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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WHY IS ISRAEL INVESTED IN THE FATE OF SYRIA'S DRUZE?
HEADLINE 1: Iran just might limit its uranium enrichment to avoid further punishment from Israel and the West.
HEADLINE 2: Egypt is reportedly bolstering its military presence along the border with Gaza.
HEADLINE 3: U.S. envoy to Syria Thomas Barrack and deputy special envoy Morgan Ortagus arrived in Israel yesterday.
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FDD Executive Director Jonathan Schanzer provides timely updates and in-depth analysis of the latest Middle East headlines, followed by a conversation with Jonathan Hessen, nonresident senior fellow at the Hudson Institute's Center for Peace and Security in the Middle East.
Learn more at: https://www.fdd.org/fddmorningbrief/
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Featured FDD Articles:
"For the First Time in 25 Years, Syria Acknowledges Direct Talks With Israel" - Ahmad Sharawi, FDD Policy Brief
"Behind Khamenei's post-war shake up: Salvaging the remains of the 'Axis of Resistance'" - Saeed Ghasseminejad, The Jerusalem Post
"Exodus or Endurance: The Plight of Egypt’s Christians" - Cliff May and Mariam Wahba, FDD's Foreign Podicy
QATAR, TURKEY, IRAN, AND GAZA
HEADLINE 1: The Trump administration just went scorched earth on the International Criminal Court with fresh sanctions.
HEADLINE 2: An Israeli imprisoned in Lebanon for over a year has quietly been freed — no prisoner swap needed.
HEADLINE 3: Tensions are running high in the West Bank.
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FDD Executive Director Jonathan Schanzer provides timely updates and in-depth analysis of the latest Middle East headlines, followed by a conversation with Rep. Greg Landsman (D-OH).
Learn more at: https://www.fdd.org/fddmorningbrief/
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Featured FDD Articles:
"The single negotiation goal with Iran should be complete dismantlement of nuclear program" - Mark Dubowitz and Brig. Gen. (Res.) Jacob Nagel
"Israeli operations in Lebanon against Hezbollah: August 4–17, 2025" - David Daoud
"The Iran Breakdown: American Economic and Financial Power and the Iran File" - Mark Dubowitz and Juan Zarate
WHY ARE LEGACY MEDIA OUTLETS AMPLIFYING HAMAS' NARRATIVE?
HEADLINE 1: Hamas has possibly agreed to a 60-day ceasefire with Israel. But don’t hold your breath. The terms are 10 living hostages and 18 bodies in exchange for 150 Palestinian prisoners serving life sentences.
HEADLINE 2: Yesterday, the families of the “Beautiful Six” commemorated one year since Hamas murdered their loved ones in cold blood.
HEADLINE 3: Israel and Australia are locking horns — and things are only getting worse.
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FDD Executive Director Jonathan Schanzer provides timely updates and in-depth analysis of the latest Middle East headlines, followed by a conversation with Jonas Du, a fellow at The Free Press.
Learn more at: https://www.fdd.org/fddmorningbrief/
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Featured FDD Articles:
"Donald Trump Set a Nuclear Precedent. Now He Must Enforce It" - Andrea Stricker and Henry Sokolski in The National Interest
"The urgent need to procure more THAAD interceptors" - Bradley Bowman and Ryan Brobst in Defense News
"Top US teachers’ union supports Palestinian counterpart with terror-linked leader" - Brandy Shufutinsky in JNS
HOW IS ENERGY RELATED TO U.S. NATIONAL SECURITY?
HEADLINE 1: The family of Israeli hostage Matan Zangauker released a new video of him in Hamas captivity.
HEADLINE 2: Israel is preparing a full-scale offensive in Gaza City.
HEADLINE 3: Israel struck the Houthis where it hurts — again.
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FDD Executive Director Jonathan Schanzer provides timely updates and in-depth analysis of the latest Middle East headlines, followed by a conversation with FDD Senior Advisor Richard Goldberg.
Learn more at: https://www.fdd.org/fddmorningbrief/
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Featured FDD articles:
"Nvidia Games: China v. the US in AI Arms Race" — FDD's Foreign Podicy with Cliff May
"Egypt Inks Multi-Billion Dollar Energy Deal With Israel Despite Gaza Tensions" — FDD Policy Brief by Mariam Wahba
"China Has Most To Gain From Trump-Putin Talks in Alaska" — Craig Singleton
HOW DID ORDINARY IRANIANS RESPOND TO ISRAEL’S 12-DAY WAR AGAINST THE REGIME’S NUCLEAR PROGRAM?
HEADLINE 1: Israel is reportedly in talks with several countries to take in Palestinians from Gaza.
HEADLINE 2: Ali Larijani, the secretary of Iran’s Supreme National Security Council, visited Beirut this week.
HEADLINE 3: Turkey and Syria signed a defense cooperation agreement.
BONUS HEADLINE 4: France, Germany, and the UK may reimpose sanctions on Iran.
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FDD Executive Director Jonathan Schanzer provides timely updates and in-depth analysis of the latest Middle East headlines, followed by a conversation with FDD Research Analyst Janatan Sayeh, who specializes in Iranian domestic affairs and the regime’s malign influence in the region.
Learn more at: https://www.fdd.org/fddmorningbrief/
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Featured FDD articles:
"The Houthis and the U.N.’s Ship of Fools" by Max Meizlish and Bridget Toomey
"Ukraine peace is in reach — if Trump meets Putin’s demands with US vigor" by RADM (Ret.) Mark Montgomery and John Hardie
"America’s fair-weather friends" by Cliff May
IS SYRIA'S NEW STRONGMAN UP TO THE TASK?
HEADLINE 1: Iran reported a new statistic about last month’s 12-day war. Between June 13 and 24: Iranian police arrested 21,000 people.
HEADLINE 2: The evidence against Hamas’s claim of starvation in Gaza is mounting, even as the accusations against Israel continue to fly.
HEADLINE 3: The IDF eliminated five armed terrorists masquerading as World Central Kitchen workers.
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FDD Executive Director Jonathan Schanzer provides timely updates and in-depth analysis of the latest Middle East headlines, followed by a conversation with FDD Research Analyst Ahmad Sharawi, who specializes in the Levant.
Learn more at: https://www.fdd.org/fddmorningbrief/
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Featured FDD articles:
"Analysis: Armenia–Azerbaijan deal worries Iran" by Janatan Sayeh
"Mapping a Shadow War: Explosions Across Iran After the 12-Day War" by FDD Visuals Team and NUFDI
ISRAELI MOSSAD OPERATIVES ARE SPYING IN IRAN WHILE SOME ORDINARY ISRAELIS ARE SPYING FOR IRAN.
HEADLINE 1: Iran has sent its surviving nuclear scientists into hiding.
HEADLINE 2: The IDF foiled another attempt to smuggle weapons from Egypt into Israel.
HEADLINE 3: White House envoy Steve Witkoff met with Qatari Prime Minister Sheikh Mohammed bin Abdul Rahman Al-Thani in Ibiza, Spain over the weekend.
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FDD Executive Director Jonathan Schanzer provides timely updates and in-depth analysis of the latest Middle East headlines, followed by a conversation with journalist Dan Raviv, host of “The Mossad Files” podcast.
Learn more at: https://www.fdd.org/fddmorningbrief/
HOW DO TRUMP VOTERS VIEW U.S. NATIONAL SECURITY ISSUES?
HEADLINE 1: The United Nations has finally engaged with the Gaza Humanitarian Foundation, or “GHF.”
HEADLINE 2: The Lebanese government approved a U.S. proposal to disarm Hezbollah by the end of 2025.
HEADLINE 3: Israel signed a major energy export deal with Egypt.
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FDD Executive Director Jonathan Schanzer delivers timely situational updates and analysis, followed by a conversation with Carrie Filipetti, executive director of The Vandenberg Coalition.
Learn more at: https://www.fdd.org/fddmorningbrief/
WHAT IS THE ISRAELI PUBLIC OPINION ON THE WAR IN GAZA?
HEADLINE 1: A group of Iranian scientists secretly visited Russian nuclear facilities last year.
HEADLINE 2: Israel is snarling at the United Nations, and it’s high drama.
HEADLINE 3: The multi-front war in the Middle East continues on, uh, multiple fronts.
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FDD Executive Director Jon Schanzer delivers timely situational updates and analysis, followed by a conversation with Haviv Rettig Gur, host of the Ask Haviv Anything podcast and Middle East analyst at The Free Press.
Learn more at: https://www.fdd.org/fddmorningbrief/
WHAT'S THE ON-THE-GROUND REALITY IN GAZA?
HEADLINE 1: Turkey hosted a senior Hamas delegation this weekend.
HEADLINE 2: White House envoy Steve Witkoff and U.S. Ambassador to Israel Mike Huckabee visited Gaza on Friday.
HEADLINE 3: The United Nations Relief and Works Agency, or “UNRWA,” is feeling the heat here in the United States.
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FDD Executive Director President Jon Schanzer delivers timely situational updates and analysis, followed by a conversation with Major (Ret.) Andrew Fox, a research fellow at the Henry Jackson Society.
Learn more at: https://www.fdd.org/fddmorningbrief
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