Shows / FDD Morning Brief
FDD Morning Brief
The Middle East never stops moving. Neither does the FDD Morning Brief.
Three mornings a week, FDD Executive Director Jonathan Schanzer cuts through the noise with the experts who have spent their careers studying, shaping, and living the region’s most consequential moments. All before your morning coffee gets cold.
Episodes
FDD Morning BriefKeeping up with the Qataris | feat. Max Lesser
Headlines: On Wednesday, the State Department sanctioned three targets involved in smuggling man portable air defense systems, or “MANPADS,” to Iran. Yemen’s…
FDD Morning BriefMidterm election postmortem | feat. Tyler Stapleton
Headlines: Yemen’s internationally recognized government said yesterday that 21 Iranian and Hezbollah operatives are in Yemen overseeing Houthi military…
FDD Morning BriefThe state of the STC | feat. Amr Al-Bidh
Headlines: Qatar continues to try and prevent a return to fighting between the U.S. and Iran. British police arrested 139 people over the weekend as hundreds…
FDD Morning BriefRewriting the U.S.-Israel MOU | feat. Samuel Ben-Ur
Headlines: Qatar is reportedly hard at work trying to avert renewed fighting between the U.S. and Iran after the midterm elections next week. The Houthis may…
FDD Morning BriefIsrael goes to the polls | feat. Lahav Harkov
Headlines: Russia is reportedly helping the Houthis and Iran-backed militias in Iraq target Saudi Arabia’s military and energy infrastructure. Last week, Libya…
FDD Morning BriefThe battle for the Eastern Med | feat. Steven Cook
Headlines: The Hashemite Kingdom of Jordan is reeling from an attack on a Greek Orthodox church on Friday afternoon. Hamas appears to be issuing threats that…
FDD Morning BriefThe new rules of warfare | feat. Ryan Brobst
Headlines: Canadian Prime Minister Mark Carney arrived in Ankara yesterday on the first-ever bilateral visit to Turkey for a Canadian prime minister. UN…
FDD Morning BriefDoha's duplicitous game | feat. Eitan Fischberger
Headlines: The UK is sending fighter jets to support Saudi Arabia in its fight against the Houthis. Pakistan’s military chief Field Marshal Asim Munir was in…
FDD Morning BriefFrance under fire | feat. Simone Rodan-Benzaquen
Headlines: Egypt’s National Defense Council agrees to provide Saudi Arabia with all necessary support in its war against the Houthis. Saudi Arabia on Saturday…
FDD Morning BriefTehran's AI-powered propaganda | feat. Jacob Breach
Headlines: The U.S. is allegedly considering dropping the “mother of all bombs” on Iran. Technically, it’s called the Massive Ordnance Air Blast Bomb, or MOAB…
FDD Morning BriefAl-Sharaa's Syria | feat. Andrew Tabler
Headlines: Yesterday, the Saudi-led coalition struck a Yemeni oil facility in Sanaa. The Iranian regime is using the pause in fighting to get ready for the…
FDD Morning BriefTurkey helps Iran fly under the radar | feat. Ahmad Sharawi
Headlines: Yemen’s armed forces, the ones loyal to the internationally recognized government in Southern Yemen, said they carried out 1,732 strikes against…
FDD Morning BriefThree years after October 7 | feat. Lt. Col. (Ret.) Jonathan Conricus
Headlines: Israel decided to downgrade the UK’s consulate in Jerusalem, but stopped short of fully closing the diplomatic post. Taiwan has its sights on $130…
FDD Morning BriefThis all-female IDF tank unit battled Hamas on October 7 | feat. Karni Guez
Headlines: The Houthis aren’t slowing down their offensive and continue to do damage in Saudi Arabia. Representatives from the Mecca pact — Saudi Arabia…
FDD Morning Brief47 years of war with Iran | feat. Rep. Brad Sherman (D-CA)
Headlines: Members of the Mecca defense pact are planning to meet in Riyadh today. Yesterday, Yemeni forces launched a military campaign to retake territory…
FDD Morning BriefBeirut battles for its future | feat. Ronnie Chatah
Headlines: The Trump administration overrode the human rights conditions on $320 million worth of military aid to Egypt. American troops are officially out of…
FDD Morning BriefIs the UN rotten beyond reform? | feat. Ambassador Jeff Bartos
Headlines: Iran’s currency plummeted to a new low yesterday. We’re talking over 2.5 million rials to the U.S. dollar. Iran is reportedly offering cash rewards…
FDD Morning BriefLebanon's sovereignty paradox | feat. Bilal Saab
Headlines: The internationally recognized government in Aden says it killed or injured 2,316 Houthis over the last 72 hours. Iran’s Rev Guards said yesterday…
FDD Morning BriefThe Divided Nations | feat. Ben Cohen
Headlines: China has reportedly sent tons of dual-use components to Iran for use in missiles and drones. Iran is once again threatening to attack its…
FDD Morning BriefThe Houthis' Saudi siege | feat. Edmund Fitton-Brown
Headlines: The UK has agreed to help Saudi Arabia fight the Houthis by providing aerial refueling services to Saudi planes for the next few weeks. The Trump…
FDD Morning BriefChina steals America's AI edge | feat. Leah Siskind
Headlines: The State Department approved the potential sale of dozens of F-35 fighter jets to Saudi Arabia yesterday. French President Emmanuel Macron met with…
FDD Morning BriefTehran squeezes Riyadh | feat. Bernard Haykel
Headlines: Iranian foreign minister Abbas Araghchi is in Beijing today to meet with his Chinese counterpart, Wang Yi. A Russian bank just got dinged by the US…
FDD Morning BriefThe truth about America's munitions crisis | feat. Mark Cancian
Bradley Bowman, senior director of FDD’s Center on Military and Political Power (CMPP), fills in for Jonathan Schanzer, providing timely situational updates…
FDD Morning Brief25 years after 9/11 | feat. Bruce Hoffman
Headlines: The Houthis seized the Yemeni port of Mokha yesterday, days after launching a combinedballistic missile and drone attack in Saudi Arabia. President…
FDD Morning BriefThe beauty queen of wartime Jerusalem | feat. Swell Ariel Or
Headlines: Yesterday, the Houthis attacked Saudi Arabia, setting oil facilities on fire and wounding at least 73 people. The head of the International Atomic…
FDD Morning BriefThe FBI's war on terror financing | feat. Lara Burns
Headlines: Russia is helping Iran develop supersonic cruise missiles. Remember the Gaza flotilla? Well, it’s back. Leaders from the so-called “Freedom Flotilla…
FDD Morning BriefThe ABCs of foreign funding in K-12 | feat. Brandy Shufutinsky
Headlines: Lebanese President Joseph Aoun petitioned Greece to help implement a future peace agreement with Israel, which would see the Lebanese Armed Forces…
FDD Morning BriefIsrael's post-October 7 election | feat. Yohanan Plesner
Headlines: USAID, the US Agency for International Development,released a new report on Friday, confirming what we already knew — namely, that UNRWA, the UN…
FDD Morning BriefThe Israel-Turkey collision course | feat. Hay Eytan Cohen Yanarocak
Headlines: Kuwait and Pakistan signed a military cooperation agreement yesterday, building on a deal signed in 2023. The IDF is poised to surge troops into the…
FDD Morning BriefEconomic D-Day against Tehran | feat. Miad Maleki
Headlines: China blasted the United States after the Trump administration rolled out Operation Economic Outcast, its new pressure campaign to completely…
FDD Morning BriefThe elusive exit from the Iran war | feat. Jonathan Tobin
Headlines: Some mixed messages out of Iran’s rump regime. We’ve got President Masoud Pezeshkian saying that a new MOU is the best way out of the war. He warned…
FDD Morning BriefSyria's Russian reconstruction | feat. Anna Borshchevskaya
Headlines: The Trump Administration sanctioned the International Criminal Court’s president and top lawyer over their egregious, corrupt, politicized conduct…
FDD Morning BriefWar and the Board of Peace | feat. Shira Efron
Headlines: The U.S. and Israel have agreed to establish two Gaza working groups: one related to Hamas disarmament and the other to public health in the Strip…
FDD Morning BriefToppling Tehran | feat. Emily Schrader
Headlines: The rump regime in Iran claims that the government of Qatar is holding three of its pilots that were shot down in the open stages of the most recent…
FDD Morning BriefA university blooms in wartime Israel | feat. Daniel Chamowitz
Headlines: A tense situation is playing out in the West Bank village of Qusra. Israeli settlers, or perhaps not settlers but anarchists, depending upon who you…
FDD Morning BriefCongress' MidEast mindset | feat. Laura Kelly
Headlines: U.S. forces fired on a Panama-flagged ship early Tuesday for running Washington's blockade of the Strait of Hormuz, hitting its rudder after the…
FDD Morning BriefThe impact of the Mecca pact | feat. Steven Cook
Headlines: The IDF and the Shin Bet have acknowledged that a special unit has been established to hunt down and kill every single Palestinian terrorist…
FDD Morning BriefThe deal with disarming Hamas | feat. Ahmed Fouad Alkhatib
Headlines: Mossad chief Roman Gofman has removed two of the agency's top officials over their role in a failed plan to topple Iran's regime. Speaking of the…
FDD Morning BriefIsrael between war and politics | feat. Nadav Eyal
Headlines: Syria reportedly agreed to decrease its Russian oil imports. The International Monetary Fund, or “IMF,” announced a new technical assistance program…
FDD Morning BriefThe rise of the Axis of Aggressors | feat. Bradley Bowman
Headlines: Two more Iranian nationals have been executed by the regime for allegedly spying on behalf of Israel. Reports are swirling in the region that the…
FDD Morning BriefIran's conflict calculus | feat. Norman Roule
Headlines: Last night President Trump announced that Hamas had agreed to give up its weapons and hand over power in Gaza to the newly established National…
- FDD Morning Brief
America's next strategic test | feat. LTG (Ret.) H.R. McMaster
Bradley Bowman, senior director of FDD’s Center on Military and Political Power (CMPP), fills in for Jonathan Schanzer, providing timely situational updates…
FDD Morning BriefDefusing Iran's nuclear ambitions | feat. Richard Goldberg
FDD Executive Director Jonathan Schanzer provides timely updates and in-depth analysis of the latest Middle East headlines, followed by a conversation with FDD…
FDD Morning BriefDigging into Pickaxe Mountain | feat. Ilan Berman
Headlines: Greece is planning to buy a multi-layer air defense system, drones, and other military aircraft from Israel. Israel’s Minister of Diaspora Affairs…
FDD Morning BriefThe MidEast view from Capitol Hill | feat. Alexandria Paolozzi Moore
Headlines: The Lebanese Armed Forces started deploying troops to areas in south Lebanon formerly held by the IDF. The Iran-backed Houthis sent an email blast…
FDD Morning BriefTesting the waters of Hormuz | feat. Behnam Ben Taleblu
Headlines: The Israelis were forced to activate their air defenses on Saturday night as an Iranian missile hurtled toward Aqaba, the southern Jordanian city…
FDD Morning BriefBritain's belated reckoning with the IRGC | feat. Robin Simcox
Headlines: The U.S. Treasury Department sanctioned seven companies and individuals that are part of an Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps’ weapons procurement…
FDD Morning BriefLebanon's Sisyphean struggle with Hezbollah | feat. Hagar Chemali
Headlines: The regime in Iran publicly hanged two people accused of membership to the Islamic State. Yes, you got that right. The world’s most prolific state…
FDD Morning BriefThe fire that barely ceased | feat. Miad Maleki
Headlines: Sad news on Sunday morning. Senator Lindsey Graham of South Carolina passed away following a brief illness after returning from a trip to Ukraine…
FDD Morning BriefInside Israel's Operation Arnon | feat. Hannah Puder
FDD Senior Fellow Lt. Col. (Ret.) Jonathan Conricus fills in for Jonathan Schanzer, providing timely situational updates and analysis ahead of a conversation…
FDD Morning BriefAxis of Aggressors and NATO's path forward | feat. Cam McMillan
Bradley Bowman, senior director of FDD’s Center on Military and Political Power (CMPP), fills in for Jonathan Schanzer, providing timely situational updates…
FDD Morning BriefWhat to watch at the NATO summit | feat. Celeste Wallander
RADM (Ret.) Mark Montgomery, senior director of FDD’s Center on Cyber and Technology Innovation (CCTI), fills in for Jonathan Schanzer, providing timely…
FDD Morning BriefLebanon's 14-point path to sovereignty | feat. Ahmad Sharawi
Headlines: Iraqi Prime Minister Ali al-Zaidi is giving the Iran-backed Iraqi militias until September 30 to give up their weapons. Iraq and Syria agreed on…
FDD Morning BriefThe jet engine deal fueling Turkey's NATO moment | feat. Steven A. Cook
Headlines: Israel and Lebanon, under the auspices of the United States have entered into a new diplomatic agreement. Reports out of Israel suggest that Hamas…
FDD Morning BriefThe proxy that hasn't barked (yet) | feat. Edmund Fitton-Brown
Headlines: Remember the Gaza Board of Peace? Yeah. It’s been pretty quiet lately. Well, presentatives from the Board are planning to meet in Cyprus next week…
FDD Morning BriefWhat Washington left on the negotiating table | feat. Rep. Max Miller (R-OH)
Headlines: Saudi media reported that Hamas leaders recently met with French officials on an undisclosed date in an unspecified location in the Middle East…
FDD Morning BriefThe U.S. and Iran's diplomatic dance | feat. Eli Lake and Janatan Sayeh
FDD Executive Director Jon Schanzer hosts a special SITREP featuring the Free Press columnist Eli Lake and FDD expert Janatan Sayeh. Learn more at…
FDD Morning BriefDoes the MOU play Strait into Tehran's hands? | feat. Bernard Haykel and Jonathan Hessen
Does the MOU play Strait into Tehran's hands? | feat. Bernard Haykel and Jonathan HessenFDD Executive Director Jon Schanzer hosts a special SITREP featuring…
FDD Morning BriefAnkara's media shadow war | feat. Eitan Fischberger
Headlines: President Trump suggested that Syria should fight Hezbollah instead of Israel. Sources told the Wall Street Journal that the U.S. is going to allow…
FDD Morning BriefThe Iran ceasefire fallacy | feat. Haviv Rettig Gur
FDD Executive Director Jon Schanzer delivers timely situational updates and analysis, followed by a conversation with Haviv Rettig Gur, host of the Ask Haviv…