Stay ConnectedThe Middle East never stops moving. Neither does the FDD Morning Brief.
Three mornings a week, FDD Executive Director Jonathan Schanzer cuts through the noise with the experts who have spent their careers studying, shaping, and living the region’s most consequential moments. All before your morning coffee gets cold.
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FDD Executive Director Jon Schanzer provides timely situational updates and analysis, followed by a conversation with FDD Research Manager David May.
Learn more at: https://www.fdd.org/fddmorningbrief
HAMAS IS TESTING THE WATERS
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FDD Senior Fellow Lt. Col. (Ret.) Jonathan Conricus provides timely situational updates and analysis, followed by a conversation with Gadi Ezra, former director of Israel's National Public Diplomacy Unit.
Learn more at: fdd.org/fddmorningbrief
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Featured FDD Pieces:
"Is Trump Getting Played by Xi?" - Matt Pottinger, The Free Press
"Trump rallies the allies to break China’s dangerous mineral, rare earths monopoly" - Elaine Dezenski, New York Post
"How Turkish Arms End Up in African Conflicts" - Sinan Ciddi and William Doran, Foreign Policy
HEADLINE 1: Israeli forces eliminated three terrorists during a counterterrorism operation in a village called Kafr Qud.
HEADLINE 2: The Trump administration announced a new aid package for minorities in Syria.
HEADLINE 3: Turkish prosecutors filed new charges against Istanbul’s mayor.
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FDD Executive Director Jon Schanzer provides timely situational updates and analysis, followed by a conversation with Joseph Braude, president of the Center for Peace Communications.
Learn more at: https://www.fdd.org/fddmorningbrief
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Featured FDD Pieces:
"Patient Extremism: The Many Faces of the Muslim Brotherhood" - FDD Memo
"Qatar’s Calculated Bet on the Islamic Republic" - Saeed Ghasseminejad, RealClearWorld
"Iraqi polls grapple with Israeli and Iranian relations as country prepares to vote" - Hussain Abdul-Hussain, New York Post
FDD Executive Director Jon Schanzer provides timely situational updates and analysis, followed by a conversation with Robert Satloff, the Segal Executive Director of The Washington Institute for Near East Policy.
Learn more at: https://www.fdd.org/fddmorningbrief/
WITH FRIENDS LIKE QATAR, WHO NEEDS ENEMIES?
HEADLINE 1: Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan wrapped up his tour of the Gulf with a trip to Oman.
HEADLINE 2: The warring Hamas and Fatah factions convened for discussions in Egypt yesterday to talk unity.
HEADLINE 3: Back to Turkey, where the country has renewed military deployment mandates for Lebanon, Syria, and Iraq.
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FDD Executive Director Jon Schanzer provides timely situational updates and analysis, followed by a conversation with writer and Middle East analyst Eitan Fischberger.
Learn more at: https://www.fdd.org/fddmorningbrief
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Featured FDD Pieces:
"Georgian Dream’s Power Grab Sets Stage to Outlaw Opposition" - Keti Korkiya, FDD Policy Brief
"The UN Cybercrime Treaty: A Trojan Horse for Suppressing Dissent" - Ivana Stradner and Emily Hester, FDD Memo
"To Preserve the Gaza Deal, Keep Qatar at Arm’s Length" - Natalie Ecanow, FDD Policy Brief
FDD Executive Director Jon Schanzer provides timely situational updates and analysis, followed by a conversation with Ghaith Al-Omari, senior fellow at the Washington Institute for Near East Policy who previously held various positions within the Palestinian Authority.
Learn more at: https://www.fdd.org/fddmorningbrief/
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HEADLINE 1: Hamas’s base of operations in Turkey is reportedly growing.
HEADLINE 2: Qatari Emir Sheikh Tamim bin Hamad Al-Thani slammed Israel for committing genocide and violating the ceasefire in Gaza. Did he mention Hamas’s October 7 massacre? Nope.
HEADLINE 3: The new Syrian regime seized a massive haul of captagon pills.
BONUS HEADLINE 4: Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu hosted Egyptian intelligence chief Hassan Rashad yesterday.
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Featured FDD Pieces:
"5 Ways the United States and Europe Must Help Ukraine Now" - RADM (Ret.) Mark Montgomery, FDD Insight
"How the Muslim Brotherhood Built a Media Empire" - Mariam Wahba, The Free Press
"The New Middle East and the Challenges to Israel" - Jonathan Schanzer, Commentary
WHAT ARE THE TALKING POINTS OF THE NEW REGIME IN SYRIA?
FDD Executive Director Jon Schanzer provides timely situational updates and analysis, followed by a conversation with Michael Rubin, senior fellow at the American Enterprise Institute and director of policy analysis at the Middle East Forum.
Learn more at: https://www.fdd.org/fddmorningbrief
DO THE HOUTHIS STILL POSE A CONSIDERABLE THREAT TO ISRAEL AND THE REGION?
HEADLINE 1: The Houthis announced the untimely passing of their military chief of staff, Muhammed al-Ghamari.
HEADLINE 2: Iranian oil tankers briefly came back online this week.
HEADLINE 3: Iran convicted two French citizens of espionage.
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FDD Executive Director Jon Schanzer delivers timely situational updates and analysis, followed by a conversation with FDD Research Analyst Bridget Toomey, whose research focuses on the Houthis and Iran-backed militias in Iraq.
Learn more at: https://www.fdd.org/fddmorningbrief
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Featured FDD Pieces:
"50 Years of Anti-Zionist Propaganda: Why the UN’s ‘Committee on the Exercise of the Inalienable Rights of the Palestinian People’ Must Be Dismantled" - Ben Cohen and David May, FDD Memo
"The news from Gaza" - Cliff May, The Washington Times
"Buying the Hatchet" - Ahmad Sharawi, Foreign Policy
IS THE GAZA WAR OVER?
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FDD Executive Director Jon Schanzer delivers timely situational updates and analysis, followed by a conversation with Nadav Eyal, an award-winning Israeli journalist affiliated with Yedioth Ahronoth and Ynetnews.
Learn more at: fdd.org/fddmorningbrief
THE HOSTAGES ARE HOME.
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FDD Executive Director Jon Schanzer provides timely situational updates and analysis, followed by a conversation with Lt. Col. (Ret.) Jonathan Conricus, FDD senior fellow and former IDF international spokesperson, and Ariel Oseran, senior Middle East correspondent for i24 News English.
Learn more at: https://www.fdd.org/fddmorningbrief
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