Negotiations between President Trump’s envoys and those of the Islamic Republic of Iran were postponed. Operation Epic Fury halts in an uneasy ceasefire as Operation Economic Fury begins cutting off Tehran’s revenue streams. The Strait of Hormuz is not yet a safe space. FDD Research Fellow Max Meizlish, a former Treasury official, and Adjunct Fellow Joseph Zacks, a former CIA official, join host Cliff May to take stock.
Three shocks. Three fronts. One world shifting fast. In Hungary, Péter Magyar topples Viktor Orbán’s grip. In Washington, Lebanese–Israeli talks edge beyond ceasefire toward something more consequential—rattling players from Hezbollah to Emmanuel Macron. And after failed diplomacy in Islamabad, U.S. Vice President JD Vance now faces a new phase: an American naval blockade of the Strait of Hormuz, squeezing Tehran’s lifeline. Host Cliff May sits down with FDD experts Edmund Fitton-Brown and Simon...
In the wake of the September 11, 2001 attacks against the United States, Turkey offered a sliver of optimism in a region defined by turmoil — a Muslim-majority democracy, a NATO ally, and even a friend of Israel. But after more than two decades under the rule of Recep Tayyip Erdoğan, that Turkey is long gone. So, what happened? And what does it mean for America, NATO, Israel — and the future of the Middle East? FDD Turkey experts Sinan Ciddi and Jonathan Schanzer join host Cliff May to assess Tu...
As Washington prepares for a high-stakes Trump–Xi meeting, the House Select Committee on the Chinese Communist Party examines Beijing’s anti-American ambitions and strategies. Chairman John Moolenaar joins host Cliff May to discuss what can be done to counter them.
Fresh off the frontlines, FDD's Mark Montgomery recently returned from Ukraine and other hotspots abroad. He joins host Cliff May for an in-studio debrief on what he saw and what comes next. Also joining the conversation: FDD Action's Daniel Vaynshteyn, former Legislative Director in the U.S. House of Representatives and liaison to the U.S. Helsinki Commission.
For more than two decades at FDD, Foreign Podicy host Cliff May and Mark Dubowitz have tracked the evolution of America’s enemies—from al Qaeda to the world’s leading state sponsor of terrorism in Tehran. Long before many grasped the threat, Mark focused on the Islamic Republic’s ideological war, its open commitment to jihad against the “Great Satan” and “Little Satan,” and a decades-long campaign too often misunderstood. On the one-year anniversary of Mark's FDD podcast, The Iran Breakdown, Cli...
There has always been a Jewish case for Israel, a Christian case for Israel, and an American case for Israel. But what about the Arab case for Israel? FDD’s Hussain Abdul-Hussain lays out the arguments in his new book, appropriately titled: " The Arab Case for Israel ." He sits down with host Cliff May to discuss the idea, the history behind it, and why a growing number of Arab and Muslim thinkers know he’s right....
For nearly half a century, Iran’s rulers have promised “Death to America.” It wasn’t just a chant — it was a policy. From the 1979 hostage crisis to terrorist attacks that killed hundreds of Americans, the Islamic Republic has spent decades waging a shadow war against the United States. Now Washington is confronting Iran’s jihadist regime more directly — raising a larger question: what role might Xi Jinping’s China play in the conflict? Cliff May sits down with former Acting Director of the Defe...
Earlier this week, President Trump said of Iran’s rulers: “I will never allow the world's number one sponsor of terror — which they are, by far — to have a nuclear weapon." He also noted that the regime massacred “at least 32,000” unarmed civilian protestors in January and has previously “killed and maimed thousands of American service members.” On Friday, U.S. Ambassador to Israel Mike Huckabee told his embassy staff they might want to take a little trip abroad. And the US State Department is a...
📺 | Watch this episode on YouTube here. On February 24, 2022, Russian tanks and troops invaded Ukraine. Russian ruler Vladimir Putin expected a swift victory. Many Western observers did, too. After all, he had sliced two territories from Georgia in 2008 and seized Crimea and parts of Donbas in 2014 at little cost. Five years on, Ukraine’s fight — still led by President Volodymyr Zelensky — continues. To assess the state of the war, the role of the United States and Europe, and what support is m...
📺 | Watch this episode on YouTube here. America confronts a daunting geo-strategic landscape: The Axis of Aggressors — China, Russia, Iran, and North Korea — are cooperating across multiple domains in unprecedented ways. Putin continues his brutal, unprovoked invasion of Ukraine. In return for North Korean troops and artillery shells for this war, Russian security assistance is flowing in increasing quantities to Pyongyang. The Chinese Communist Party is sprinting to field a military that it ho...
“God is great. Death to America. Death to Israel. Curse on the Jews. Victory to Islam.” The Houthi slogan isn’t just a chant — it’s a worldview. To understand who they are and what they want, Cliff is joined by former British ambassador to Yemen and FDD senior fellow Edmund Fitton-Brown, who gained firsthand experience dealing with senior Houthi leaders while serving as ambassador.
Washington just unveiled its new National Defense Strategy. But is it a serious blueprint for deterrence—or a dangerous exercise in wishful thinking? Host Cliff May is joined by Bradley Bowman and Mark Montgomery to examine whether America is underfunding its military on the brink of great-power conflict, why China’s cyber war is being soft-pedaled, and what the strategy gets right—and wrong—on Taiwan, Ukraine, Israel, and deterrence itself.
📺: Watch this episode on YouTube here. In addition to slaughtering Iranian citizens by the thousands, Iran’s Islamist rulers are waging a cognitive war. To conceal their brutal crackdown, the regime has shut down the internet inside Iran. Beyond Iran’s borders, one corner of the digital world remains fully operational — shaping much of the world’s perceptions of what’s happening inside the Islamic Republic. That corner is Wikipedia, now an integral node in a nefarious network that propagates Is...
📺: Watch this episode on YouTube here. Iran is once again convulsed by nationwide protests — but this time, the regime has pulled the plug. With the internet shut down and security forces unleashed, the Islamic Republic is violently crushing dissent in virtual darkness, silencing both protesters and the outside world. As the Iranian people continue risking everything for freedom, will America finally put its money where its mouth is? When? How? Reuel Marc Gerecht and Behnam Ben Taleblu join hos...
📺: Watch this episode on YouTube here. The arrest of Nicolás Maduro was a complex operation that exposed the weakness of a narco-dictatorship and sent a clear signal to America’s adversaries. In short: it was a tactical success. But taking out a dictator is not the same as dismantling a regime — and Venezuela’s regime remains largely intact. Host Cliff May is joined by Carrie Filipetti to assess what the operation changed, what it didn’t, and what comes next — from who still holds power in Cara...
For more than three decades, Somaliland has functioned as a free, independent, Muslim, pro-peace, anti-Islamist republic on the Horn of Africa. Now, Israel has formally recognized it as a sovereign state. Somaliland’s bad neighbor, Somalia, and other Islamist regimes are furious. Britain also insists the people of Somaliland have no right to decide their future. Meanwhile, Somaliland is looking toward America — and is eager to join the Trump-brokered Abraham Accords. Host Cliff May is joined by ...
This Christmas week, we're left to confront a hard truth: Christians are under attack in many corners of the world. On October 10, the Chinese Communist Party arrested Pastor Ezra Jin, founder of Beijing’s Zion Church — along with 28 other leaders — in the largest crackdown on a Christian church in China in decades. Pastor Jin’s daughter, Grace Jin Drexel, joins host Cliff May to scrutinize Beijing’s campaign against Christians and Christianity.
Watch this episode on YouTube here. China isn’t just competing economically — it’s coercing strategically. Drawing on the U.S.-China Economic and Security Review Commission’s latest report, guest host Craig Singleton is joined by Commission Vice Chair Randy Shriver and Commissioner Mike Kuiken to unpack how Beijing weaponizes its economic power — and why Chinese economic statecraft now sits at the center of U.S. national security.
Politicians love to tell Americans what we think about U.S. leadership, our military, our allies, and our enemies — but the data tells a different story. A new Reagan National Defense Survey cuts through the noise to reveal what Americans actually believe during a moment of strategic flux. To unpack the findings and what they mean for U.S. power, deterrence, and America’s role in the world — guest host Bradley Bowman is joined by Roger Zakheim, Washington Director of the Ronald Reagan Presidenti...
Guest host Behnam Ben Taleblu is joined by former U.S. intelligence official Norman Roule to examine Iran’s postwar moment: from puncturing the comforting illusion created by viral clips of loosened social activity (or, as Norm puts it, why “a few videos of dancing and hijab-free afternoons don’t outweigh 21,000 arrests and expedited executions”) to exposing the harsh reality of a regime so unpopular that its fragility may leave it with “no alternative but to crack down” and the rising pressure ...
Watch this episode on YouTube here. Africa rarely makes the headlines — but it should. Here are just a few: Islamist movements are expanding from Nigeria to Mozambique, Mali to Somalia. The French have been pushed out, Russian forces are moving in, while China is building influence and quietly extracting wealth from African earth and people. Ambassador Alberto Fernandez joins Cliff to explain how jihadist militias, local warlords, regional powers, and great-power competition are reshaping the co...
President Trump gave Saudi Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman, A.K.A. MbS, a royal welcome to Washington. But beyond the flashy diplomacy, quite a lot of business was transacted. Host Cliff May is joined by Edmund Fitton-Brown to discuss the visit, the future of U.S.–Saudi relations, the threat from Tehran and the Houthis, Turkey’s neo-Ottoman ambitions, and how a changing kingdom is changing the Middle East.
📺: Watch this episode on YouTube here. Filmmaker Michael Pack joins host Cliff May to tell the extraordinary story of The Last 600 Meters, his gripping documentary on the battles of Fallujah and Najaf. Though the film was finished in 2007, it sat on a shelf for 17 years before PBS finally aired it this Veterans Day. From young Americans fighting al-Qaeda and Iran-backed militias in brutal urban combat to political leaders pulling the plug mid-mission and media outlets like Al Jazeera shaping th...
Guest host and Senior Director of FDD’s Iran Program Behnam Ben Taleblu sits down with historian Ali Ansari to explore why the Islamic Republic is rewriting Iran’s past to justify its present, how Iranians are reclaiming their identity from the regime, and what the nation’s search for identity reveals about the Islamic Republic’s fading future.
President Trump just returned from a whirlwind week in Asia closing trade and investment deals and strengthening security alliances. Host Cliff May sits down with FDD’s Craig Singleton to discuss what Trump accomplished, as well as the challenges – and threats – that remain.
Watch this episode on YouTube here. For two years, Israel has been fighting a war on multiple fronts. And although it has delivered blows to Iran, Hezbollah, and Hamas on the ground, it’s losing another fight: the information war, a campaign of slander and blood libels fueled by a media empire built by the Muslim Brotherhood. To expose where — from Al Jazeera’s studios in Doha to Turkish satellite channels and newsrooms in London — and how this empire works — amplifying Hamas, laundering Islamis...
Host Cliff May is joined by retired Ukrainian Admiral Ihor Voronchenko, the former inspector general of the Ministry of Defense of Ukraine and former commander of the Naval Forces of Ukraine; along with retired U.S. Marine Colonel Andy Bain, executive director and co-founder of the Ukrainian Freedom Fund; and FDD's retired Rear Admiral Mark Montgomery to assess the state of Russia’s war on Ukraine — what Kyiv needs from the West and where the fight goes next.
Watch this episode on YouTube. LTG (Ret.) H.R. McMaster and Brad Bowman join host Cliff May to explain why diplomacy only works when backed by force. From Gaza to Ukraine, they trace how strength — not illusions — shapes outcomes and frustrates the ambitions of the Axis of Aggressors: Beijing, Moscow, Tehran, and Pyongyang.
Watch this episode on YouTube here. From China’s stranglehold on critical minerals to the coming AI power crunch, an energy arms race is underway. Rich Goldberg, on loan from FDD to the White House, helped establish a new National Energy Dominance Council. He’s now building a program at FDD that will focus on energy as a key component of national security. Rich, who has served as a Navy Intelligence Officer and National Security Council official, joins host Cliff May to discuss....
