Terrorism

President Carter’s Foreign Policy—Does a New Book Shed New Light?

Stuart Eizenstat has had a long and extraordinary career. Among the influential positions he’s held: President Jimmy Carter’s chief White House Domestic Policy Advisor, President Bill Clinton’s ambassador to the European Union, and an undersecretary in the departments of Commerce and State. He’s today a leading international lawyer with Covington and Burling in Washington, D.C.
He’s now written “President Carter: The White House Years” – a memoir/history/biography focusing on just four years (1977 to 1981), but eventful years those were.
He joins Kenneth Stein, Professor of Contemporary Middle Eastern History and Founding Director of the Emory Institute for the Study of Modern Israel; Jonathan Schanzer, FDD’s Senior Vice President for Research; and FDD president and Foreign Podicy Host Clifford D. May to discuss the Carter years and the Carter legacy in foreign policy and national security.
Episode resources:President Carter: The White House Years — Stuart Eizenstat; St. Martin's PressThe life, times and foreign policies of Jimmy Carter — Clifford D. May; The Washington Times
Clifford D. May is president of the Foundation for Defense of Democracies (FDD), host of FDD's Foreign Podicy, and the foreign desk columnist for the Washington Times. Follow him on twitter @CliffordDMay. Jonathan Schanzer is senior vice president of the Foundation for Defense of Democracies. Follow him on twitter @JSchanzer.
FDD is a Washington-based nonpartisan research institute focusing on national security and foreign policy. Follow the Foundation for Defense of Democracies on Twitter @FDD, and follow Foreign Podicy @Foreign_Podicy.

Islamism and Jihadism: The view of one Muslim — and former CIA analyst

Yaya Fanusie is the director of analysis at the Foundation for Defense of Democracies’ Center on Sanctions and Illicit Finance (CSIF). He spent seven years as both an economic and counterterrorism analyst in the CIA, where he regularly briefed White House policy makers, U.S. military personnel, and federal law enforcement. In 2009, he spent three months in Afghanistan providing analytic support to senior military officials.
He joins FDD president and Foreign Podicy host Clifford D. May for a discussion of the Long War, terrorism, ideology, religion and other issues.
Episode resources:What it’s like to be a Muslim in the CIA — Yaya J. Fanusie; VoxHow to Neutralize the Violent Jihadist Pull — Yaya J. Fanusie; Muslim MattersAnwar Al-Awlaki’s American Journey — Clifford D. May; Scripps Howard News Service
Clifford D. May is president of the Foundation for Defense of Democracies (FDD), host of FDD's Foreign Podicy, and the foreign desk columnist for the Washington Times. Follow him on twitter @CliffordDMay. Yaya J. Fanusie is the director of analysis at the Foundation for Defense of Democracies’ Center on Sanctions and Illicit Finance (CSIF). Follow him on Twitter @signcurve and follow CSIF @FDD_CSIF.
FDD is a Washington-based nonpartisan research institute focusing on national security and foreign policy. Follow the Foundation for Defense of Democracies on Twitter @FDD, and follow Foreign Podicy @Foreign_Podicy.

Extremism and Fragile States

If the attacks of September 11, 2001 were a second Pearl Harbor, where are we in the war that began on that day? Are we winning, losing or stalemated? Last year there were more than 10,000 terrorist attacks worldwide—about five times the number in 2001. So what have we learned—or, more importantly—what do we still need to learn? Are there policies and strategies that ought to be put in place?
Today, on the 17th anniversary of the deadliest terrorist attack in America's history, U.S. Institute for Peace has released a new report on “protecting America from extremism in fragile states.” To discuss its analysis and recommendations, FDD president and Foreign Podicy host Clifford D. May is joined by Stephen Hadley, former National Security Advisor to President George W. Bush, and now the chair of the U.S. Institute for Peace—a congressionally founded and funded policy institute; Nancy Lindborg, president of the U.S.I.P.; and Reuel Marc Gerecht, a senior fellow at FDD and a former Middle East specialist in the CIA’s Directorate of Operations.
Clifford D. May is president of the Foundation for Defense of Democracies (FDD), host of FDD's Foreign Podicy, and the foreign desk columnist for the Washington Times. Follow him on twitter @CliffordDMay.
FDD is a Washington-based nonpartisan research institute focusing on national security and foreign policy. Follow the Foundation for Defense of Democracies on Twitter @FDD, and follow Foreign Podicy @Foreign_Podicy.

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)

The Iranian-Israeli Conflict Within the Syrian Civil War

For seven long years, Syria has been engulfed in civil war. The death toll now exceeds a half million. More than five million refugees have fled abroad, and millions more are internally displaced.
The dynastic dictatorship of Bashar al-Assad almost certainly would have fallen had it not been for the intervention of the Islamic Republic of Iran, its Lebanese proxy, Hezbollah, various Iranian-controlled Shia militias, and the Russian military.
Lately, Tehran also has been building a military machine in Syria aimed at Israel. And Israel is responding.
To examine how these conflicts are likely to evolve, FDD president and Foreign Podicy host Clifford D. May is joined by FDD Research Fellow and Levant expert Tony Badran, Security Studies Group Senior Fellow Matt Brodsky, and FDD Senior Vice President for Research Jonathan Schanzer.

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.

Turkey’s Election, Erdogan’s Counterrevolution

Not so long ago, Turkey appeared to be the model: a Muslim-majority nation that was becoming free, democratic and prosperous; a NATO ally; a friend of America and Europe.
Today, all of that is very much in doubt. To discuss Turkey’s trajectory in the aftermath of elections that have strengthened the hand of the President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan, FDD president and Foreign Podicy host Clifford D. May is joined by former U.S. Ambassador to Turkey Eric Edelman, FDD senior fellow Aykan Erdemir and FDD research analyst Merve Tahiroglu.
Episode resources:Erdogan's Re-election Win Gives Him Vastly Expanded Powers in Turkey – Carlotta Gall; The New York Times
Turkish Elections: A Win That Cannot Be Stolen – Aykan Erdemir; FDD Policy Brief
Erdogan’s Hostage Diplomacy: Why We Need a Transatlantic Response – Aykan Erdemir and Eric S. Edelman; The Globalist
Erdogan’s Hostage Diplomacy: Western Nationals in Turkish Prisons – Aykan Erdemir and Eric S. Edelman; FDD Research

Iraq, Lebanon, and Iran’s March Across the Middle East

Lebanon and Iraq both recently held elections, which is good news – or is it? Hezbollah, Iran's terrorist foreign legion, is now more firmly in control of Lebanon than ever before. Meanwhile, Iraq still faces many perils, not least from the Islamic Republic of Iran as it pursues its imperialist ambitions in the region.
In episode 14 of Foreign Podicy, host Clifford D. May discusses these developments with Tony Badran, an FDD research fellow born and raised in Lebanon who focuses on the Levant, and Zalmay Khalilzad, born and raised in Afghanistan who served as U.S. ambassador to Iraq, Afghanistan, and the UN.
Episode resources:
After an Iranian Missile Attack on the Golan Heights, Israel Strikes Syria – Tony Badran, Tablet Magazine
Where Iran’s terrorist representative is the big winner– Tony Badran and Jonathan Schanzer, The Washington Times
Hezbollah and its Allies Win more than Half the Seats in Lebanon’s Parliament– Romany Shaker, FDD Policy Brief
Our Incoherent Lebanon Policy–  Tony Badran, Tablet Magazine
Lebanon’s New Army Chief has History of Coordination with Hezbollah  – Tony Badran, FDD Policy Brief

Nothing but Net: Cyber-Enabled Economic Warfare

A peril that may not be on your radar screen: Cyber-Enabled Economic Warfare (CEEW). Computers and the Internet have made our lives easier but they’ve also left us vulnerable to an arsenal of cyber weapons that threaten us as much as terrorists, guns and bombs.Foreign Podicy host Clifford D. May is joined by Dr. Samantha Ravich, a senior advisor at the Foundation for Defense of Democracies as well as a principal investigator for FDD’s Cyber-Enabled Economic Warfare project, to discuss CEEW, and what must be done to combat it.
Episode resources:
http://www.defenddemocracy.org/content/uploads/documents/MEMO_CyberDefinitions_07.pdf
http://www.defenddemocracy.org/media-hit/samantha-ravich-cyber-enabled-economic-warfare-assessing-us-strategy/
https://www.defense.gov/News/News-Releases/News-Release-View/Article/1282920/dod-initiates-elevation-process-for-us-cyber-command-to-a-unified-combatant-com
https://www.washingtonpost.com/world/national-security/senate-confirms-paul-nakasone-to-lead-the-nsa-us-cyber-command/2018/04/24/52c95ca4-47e8-11e8-9072-f6d4bc32f223_story.html?utm_term=.bc6091cfdaff
Listeners can find and subscribe to Foreign Podicy via iTunes, Google Play, Stitcher, and SoundCloud.
To request more information or to provide feedback for the Foreign Podicy team, email press@defenddemocracy.org.

Of Strikes and Strategy: U.S. Policy in Syria

War will always be hell – but the laws of war were meant to make wars at least a little less hellish. In Syria, however, the brutal regime of Bashar al-Assad – backed by the Islamic Republic of Iran and by Russia – has many times used prohibited chemical weapons to murder innocent men, women, and children. President Trump has now twice responded with punitive attacks. What has he achieved and what still needs to be done to protect American interests?
Foreign Podicy host Clifford D. May is joined by John Hannah, senior counselor at the Foundation for Defense of Democracies, who has served on the national security teams of both democratic and republican administrations, to discuss the ongoing crises and potential ways forward in Syria and the broader region.
Episode Resources:
“Trump Was Right to Strike Syria,” John Hannah, Foreign Policy

In the Shadow of the Pyramids: Egypt’s Past Glories and Future Perils

It’s been eight years since what was called—with more hope than accuracy—the “Arab Spring.” Last month, Egyptian President Abdel Fattah el-Sisi won reelection, surprising no-one since he had no serious competitors. Mr. Sisi may not be a democrat but he does appear to be a reformer, and he’s battling jihadis on Egyptian soil. Should the United States support him, challenge him – or both?
Foreign Podicy host Cliff May discusses these and other issues with Hudson Institute Senior Fellow Samuel Tadros, an expert on Egypt’s history, politics and religions.
Show resources: 
www.hudson.org/experts/635-samuel-tadros 
www.washingtontimes.com/news/2018/mar…-and-an-imam/ 
www.washingtontimes.com/news/2018/mar…ptian-riddle/

The Future of the Iran Deal

There are three views on the Iran nuclear weapons deal, more formally known as the Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action (JCPOA). The first is to insist that it’s the best deal that could have been cut, and that it prevents the Islamic Republic of Iran from acquiring nuclear weapons—at least anytime soon. So, stick with it. A second view holds that the deal is flawed, but it can be fixed and it’s up to America’s European allies to get that job done without delay. The third view claims that the flaws in the deal are fatal, and the deal needs to be terminated.
On this week’s episode of Foreign Podicy we ask, “What’s ahead?” Host Cliff May is joined by FDD Chief Executive Mark Dubowitz, an expert on Iran, sanctions, and the exact details of the 159-page JCPOA, to unravel what the future and fate of the Iran nuclear deal could be.
Show resources: 
https://markdubowitz.org/
https://www.wsj.com/articles/confront-iran-the-reagan-way-1499197879 
https://www.wsj.com/articles/the-pyongyang-tehran-axis-1521068215 

Africa’s Jihadist Frontiers

Jihadists in Africa are not just spreading. They’re also learning and innovating.  Al Qaeda and the Islamic State have spawned such groups as Boko Haram and Al-Shabaab south of the Sahara, in the Sahel, the Horn of Africa, and beyond. A new FDD study shows that the number of jihadist attacks against Western interests in Africa has nearly tripled since the so-called 2011 Arab Spring. Yet, we hear little about these groups and their acts of terrorism in the mainstream media.
Foreign Podicy host, Cliff May, is joined by FDD Senior Fellow Daveed Gartenstein-Ross to discuss these evolving threats and what can be done now to stop – or at least slow – them.
Show resources:
http://www.defenddemocracy.org/media-hit/gartenstein-ross-daveed-evolving-terror-the-development-of-jihadist-operations-targeting-western-in/
https://warontherocks.com/2018/02/spike-african-terrorism-highlights-importance-jihadist-innovation

A bombing, a cover-up, and a murder: Lessons from Alberto Nisman’s work to bring Iranian officials to justice for the AMIA terrorist attack in Argentina

Three years ago this month, Argentine prosecutor Alberto Nisman was found drugged, bludgeoned and shot to death in his Buenos Aires apartment. He was murdered only hours before he was to testify before Argentina’s Congress. Nisman had solid evidence that top Argentine officials had conspired with top Iranian officials to cover up Tehran’s responsibility for the 1994 AMIA bombing, which killed 85 people and remains the most lethal terrorist attack in Argentina’s history. His investigations continue to have lessons for law enforcement today.
Foreign Podicy host Cliff May is joined by FDD’s Toby Dershowitz, who knew Nisman well and has followed this case for years, to discuss his life, legacy, and lessons.
Show resources:
http://albertonisman.org/
The New York Times: Iranian Terror. Argentinian Cover Up. Justice at Last?

Busted! Iran, Turkey and the Largest Sanctions-Evasion Scheme in Modern History

It was likely the largest sanctions-evasion scheme in modern history, involving top state officials from both Ankara and Tehran. While the U.S. was attempting to use economic pressure in response to revelations regarding Tehran’s illicit nuclear weapons program, Turkish gold trader Reza Zarrab and banker Mehmet Hakan Atilla facilitated an illicit oil-for-gold scheme that enriched Iran to the tune of over $100 billion.
Foreign Podicy host Cliff May is joined by Jonathan Schanzer, Aykan Erdemir and Merve Tahiroglu, who were involved in FDD’s extensive role in the case, to unravel the story and discuss its many implications.
Listeners can find and subscribe to Foreign Podicy via iTunes, Google Play, Stitcher, and SoundCloud.
To request more information or to provide feedback for the “Foreign Podicy” team, email: foreignpodicy@defenddemocracy.org

Upheaval in Iran: Causes and Consequences

Protests have been shaking the Islamic Republic of Iran. Foreign Podicy host Cliff May is joined by FDD senior fellow, Reuel Marc Gerecht, and FDD senior Iran analyst, Behnam Ben Taleblu, to discuss what this upheaval means, where it could lead, and how the U.S. and its Western counterparts should respond.
Listeners can find and subscribe to Foreign Podicy via iTunes, Google Play, Stitcher, and SoundCloud.
To request more information or to provide feedback for the “Foreign Podicy” team, email: foreignpodicy@defenddemocracy.org

The Latin American Narco-Terrorism Nexus

Iranian-backed Hezbollah has made common cause with Latin America’s drug cartels. Their growing network launders huge amounts of money, traffics weapons, and engages in a long list of other illicit activities. Foreign Podicy host Cliff May is joined by FDD's Latin America expert, Dr. Emanuele Ottolenghi to discuss this malevolent alliance and what needs to be done about it.

Countering Kim’s Nuclear North Korea

Cliff May is joined by FDD's North Korea expert, Anthony Ruggiero, to discuss whether North Korea's most recent missile test is a game-changer, whether a nuclear North Korea is a foregone conclusion, and how the U.S. can leverage economic warfare to counter the Kim regime's illicit activities.
 

Osama bin Laden‘s Terrorist Treasure Trove

Cliff May is joined by Bill Roggio and Thomas Joscelyn of FDD’s Long War Journal to discuss their exclusive look into the Osama bin Laden documents, and how their findings could impact the future of counterterrorism strategy and policy.