Middle East | RCP Story Stream

Time for Trump’s Gaza Takeover Proposal To Die Once and for All March 31, 2025

The ceasefire in Gaza is now over. Where to go from here to bring peace is again an open question. One idea that needs to die for good, however, is President Donald Trump’s proposal to takeover Gaza and move all Palestinians out. The administratio...

Gaza

Israel

Trump administration

Palestine

Trump’s Middle East Policy Faces Crucial Tests March 31, 2025

The Trump administration faces challenges in Gaza, Iran, and Ukraine while conducting airstrikes on the Houthis and addressing tensions in Syria and Israel. ...

Donald Trump

Middle East

Al Jazeera Challenged by the Gaza Street March 29, 2025

A political earthquake shook Gaza this week. Its tremors continue to reverberate. Protests demanding the end of Hamas’s governance of Gaza and holding it responsible for the destruction of the enclave began in Beit Lahiya and have expanded to Khan Yo...

Israel’s Deep State Is Worse Than America’s March 27, 2025

For left-wing elites in Jerusalem and Washington, ‘saving democracy’ means rule by a rogue judiciary and intelligence services ...

Israel

Taliban Reject Trump’s Call To Surrender Captured u.s. Arms March 27, 2025

On 1 March 2025, after his first Cabinet meeting, U.S. President Donald Trump said the Taliban should return the equipment the U.S. abandoned in Afghanistan as it withdrew in August 2021. ...

Afghanistan

America’s Space Strategy in a Changing Middle East March 26, 2025

The geopolitical landscape is shifting beneath our feet as the United States recalibrates its global strategy. This strategic pivot carries profound implications not just for conventional U.S. military force posture throughout the globe, but for an o...

space

How Campus Activism on Israel-Palestine Warps Global Security Priorities March 24, 2025

Thanks to university-driven activism over the Israel-Palestine conflict, the war in Gaza has politically sidelined the West’s commitment to global security in other regions of the world.Israel-Palestine is one of the few conflicts that inspires activ...

Western Leaders Should Think Twice Before Removing Foreign Dictators March 22, 2025

Libya. Iraq. Syria. All were countries that suffered under the decades-long reign of brutal dictators. All have been swept up into anarchic spells of violence and terror after the West moved to overthrow those dictators. With last weekend’s news of t...

Dear President Herzog March 22, 2025

You know that my love for Israel is deeply ingrained in both my body and soul. I have covered its wars. I have spent my life defending its people and its army against hatred and slander. ...

Israel

Gaza Could Get In the Way With Iran Talks March 21, 2025

Do US President Donald Trump and his advisers have a comprehensive strategy for the Middle East, or are they engaged in ad hoc efforts to put out the fires that continue to burn in the region? This is an important question brought to the fore by the ...

Gaza

How to Match Ends and Means in the Middle East March 19, 2025

For years after the collapse of the Soviet Union, the United States enjoyed superpower status in a unipolar world. Its economy roared, and its military power went unmatched. When it came to pursuing its goals, Washington had to contend with few obsta...

Middle East

Trump Should Resist Another America-Last War in the Middle East March 18, 2025

In his inaugural address, President Donald Trump made clear that he wants history to remember him as a “peacemaker and a unifier.” In his telling, “we will measure our success not only by the battles we win but also by the wars that we end—and perhap...

iran

What Trump’s Latest Houthi Strike Really Means March 18, 2025

The administration has a broader geopolitical agenda—one that includes countering China’s economic leverage, particularly Beijing’s reliance on Iranian oil. ...

Yemen

Is Turkey Playing Both Sides of Sudan’s Civil War? March 17, 2025

Ankara’s involvement in Sudan indicates its foreign policy is bereft of any values and willing to ignore sanctions intended to deter continued bloodshed. ...

Sudan

Congress Should Pass the Antisemitism Awareness Act March 17, 2025

Much ink has already been spilled on the antisemitism crisis plaguing the United States. As the new Trump administration seeks to crack down on antisemitism on university campuses, Congress should finally pass legislation which treats the subject wit...

The Promise of the Egyptian Plan for Gaza March 15, 2025

In a press conference with Jordanian King Abdullah in February, U.S. President Donald Trump touted his proposal that the United States should seize control of Gaza, empty it of its roughly two million residents, and redevelop the territory as a touri...

Egypt

Oman Is Supporting the Houthis March 14, 2025

Oman cannot have it both ways—it cannot benefit from American friendship and assistance while enabling a crisis in the Middle East. ...

U.S.-Saudi Cooperation Could Fortify Critical Mineral Supply Chains. March 13, 2025

President Trump returned to office facing a weakened defense industrial base, strained by the Ukraine war and threatened by China’s grip on critical inputs. Dependence on competitors like China for materials that power essential commercial and milita...

Learning the Right Lessons From Iraq and Afghanistan March 13, 2025

Our Middle East failures do not represent the true legacy of American foreign policy. ...

Iraq

Afghanistan

Give Them a Voice: Many Gazans Desperately Want to Emigrate March 12, 2025

Last week, the United States and Israel rejected the Arab League proposal for reconstruction of Gaza. The Arab leaders’ plan was a response to President Trump's call to facilitate the migration of Gazans to countries of refuge following the devastati...

Trump Must Tread Lightly With Arab Leaders March 12, 2025

If the primary goal of the Trump administration is to quickly address issues in the Middle East and prevent further wars and instability, placing additional pressure on Arab countries might actually backfire. ...

Arab League

Donald Trump

Gaza

Iran Could Lose Iraq March 11, 2025

Ever since its revolution in 1979, Iran has cultivated a network of proxies and friends throughout the Middle East. For years, this strategy proved successful. Slowly but surely, Tehran’s “axis of resistance” gained influence in Iraq, Lebanon, and Sy...

iran

Iraq

How Hamas Got a Ceasefire and Released No Hostages March 10, 2025

Hamas appears to be able to secure de facto ceasefires for Ramadan each year and not have to ever do anything in return. ...

Hamas

Iraq’s Plan To Transform Its Economy Is a Risky Bet March 10, 2025

Iraq’s Development Road aims to reduce dependence on oil by turning the country into a key trade corridor between Asia and Europe. ...

Trump’s Top Two Middle East Allies Are on a Collision Course in Syria March 07, 2025