Council of Councils
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Introduction
Over the last several decades, governments have collectively pledged to slow global warming. But despite intensified diplomacy, the world is already facing the consequences of climate…
Middle East and North Africa
Israel
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Gaza’s Troubled Cease-Fire Efforts, Harris and Trump Debate, Toronto International Film Fest, and MoreThe United States, Egypt, and Qatar prepare another cease-fire proposal after Hamas killed six Israeli hostages and Israeli President Benjamin Netanyahu demanded control of the Philadelphi Corridor along the Gaza-Egypt border; Vice President Kamala Harris and former President Donald Trump hold their first presidential debate; the Toronto International Film Festival showcases independent films spanning from Hungary to Georgia and more; and the United States seizes Venezuelan President Nicolás Maduro’s plane.
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A Wider Middle East War, With Steven CookSteven Cook, the Eni Enrico Mattei Senior Fellow for Middle East and Africa Studies at CFR, sits down with James M. Lindsay to discuss the potential for a wider war in the Middle East as Iran vows to retaliate against Israel for the killing of a top Hamas official in Tehran.
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The Israel-Hezbollah Conflict: Where It StandsCross-border fighting has returned to a lower intensity following Israel’s preemptive strike in Lebanon, but the conflict could escalate again, and a reprisal from Iran remains likely.
Experts in this Region
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What Is Hamas?The Palestinian militant group struggled to govern the Gaza Strip before launching a surprise attack on Israel in 2023. Now facing Israel’s military campaign to destroy it, Hamas’s future is in doubt, as is Gaza’s.
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Norway: From Mediator to Persecutor of IsraelNorway has abandoned its longstanding neutrality and mediation efforts between Israel and the Palestinians, and instead joined Israel's harshest critics.
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Mapping the Growing U.S. Military Presence in the Middle EastThe U.S. military has an extensive footprint in the Middle East, but it could surge forces in the region if a broader war erupts.
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Is the “Two-State Solution” Still Viable?Is the longstanding proposal to resolve the Israeli-Palestinian conflict, the “two-state solution,” still viable? A recent debate took on all the issues, and I argued for “no.”
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Israel-Iran Tensions Escalate, Venezuela Election Questioned, Edinburgh Fringe Shines, and MoreThe Middle East braces for the possibility of a full-scale war between Israel and Iran-backed forces after the assassinations of Hamas senior leader Ismail Haniyeh and Hezbollah commander Fuad Shukr; Venezuelans protest the results of the presidential election that grant incumbent President Nicolás Maduro a third term; the Edinburgh Festival Fringe spotlights wide-ranging, new talent; imprisoned journalists in Russia are freed in a major prisoner swap; and militant groups kill troops from Russia’s private military company Wagner Group, including a Wagner commander, in Mali.
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Why Israel Wants to Draft the Ultra-Orthodox Into the MilitaryAs Israel fights its war in the Gaza Strip, changes to a decades-old draft exemption for its fastest-growing demographic group threaten to fracture Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s coalition and exacerbate the country’s internal rifts.
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Are Israel and Iran Headed for All-Out War?The killing of Hamas political leader Ismail Haniyeh in Tehran and targeted assassination of a Hezbollah military official in Beirut bring Israel and Iran, through its proxies, closer to war.
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Israel’s Retaliatory Strike in Lebanon, and Other Headlines of the DayThe Daily News Brief
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Palestine and JordanA Palestinian-Jordanian confederation may be a more realistic outcome for the Israeli-Palestinian conflict than an independent and sovereign Palestinian state, as a former top Jordanian official proposed this week.
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Injustice, Israel, and the "International Court of Justice"The ICJ's "advisory opinion" on Israeli "settlements" in Jerusalem and the West Bank is an injustice that gives evidence of considerable bias against the Jewish State.