Turan Research Center

With the Iranian regime decapitated by a joint U.S.-Israeli strike that killed Supreme Leader Ali Khamenei and several top commanders, and with a resurgent Sunni extremist axis led by Turkey and Qatar gaining ground, the United States faces a pivotal choice in the Middle East. It should proceed by building a coalition of moderates — anchored by Israel, Azerbaijan and the United Arab Emirates — that is capable of countering both Iranian aggression and the rising tide of Sunni radicalism.

That emerging extremist Sunni axis, fueled by Muslim Brotherhood ideology, Turkish military ambition and Qatari money, is pulling in cautious allies such as Saudi Arabia — nations whose recent surges in anti-Jewish rhetoric signal an ideological drift that should alarm Washington.

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s answer is essentially a revival of the “Periphery Doctrine” that aimed to counter hostile Arab nationalism through clandestine alliances with non-Arab states and minority groups in the Middle East. Netanyahyu has proposed a counterweight coalition, mentioning India, Greece and Cyprus. But the key to any alliance fighting extremist Islam is Muslim countries that can put forward a contrasting and appealing vision.

Read the full article on The Washington Post.

Joseph Epstein is Director of the Turan Research Center.

Russian warplanes buzzing into NATO and European Union airspace — prompting the top diplomat in Brussels to accuse Moscow of “gambling with war” — have reignited fears of escalation beyond Ukraine. Yet while attention is fixed on the Baltic, Moscow has waged an information war in its backyard: Central Asia and the South Caucasus.

After Russia invaded Ukraine in 2022, Finland raced into NATO; Moldova braced for hybrid attacks; Poland fortified its eastern flank. This was all for good reason, but seizing and holding territory is far more costly than Kremlin planners seemed to assume. Unable to replicate Ukraine-style invasions elsewhere, at least while engaged in a full-scale war, Russia is falling back on the tools it knows best — covert influence campaigns, disinformation, destabilization and military and intelligence probing.

Moldova remains Moscow’s prime laboratory, where, according to President Maia Sandu, hundreds of millions of euros have been spent on political meddling. Russia has also interfered in elections in both the Czech Republic and Romania. Now, similar warning signs are flashing farther east — in Kazakhstan and Armenia.

Read the full article on the Washington Post.

Joseph Epstein is the Director of the Turan Research Center and Senior Fellow at the Yorktown Institute. Seth Cropsey is President of the Yorktown Institute.

When President Trump hosted the signing ceremony of the peace deal between Azerbaijan and Armenia last week, celebrations weren’t limited to Washington, Baku and Yerevan.

In Jerusalem, Israeli officials welcomed the initiative led by one of their closest allies, Azerbaijan, in partnership with the U.S. The trilateral cooperation had been a shared strategic goal. Azerbaijan’s President Ilham Aliyev, recognizing the ineffectiveness of the Organization for Security and Cooperation in Europe’s Minsk Group as peace arbiters, opted instead for direct negotiations with Washington, supported by Jerusalem.

Now, Mr. Trump has an opportunity to reshape the Middle East and Eurasia by expanding the Abraham Accords to include Azerbaijan and Central Asian nations such as Kazakhstan and Uzbekistan. A strategic enlargement of the accords would counter adversaries, diversify supply chains, and build a bloc of moderate, pro-Western Muslim-majority nations aligned with the U.S. and Israel. It would also showcase Israeli outreach, helping counter the anti-Israel global narrative.

Read more at the Wall Street Journal.