Human shields

Future Wars: a Conversation with H.R. McMaster

H.R. McMaster served as a U.S. Army officer for thirty-four years—including deployments in Iraq and Afghanistan—before retiring as a Lieutenant General in June 2018. He then served as White House national security advisor. Now a senior fellow at the Hoover Institution, he also chairs the Board of Advisors at FDD’s Center on Military and Political Power.
He joins host Cliff May for a discussion about national security during a challenging and dangerous time—a time when the U.S. is threatened by a motley crew of rivals, adversaries and sworn enemies.

Tunnel Vision: America and Europe’s distorted view of the Middle East

Iran has a plan.
February will be 40 years since Ayatollah Khomeini returned from exile to Tehran to lead what he called an Islamic Revolution, and begin forming a government committed to jihad. By the end of 1979, he was supreme leader of the Islamic Republic of Iran.
What he and his acolytes intend has been stated clearly and with consistency by Iran’s ruling ayatollahs. They intend to destroy their regional enemies, establish a great new empire and dominate the Middle East.
They also intend death to America—that may take longer, but they're not impatient, and they have friends and family to help. In particular, they have Hezbollah, Iran’s Arab, Shia terrorist proxy. Although based in Lebanon, Hezbollah is willing and able to fight beyond Lebanon's borders, for example in Syria and, if they can, on Israeli soil—by digging under Israeli soil.
President Trump's decision to withdraw from Syria can only be seen as a victory for the Islamic Republic, as well as for the Islamic State, which may now have an opportunity to revive and rebuild.
FDD president and Foreign Podicy host Clifford D. May is joined by Tony Badran—FDD research fellow and Hezbollah expert—and Jonathan Schanzer—FDD senior vice president for research—to discuss the tunnel vision preventing so many Americans and Europeans from seeing clearly what's really happening in the Middle East.

A Conversation with Ambassador Nikki Haley

Jeane J. Kirkpatrick was one of the visionaries who helped create the Foundation for the Defense of Democracies soon after the attacks of Sept. 11, 2001. Six years ago, FDD inaugurated an award in honor of the first woman to serve as U.S. ambassador to the United Nations — a statesman who vehemently opposed totalitarianism and resolutely defended American values.
 
This year, FDD’s Jeane J. Kirkpatrick Statesmanship Award was presented to Ambassador Nikki R. Haley who has brought a precise moral compass and a distinctly American voice to the United Nations. She sat down with FDD president and Foreign Podicy host Clifford D. May to discuss human rights, U.N. reform and other consequential national security issues we face today.
 
Resources:Woman of the world — Clifford D. May; The Washington Times
FDD’s National Security Summit featuring Ambassador Nikki Haley (Video available here; transcript available here)
 

The Wars of the Jews

Israel is a tiny country: its land area about a fourth the size of the United Arab Emirates, its population less than that of Tehran—capital of the Islamic Republic of Iran. Yet Israel is the subject of constant comment and controversy, and is frequently attacked—both kinetically and rhetorically—by its enemies, its adversaries, and too often even by those who should be its allies.To help make sense of Israel's most recent conflicts and controversies —including over sovereignty of the Golan Heights, the Nation-State law, and the anti-Israeli sentiments expressed by many of the UN's agencies—FDD president and Foreign Podicy host Clifford D. May is joined by Eugene Kontorovich, Director of the Kohelet Policy Forum, an Israeli think tank, and Professor at George Mason University’s Scalia School of Law, whose areas of expertise include constitutional law, federal courts, international law, and the Arab-Israeli conflict.International Law and the Recognition of Israeli Sovereignty in the Golan Heights — Eugene Kontorovich; Written testimony for House Oversight Committee's Subcommittee on National Security (http://bit.ly/2wGrjXb)Get Over It—Israel Is the Jewish State — Eugene Kontorovich; The Wall Street Journal (https://on.wsj.com/2LUo4QX)Stop funding UN agencies that welcome the PLO — Eugene Kontorovich; New York Post (https://nyp.st/2Ch8qzA)

Syria‘s World War

Syria has been at war for seven long years. More than a half million people have been killed. More than 11 million – close to half Syria’s pre-war population – have been displaced either internally or as refugees in other countries. 
But Syrians are not the only ones involved in this fight.  The Islamic Republic of Iran, Lebanese Hezbollah – the Iranian regime’s foreign legion – and Russia have helped keep dictator Bashar al-Assad in power. Israel, Turkey and the U.S. also have been playing significant roles.
To discuss the conflict in Syria, where it is heading, what U.S. policy is and where it should be, host Clifford D. May is joined by FDD’s senior counselor John Hannah and director of research David Adesnik.