Defense/Security cooperation

US Secretary of State Marco Rubio walks with Qatari Prime Minister and Foreign Minister Sheikh Mohammed bin Abdulrahman bin Jassim Al Thani as they meet at the Department of State in Washington, on April 22, 2025.

Analysis

Damage control: Can US calm Gulf security concerns after Israel strikes?

Unprecedented Israeli air raids targeting Hamas negotiators in Doha have sown doubt among Gulf allies about Washington’s commitment to guaranteeing the oil-rich region's security.

Jared Szuba

In Washington, DC, reporting on defense, national security, military

Win McNamee/Getty Images

Analysis

Netanyahu scrambles as Gulf states push Trump to sanction Israel over Doha strikes

In an unusual move reflecting the difficult position Netanyahu placed the administration in, the United States supported a United Nations Security Council statement on Thursday condemning the Israeli strike.

In Tel Aviv, reporting on national security, Israeli politics, defense

TOPSHOT - Israel's Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu (C) and National Security Minister Itamar Ben-Gvir (R) visit the scene of a shooting at the Ramot road junction in Israeli-annexed east Jerusalem on September 8, 2025. Palestinian gunmen opened fire at a bus stop in Israeli-annexed east Jerusalem on September 8, killing five people and wounding several others. Israeli emergency service Magen David Adom (MDA) said there were five victims dead in the shooting attack, updating an earlier toll of four. Police

Analysis

Trump fumes, Hamas scoffs: Will Israel’s Qatar strikes backfire?

While the targeted Hamas leaders' fate is unknown, it is clear that the United States is unhappy with Tuesday’s strike and that Qatar will distance itself from mediating a Gaza ceasefire deal.

In Tel Aviv, reporting on national security, Israeli politics, defense

President Abdel Fattah El-Sisi received on Monday, Sept. 8, 2025, Commander of the United States Central Command Adm. Brad Cooper at Al-Ittihadiya Palace, in Cairo.

CENTCOM commander meets Egypt’s Sisi in Cairo

The Navy admiral’s visit comes as Pentagon officials aim to draw the North African state closer to Washington’s orbit and coordinate multilateral efforts to deter Houthi attacks in the Red Sea.

Latest News

Trump aims to crack Gulf's armed drone market with looser export restrictions

An MQ-9 Reaper remotely piloted aircraft (RPA) is parked in an aircraft shelter at Creech Air Force Base on November 17, 2015 in Indian Springs, Nevada.

As youth unemployment nears 50%, can conscription ease Jordan's economic woes?

Jordanian soldiers stand guard near the "Gate of Peace" at the Jordan Valley site of Baqura, east of the Jordan River, on Nov. 13, 2019.

Analysis

Inside Israel's Yemen operation that decapitated Houthi leadership

MOHAMMED HUWAIS/AFP via Getty Images

In Tel Aviv, reporting on national security, Israeli politics, defense

Syria seizes Captagon with Turkish backing amid drug trade boom

A member of the security forces with Syria's new government stands over pills of Captagon during a raid in Latakia on Jan. 19, 2025.

Trump, Kadhimi launch new chapter in US-Iraq relations

US offers Iraqi prime minister aid, energy deals and continued cooperation against Islamic State.

Israeli and German jets fly over Munich Olympics massacre site, Dachau concentration camp

The joint exercises this week mark the first ever between Israel and Germany on German soil.

State Department legally skirted Congress freeze on Saudi arms sales, inquiry finds

An inspector general's report redacted by the State Department says that while the department found ways to legally bypass congressional restrictions on arms sales to Saudi Arabia, measures that Congress had called for were not taken.

Trump Pentagon nominee questioned about firm's link to killing of Saudi journalist

The Senate Armed Services Committee is holding up the nomination of Louis Bremer over questions whether his firm trained those implicated in the murder of Jamal Khashoggi.

Rockets hit Iraqi base used by coalition troops, no casualties

The attack came as the US-led coalition prepares to hand over the base to Iraqi security forces.

Coronavirus likely to delay Pentagon war games in Mideast to 2021

Mideast war exercises planned for this year are likely to be delayed until 2021, and other war games scheduled for next year may be delayed until 2022.

Is Erdogan after a Caucasus adventure?

Ankara’s harsh outbursts in favor of Baku in Azerbaijan’s rekindled conflict with Armenia might be aimed at domestic consumption as well as pressuring Russia into concessions in Libya and Syria.

Intel: White House sympathizes with France in Libya row with Turkey

White House National Security adviser Robert O’Brien on Wednesday expressed sympathy for France’s account of events in a Mediterranean naval standoff with Turkey last month over a Libyan arms smuggling allegation.

ARLINGTON, VIRGINIA - MARCH 13: Marine Corps Gen. Kenneth F. McKenzie, commander of U.S. Central Command, talks to journalists about the military response to rocket attacks that killed two U.S. and one U.K. service members in Iraq during a news briefing at the Pentagon March 13, 2020 in Arlington, Virginia. Because of the threat of transmission of the novel coronavirus (COVID-19), the Pentagon is exercising social distancing by keeping reporters' chairs four feet apart from each other during briefings. (Pho

US military consolidates footprint in Iraq amid pressure from Baghdad

The Pentagon's top general overseeing forces in the Middle East, Gen. Frank McKenzie, visited Baghdad this week amid a reshuffle of the US troop presence in the country in coordination with plans to bring in more NATO advisers.

Smoke billows following an airstrike by Saudi-led coalition in the Yemeni capital Sanaa, on June 16, 2020. - Yemen is wracked by a war which has killed tens of thousands of people and led to the world's worst humanitarian crisis, according to the United Nations.
The war between Huthi rebels and pro-government forces escalated in 2015 when a Saudi-led military coalition intervened against the rebels who control large parts of Yemen including the capital Sanaa. (Photo by MOHAMMED HUWAIS / AFP) (Photo by MOHAM

Congress revives bid to pull US out of Yemen war

The Democratic-held House is taking another stab at ending US support for the Saudi coalition’s war against Yemen’s Houthis.

An F-35 military aircraft of the Royal Netherlands Air Force trains on targets at the NATO training location at the Vliehors Range on Vlieland. (Photo by Vincent JANNINK / ANP / AFP) / Netherlands OUT (Photo by VINCENT JANNINK/ANP/AFP via Getty Images)

Intel: Pentagon to accept Turkey-made F-35 parts through 2022

The Pentagon will continue to accept Turkish-made parts for Lockheed Martin’s F-35 Joint Strike Fighter through 2022, despite the United States’ vow to kick Ankara off the program by this year.

Egypt calls emergency Arab League meeting on Libya

The meeting is expected to be held next week to discuss recent developments in the Libyan conflict.