Hikmat al-Hijri, the spiritual leader of Syria’s Druze community, said that since the fall of the previous regime and the flight of its president “under international arrangements,” as he put it, it has been replaced by “a system of politicized factions alongside takfiri gangs.” He argued that the transitional phase …

The Iranian regime announced new Artesh appointments on December 17 as part of a broader reshuffling of senior Iranian military leadership following the Israel-Iran War.[i] Artesh Commander Major General Amir Hatami appointed Brigadier General Alireza Sabahi Fard as his assistant for air defense affairs.[ii] Alireza Sabahi Fard most recently served …

Toplines Russian President Vladimir Putin publicly and explicitly outlined his continued commitment to his maximalist war aims in Ukraine — the same aims for which Putin launched his full-scale invasion in 2022. Putin spoke on December 17 to an expanded meeting of the Russian Ministry of Defense (MoD) board, where …