Statecraft Reimagined 2025:

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Some past and present diplomats are upset that the State Department has removed the flags of all the countries and territories in which the United States has diplomatic relations, replacing them with American flags. “It’s so much worse than ‘America First,’” former peace processer Aaron David Miller quipped. Image: Flags in the lobby of the U.S. Department of State, Washington, D.C., June 15, 2016.
Middle East Forum Online
The State Department’s Replacement of Flags Should Only Be the Start
Why Not Make the State Department Lobby a Rotating Display of Industrial Might and Goods?
October 4, 2026
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Michael Rubin
A Russian-controlled digital forensics company that sold investigative software to sensitive U.S. government agencies allegedly used Turkey in multiple ways to obscure its Russian connections.
Middle East Forum Online
Russian Forensic Software Firm Used Turkish Identity, Turkey-Based Server to Infiltrate U.S. Agencies
October 4, 2026
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Abdullah Bozkurt
The Saudi flag flies behind missiles.
Middle East Forum Observer
The Persian Gulf Arms Race and the Changing Security Bargain
Wider Defense Collaborations May Make Trade-Offs Between Defense and Development More Consequential
October 4, 2026
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Radhika Lakshminarayanan
Pakistani authorities may believe drone warfare to be the best way to blunt India’s edge in advanced jet fighters. Nor will it be alone. China and Turkey will gladly supply Pakistan, as both seek to cripple India for their own ideological reasons.
Middle East Forum Online
India Must Prepare for a Drone War with Pakistan
The Time for the Indian Military to Assemble Drone Swarms and the Means to Counter Them Is Now
October 3, 2026
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Michael Rubin
Waves of the Caspian Sea on the beach of Derbent, Republic of Dagestan, Russia.
Middle East Forum Observer
The United States Must Close the Caspian to Iran and Russia’s Sanctions-Busting Trade
The U.S. Should Designate Oil Tankers, the Hulls That Carry Arms, Their Managers and Insurers, and Ports That Receive Them
October 3, 2026
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Leonid Baratz
St. Catherine's Monastery, located at the foot of Mount Sinai, is one of the oldest working Christian monasteries in the world.
Middle East Forum Observer
Greece’s Egypt Dilemma
Athens’ Crucial Cooperation with Cairo Makes Disagreements Difficult to Manage
October 3, 2026
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Nicoletta Kouroushi
U.S. Navy warships transit the Arabian Sea in close formation as CENTCOM forces continue to promote regional security and stability, June 30, 2026. (U.S. Navy photo)
Middle East Forum Online
Oil Might Be Flowing Through the Strait of Hormuz, but for All the Wrong Reasons
Saudi Arabia’s Loadings at Yanbu Are Now Increasing Again After a Brief Pause After Iraqi Militia Drones Struck the Petroline
October 2, 2026
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Michael Rubin
FATF found that Turkey’s more complex terrorist-financing enforcement remained heavily concentrated on Gülen-related cases and specifically called on Ankara to demonstrate effective action against a broader range of terrorist-financing threats and commercial structures beyond those cases.
Middle East Forum Online
Global Watchdog Puts Turkey on Notice over Hamas Terror Financing, Money Laundering, Iran Sanctions
The Financial Action Task Force, the Global Standard-Setting Body on Money Laundering and Terrorist Financing, Identified a Series of Shortcomings in the Effectiveness of the Turkish System
October 2, 2026
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Abdullah Bozkurt
While the IDF dismantle terror infrastructure across the Gaza Strip, an internal election has taken place inside the underground leadership of Hamas. During a recent vote to select the head of Hamas's Gaza political bureau, the initial round failed to yield a winner because a significant portion of voting delegates submitted blank ballots.
Middle East Forum Online
Hamas’s Underground Elections Show What Israel Has Yet to Destroy
The Elections Show the Terror Group Is Still Working to Preserve Its Political and Governing Structure
October 2, 2026
 · 
Amine Ayoub
Middle East viewed from space with atmosphere and clouds. Elements of this image furnished by NASA.
Middle East Forum Online
Who is Winning the War with Iran?
A Long Form Discussion on Positive Regional Changes
October 2, 2026
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Jim Hanson