Terrorism

Tehran’s Iraqi proxies mostly sat out the twelve-day war, but this pragmatic restraint will not forestall growing U.S.-Iran competition over Iraq’s airspace, economic partnerships, and other sectors.

After giving Lebanese officials a much-needed ultimatum for disarming Hezbollah and implementing financial reforms, Washington is now in danger of letting them once again punt these all-important tasks.

Iraq is more stable than it has been in decades but still faces enormous security and energy challenges, including the risk of spillover from Iran-Israel hostilities, dependence on unreliable Iranian gas amid untapped domestic opportunities, an untested Syrian government, and the unrelenting Islamic State threat.

Although definitively identifying the group responsible for the bombing may take more time, authorities in Damascus and Washington already have more than enough information to beef up their security cooperation and reassure Syrian minorities that they won’t be targeted.

The group's name has been making the rounds for months, but videos and other actual evidence of its claimed attacks against Israel are only now beginning to emerge.

The Trump administration claims it is prioritizing efforts to combat the organization, but funding cuts threaten to undermine vital operations.

Besides testing Syria’s new authorities on a mission they are not yet ready to handle by themselves, Washington also has an unprecedented chance to curtail the group in areas that were difficult to reach under the old regime.

The time for inertia is over—this summer, Security Council members will have a rare and urgent chance to break the spell of illusory “peacekeeping” and advance a model that actually helps keep the peace between Israel and Lebanon.

After an encouraging Trump-Sharaa meeting, Washington and its partners must now facilitate the complex work of creating timelines and implementing new security arrangements to constrain the jihadist group.