Nigeria's overlapping crises — jihadist insurgency, criminal banditry, communal violence, separatist unrest — require distinct responses, not a single counterterrorism strategy, argues former U.S. diplomat Steven Hendrix. lawfaremedia.org/article/nig…

Israel struck Dahiyeh again, citing Hezbollah drone fire into northern Israel, as U.S.-Iran nuclear talks raise expectations of an imminent deal. al-monitor.com/originals/202… #Hezbollah

US-Iran peace deal text agreed, says Pakistan’s PM ft.com/content/b91fc27b-8e50…

New analysis from me on tracking the Islamic State through the Worldwide Activity Map I created over the past 3 years washingtoninstitute.org/poli…

Trump threatening to seize Iran's oil terminals would require ground troops — a step he simultaneously said the U.S. lacks the stomach for, underscoring the gap between escalatory rhetoric and operational planning. al-monitor.com/originals/202… #Iran

When #Hamas kills and maims its own people, shouldn’t it be news? This week saw a widely circulated @AP story on a new UN report that accused Hamas of beating, maiming and publicly executing hundreds of #Palestinians in #Gaza in the two years of war after attacking #Israel on Oct 7, 2023 ... which begs the question: how much of this was reported by major media in real time when these atrocities were happening? According to the report, "These cases involved executions, kneecapping, bone-breaking with metal pipes or cement bricks and beatings and were framed by the perpetrators as punishments for alleged collaboration with Israel, looting humanitarian aid, theft, drug-related offenses or affiliations with internal rivals." All told, there were at least 108 deaths, with hundreds more injured. These constituted, in the words of the report, "war crimes of murder and torture." So, using @washingtonpost @nytimes and @NPR for the experiment, let's check these media platforms' own search engines to review the thousands of Hamas-related stories that appeared post-Oct 7. -- Stories of Hamas executions of Gazans: All 3 platforms cited the same single episode of eight victims in October 2025, after the U.S.-brokered ceasefire. No other stories about this phenomenon appeared, particularly during the war itself. For details, see: Washington Post: 1, in Oct 2025 washingtonpost.com/world/202… New York Times: 2, in Oct 2025 nytimes.com/2025/10/15/world… nytimes.com/2025/10/20/world… National Public Radio: 2, in Oct 2025 npr.org/2025/10/16/g-s1-9359… npr.org/2025/10/20/nx-s1-557… -- Stories of Hamas kneecapping of Palestinians: zero references -- Stories of Hamas breaking bones of Palestinians with metal pipes or cement bricks: zero references -- Both the Times and the Post had one story each in April 2025 about Hamas quashing protests in which local Palestinians expressed fear of Hamas reprisals. Both included an account of a Palestinian protestor, named Odey Rabey, being beaten to death by Hamas operatives. See nytimes.com/2025/04/04/world… and washingtonpost.com/world/202… Bottom-line: The data speaks for itself -- viewed in the context of thousands of stories on Hamas published over the two years of war, Hamas "war crimes" against Palestinians were, evidently, not considered by the most elite media to be newsworthy. As we look for clues why, according to multiple Harvard-Harris polls, a solid majority of young Americans support Hamas over Israel, we need to add this to the mix. For the most recent such poll, see here: harvardharrispoll.com/search… For the UN report, see here: un.org/unispal/document/repo… For the AP story on the report, see here: apnews.com/article/hamas-exe…

NEW!! Western allies accuse Iran of campaign of threats and attacks across Europe, North America and Australia Joint statement from 22 countries condemns alleged plots against dissidents, journalists, Jewish communities and U.S. interests 👇

Egypt's pound has lost up to 14% of its value since the Iran war began, with each $10/barrel oil rise adding ~$2.5B to Cairo's import bill — stress-testing a currency already down 80% over the past decade. washingtoninstitute.org/poli…

Allies condemn Iran's 'lethal plotting' in US, Europe, Australia al-monitor.com/originals/202…

Resharing my op-ed with @ColinPClarke in @WashingtonPost— “How #Europe became Iran’s playground for terror”— published one day before the #US, #UK, #Australia, NZ & 17 European allies released a joint statement condemning Iranian state-sponsored threats 👇🏼washingtonpost.com/opinions/…

Good statement on Iranian terrorist plotting by the U.S. and many others. state.gov/releases/office-of…

Here’s a old piece by a former colleague, Jason Blazakis, making the case on Sudan that this situation sent a confusing message. lawfaremedia.org/article/sud…

Sudan was also for a period on the SST list and not on the list of those not cooperating on counterterrorism.

This situation where Syria is on the state sponsor list but not on the not fully cooperating list is unusual but not unprecedented.

Syria has been removed from the U.S list for Countries Not Cooperating Fully With Antiterrorism Efforts Yet Syria remains on the State Sponsorship of Terrorism List

Iraq's Kataib Hezbollah has threatened direct strikes on US bases in Iraq if Washington intervenes, as Iran's April ceasefire collapses and Baghdad struggles to restrain Iran-backed militias. thenationalnews.com/news/men…

Houthis announce total ban on Israeli maritime navigation in the Red Sea, warning further escalation could extend to all ships bound for Israel. al-monitor.com/originals/202… #Houthis

This is tied to a broader TWI study that Amb Romanowski, Ben Fishman and I are leading on the future of US foreign assistance in the Middle East.

A new piece that I co-authored with Amb (Ret.) Alina Romanowski and Ben Fishman on the State Department’s foreign assistance cuts. washingtoninstitute.org/poli…