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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IS SYRIA'S NEW REGIME MALIGN OR MODERATE?
HEADLINE 1: Israel is working on a plan to relocate civilians in Gaza if a ceasefire doesn’t materialize soon.
HEADLINE 2: It’s official: Hamas’s October 7th attack was designed to derail Saudi-Israel normalization.
HEADLINE 3: Another day, another Israeli caught spying for Iran.
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FDD Executive Director Jon Schanzer delivers timely situational updates and analysis, followed by a conversation with Barak Barfi, a Middle East scholar who specializes in Arab and Islamic affairs.
Learn more at: https://www.fdd.org/fddmorningbrief/
TRUMP'S GULF TRIP AND THE IMPLICATIONS FOR THE REGION
HEADLINE 1: President Trump’s whirlwind Middle East tour was rife with record-breaking deals.
HEADLINE 2: Congressional Republicans have reiterated their support for full Iranian nuclear dismantlement.
HEADLINE 3: Trump’s sharp policy reversal on U.S. sanctions against Syria during his Gulf tour was coupled with a major request: that Syria join the Abraham Accords with Israel.
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FDD Research Fellow Hussain Abdul-Hussain fills in for Jonathan Schanzer, providing timely situational updates and analysis ahead of a conversation with Nadim Koteich, a Lebanese journalist and political analyst who serves as the general manager of Sky News Arabia.
Learn more at: https://www.fdd.org/fddmorningbrief
THE REGIONAL RAMIFICATIONS OF U.S.-SAUDI NUCLEAR COOPERATION
HEADLINE 1: Tehran’s oil-for-missiles pipeline to Beijing just got sanctioned.
HEADLINE 2: Israel targeted Muhammad Sinwar in a strike yesterday
HEADLINE 3: Yesterday, President Trump announced that he’s lifting sanctions on Syria to — quote — “give them a chance at greatness” — end quote.
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FDD Senior Research Analyst Natalie Ecanow provides timely updates and analysis, followed by a conversation between Jonathan Schanzer and Andrea Stricker, deputy director of FDD's Nonproliferation and Biodefense Program.
Learn more at: fdd.org/fddmorningbrief
NUCLEAR TALKS, CONGRESS, AND MAXIMUM SUPPORT FOR THE IRANIAN PEOPLE
HEADLINE 1: The IDF is closing in on victory in the Hamas stronghold of Rafah in southern Gaza, with heavy fighting now focused on the neighborhood of Janina.
HEADLINE 2: After 43 years, Israel brought home the body of a fallen soldier—Sgt. First Class Zvi Feldman—from deep inside Syria.
HEADLINE 3: The IDF almost attacked Yemen.
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FDD Executive Director Jon Schanzer delivers timely situational updates and analysis, followed by a conversation with Andrew Ghalili, senior policy analyst at the National Union for Democracy in Iran (NUFDI).
Learn more at: https://www.fdd.org/fddmorningbrief/
IRAN, SYRIA, THE HOUTHIS ... AND MORE
HEADLINE 1: The United States dropped the demand for normalization with Israel as a condition for advancing civil nuclear cooperation discussions with Saudi Arabia.
HEADLINE 2: A mob at Columbia University disseminated pamphlets praising a Palestinian terrorist. There’s a reason people call this school Birzeit on the Hudson.
HEADLINE 3: Israel’s ‘Qatargate’ scandal has gotten even messier.
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FDD Executive Director Jon Schanzer delivers timely situational updates and analysis, followed by a conversation with Behnam Ben Taleblu, senior director of FDD's Iran Program.
Learn more at: https://www.fdd.org/fddmorningbrief/
HOUTHIS, HAMAS, AND THE HOSTAGES
HEADLINE 1: Israel prepares for “Operation Gideon’s Chariots” — a new, expanded ground offensive in Gaza.
HEADLINE 2: The United States and Iran are set to resume nuclear talks.
HEADLINE 3: Things are heating up a little in Lebanon.
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FDD Executive Director Jon Schanzer delivers timely situational updates and analysis, followed by a conversation with FDD Senior Fellow and former IDF International Spokesperson Lt. Col. (Ret.) Jonathan Conricus.
Learn more at: https://www.fdd.org/fddmorningbrief
DOCUMENTING THE TRUTH ABOUT THE OCTOBER 7 MASSACRE
HEADLINE 1: Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu called on Qatar to stop playing games.
HEADLINE 2: The UK arrested 8 men on suspected terror offenses.
HEADLINE 3: Israel carried out a strike near the presidential palace in Damascus, Syria.
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FDD Executive Director Jon Schanzer provides timely updates and analysis, followed by a conversation with British historian and author Lord Andrew Roberts, who chaired the United Kingdom's October 7 Parliamentary Commission Report.
Learn more at: https://fdd.org/fddmorningbrief
THE IMPACT OF FOREIGN FUNDING TO AMERICAN UNIVERSITIES
HEADLINE 1: On Wednesday, two Israeli reservists were wounded in a roadside bomb attack in the northern West Bank.
HEADLINE 2: Seven Iranian entities were slapped with U.S. sanctions on Wednesday.
HEADLINE 3: Reuters published details from a 33-page document its reporters found in Damascus after the Assad regime was toppled.
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FDD Executive Director Jon Schanzer delivers timely situational updates and analysis, followed by a conversation with Frannie Block, a reporter for The Free Press.
Learn more at: https://www.fdd.org/fddmorningbrief
ABRAHAM ACCORDS, TWO-STATE PARADIGM, AND U.S.-IRAN NUCLEAR TALKS
HEADLINE 1: The Navy lost a $60 million fighter jet because of a Houthi missile attack.
HEADLINE 2: An Israeli district court sentenced an Israeli citizen to 10 years in prison for treason.
HEADLINE 3: Sectarian clashes broke out near Damascus in what people are still calling the new Syria.
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FDD Executive Director Jon Schanzer provides timely updates and analysis, followed by a conversation with former U.S. Ambassador to Israel David Friedman.
Learn more at: https://www.fdd.org/fddmorningbrief
TARIFFS, TRUMP DOCTRINE, AND WHITE HOUSE DIVISIONS
HEADLINE 1: The Palestinian Liberation Organization has a new vice president.
HEADLINE 2: The Houthis launched yet another ballistic missile at Israel on Saturday morning.
HEADLINE 3: Qatar and Saudi Arabia are settling Syria’s debt to the World Bank.
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FDD Executive Director Jon Schanzer delivers timely situational updates and analysis, followed by a conversation with author and Free Press columnist Batya Ungar-Sargon.
Learn more at: https://www.fdd.org/fddmorningbrief/
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