.org/analysis/foreign-fun…
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The Egypt-Turkey rapprochement happened because Sisi and Erdogan understood they needed each other in places like Libya and Sudan. Yet these issues will be what drives a wedge between them. You can only set aside ideological differences for so long.
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We designated Confucius Institutes as foreign missions. Why are 🇹🇷 state-run religious and educational institutions in the U.S. still getting the presumption of charity? My first for "The Patient Revolution" on Erdogan’s “pious generation” going global thepatientrevolution.substac…
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My interview @N12News on the potential threat of U.S. sanctions against Israel from a Democratic president in 2029 after President Trump leaves office. Full report here: mako.co.il/news-channel12?su…
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🎙️ FROM THE @JerusalemCenter PODCAST: IRAN KNOWS IT CAN’T WIN THE MILITARY FIGHT. SO WHERE IS IT TRYING TO WIN INSTEAD? Behnam Ben Taleblu, @therealBehnamBT, Senior Director of FDD’s Iran Program, explains how Tehran is shifting the battlefield into social media, Western media and public opinion. Watch the clip. Full interview on YouTube — link in the first comment. Follow @JerusalemCenter here on X and subscribe to their YouTube channel. They’re putting out amazing content.
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LISTEN: Our friends @continetti of the @WSJ and @JSchanzer of @FDD join us today to discuss Saudi Arabia’s Houthi bind, the possibility of the entire region being dragged into the conflict, the controversy over the shutdown of Starshield, which limited Ukraine’s ability to strike Russia, and the possibility of renewed Israeli/American offensives on Iran. Plus, more election talk, and Matt recommends The Strategist by Eliot A. Cohen. commentary.org/noam-blum/bri…
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The U.S. and Israel are telling the IRGC that they are prepared to immediately respond forcefully to any October surprise. That should not be confused with Trump or Netanyahu wanting escalation before their elections are over. Clearly a faction in Tehran keeps pushing the option.
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A foreign bank with Iran as its third-largest shareholder has given over $17 million to at least 50 Islamic private ​K-12 schools in the United States. Along with these grants, ​t​he Islamic Development Bank works with the​ largest Islamic K-12 school accreditation organization in the U.S., the Council of Islamic Schools based in North America (CISNA).
🏫 America’s primary and secondary schools have become targets of foreign influence campaigns. Over $10M in QFI grants have reached nearly two dozen school districts, mainly supporting Arabic language and culture instruction. @76brandy76, @JenRichmond & @SimoneJWei dive into how the American K-12 education system is vulnerable to foreign influence: fdd.org/analysis/foreign-fun…
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What's next for French Jews? Ark+ subscribers get early access to the full episode with @mcmoynihan and @srodan today, ahead of its public release on Friday. To become an Ark+ subscriber, visit arkmedia.org
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My @FDD colleague @miadmaleki in @WSJopinion with another smart and actionable idea: “In eight years at the Treasury’s Office of Foreign Assets Control, I learned that offering owners an exit can help enforce sanctions. We delisted ships and companies on a case-by-case basis when they changed hands. But we didn’t have a blockade that made the fleet’s Iranian business worthless. That lever exists now.” wsj.com/opinion/a-buyout-for…
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– I believe Macron and the French political class are guided by a lot of fear, says @srodan Simone Rodan-Benzaquen, who is senior envoy for Europe at the @fdd_org Foundation for Defense of Democracies. – Every time Algeria plays a football match, cars get burned. There is a fear that the French suburbs will explode, so the strategy becomes one of containment, you know "let’s not lit the fire".
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Washington should create incentives for U.S.-aligned operators to buy ships out of Iran’s black market and put them to legitimate use in the Strait of Hormuz, writes @miadmaleki on.wsj.com/47xTHfn
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My latest for @FDD echoes the sentiments of the EU, Greece, Egypt & Israel. The US should follow suit A bilateral agreement between Turkey and Libya does not change what is agreed upon and established under international law It is escalatory & illegal fdd.org/analysis/eastern-lib…
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