Recent Posts

Lebanon Comes Under Pressure to Disarm Hezbollah

Bottom Line Up Front Trump officials have given Lebanon’s government an ultimatum to take control of Lebanese Hezbollah’s arsenal of heavy weapons or forgo U.S. efforts to compel Israel to withdraw from its positions in southern Lebanon. U.S. officials expect Lebanon’s cabinet, at a meeting this week, to issue an …

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Plan to Reoccupy Gaza Further Isolates Israel

Bottom Line Up Front Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s proposal to reoccupy all of the Gaza Strip has caused tensions with his defense establishment and with his allies in Washington. Top Israel Defense Forces (IDF) leaders and the families of remaining Israeli hostages are trying to scuttle the re-occupation plan, …

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Iran Update, August 7, 2025

The Lebanese Council of Ministers agreed on August 7 to the objectives of US Envoy Thomas Barrack’s proposal to disarm Hezbollah.[1] The proposal’s objectives include a phased plan to completely disarm Hezbollah by December 31, 2025, and to ensure an Israeli withdrawal from its five permanent positions in southern Lebanon.[2] …

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Hezbollah’s existential choice: Disarm or risk its future

Lebanon’s powerful Hezbollah group stands at a pivotal juncture, forced to weigh its future amid unprecedented US pressure to relinquish its weapons following a costly war last year that eroded its longstanding dominance over Lebanon’s security decisions. The Iran-backed militant group, which has dominated Lebanese politics and security since Israel’s …

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Turkey’s new precision weapons stoke regional tensions

In late July, Turkish defense contractors used the 2025 International Defense Industry Fair (IDEF) to showcase the latest additions to the country’s arsenal. Headlining the event were two striking developments: the “Tayfun Block-4” hypersonic ballistic missile and the “Gazap” bunker-busting, non-nuclear thermobaric bomb. Both weapons, now within the Turkish military’s …

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