Latest news with #MiddleEastForum
Sky News AU
9 hours ago
- Politics
- Sky News AU
‘Hard to predict' if the US will become involved in Middle East war
Middle East Forum security analyst Jonathan Spyer analyses whether the United States will become directly involved in the Middle East war. 'Certainly, there's clearly a coordinated attempt to place very, very heavy pressure on the Iranians right now,' Mr Spyer told Sky News host Chris Kenny. 'As to whether the United States will in fact come in or not, it is very, very hard to predict … we should not rule anything out.'
Sky News AU
9 hours ago
- Politics
- Sky News AU
‘Just maybe': Israeli attacks on Iran missile launches making an ‘impact' on war
Middle East Forum security analyst Jonathan Spyer discusses the Israeli attacks on Iran's missile launch facilities. 'There have been alerts … in the last hour, I just received them a few minutes ago on my phone as we all do here,' Mr Spyer told Sky News host Chris Kenny. 'Just maybe our air forces attacks on the missile launches in Iran are having an impact on the Iranian's ability to launch.'
India Gazette
09-05-2025
- Politics
- India Gazette
Middle East Forum researcher blames Pakistan's use of terror proxies for India-Pakistan escalation
London [UK], May 9 (ANI): Amid rising tensions between India and Pakistan, Jonathan Spyer, Director of Research at the Middle East Forum, emphasised that much of the media coverage is missing the real reason behind the current India-Pakistan tension. He said the root cause is Pakistan's long-standing practice of using Islamist militant groups as tools of state policy. Spyer further said that India's strong response is a reaction to this pattern, and while efforts to reduce tensions are important, one should not forget what triggered the conflict in the first place. In an interview with ANI, Spyer said, 'It is clear that there has been a very serious escalation over the last few days, and it is notable that the US administration, now, including Secretary of State Marco Rubio, are becoming involved in efforts to de-escalate. I think alarmism would be mistaken, the kind of reports which are saying, well, two nuclear armed powers are now on the edge of warfare, this is exaggerated. We have seen in the past episodes of back and forth, the response between the sides, and this is another of those.' He added, 'I think a lot of the coverage is missing -- the origins which led to this escalation, namely the apparent practise by Pakistan of the use of proxy Islamist terror groups actually as tools of policy, and this, I think is what India is reacting against, and I think it's important that that crucial point should not get lost in terms of the way of reporting. De-escalation is good, but it's important to remember also why the escalation is taking place in the first place.' Spyer said that during conflicts, there is often confusion, and it can take time to get a really clear picture of exactly what is going on. He pointed to the Pahalgam terror attack, which started the current crisis and said that it appears that Pakistan continues to use extremist groups as part of its official strategy, which is a major reason behind the escalation. On India targeting terror infrastructure while Pakistan attacking civilians, Spyer told ANI, 'First of all, it's, it's worth noting that Pakistan, of course, is denying that, and Pakistan is also claiming that a mosque has been hit and so on. So there's a certain sense of the fog of war in these situations where it can take some time before we get a really clear picture of exactly what is going on. Having said that, I would like to add that obviously, in the case of Pahalgam terror attack, which triggered this whole episode, there we saw the deliberate targeting of civilians and deliberate butchery and murder of civilians actually and the most brutal of ways, and it does appear that the Republic of Pakistan is willing to make use of these kind of organisations as a tool of policy.' On Thursday night, Pakistan launched a series of coordinated drone and missile attacks along India's western border, targeting regions in Jammu and Kashmir and Rajasthan. According to Indian defence officials, the attacks were intercepted mainly by India's air defence systems, including the S-400 missile defence system, preventing significant damage. Pakistan strikes were reportedly in retaliation to India's Operation Sindoor conducted earlier this week, which targeted terrorist camps in Pakistan following a deadly terrorist attack in Kashmir that killed 26 tourists on April 22. The situation remains volatile, with international calls for restraint and diplomatic engagement to prevent further escalation. (ANI)
Yahoo
29-04-2025
- Business
- Yahoo
Trump buries Biden foreign policy in first 100 days
One hundred days into his new administration, President Donald Trump has reset negotiations with allies and foes across the globe, and experts say one is certain: it is all transactional. Gone are the days when the U.S. could be drawn to throw its force around the world solely in the name of defending or spreading democracy. Global leaders are learning to speak a new language with U.S. leadership, one that is less about ideology and more about how their interests benefit U.S. interests. "There is a lot more transactional engagement rather than I think we're ideological-based, policy decisions that were sort of the hallmark of the Biden administration," said Gregg Roman, executive director of the Middle East Forum. Here is a round-up of how Trump has changed U.S. foreign policy since taking office: Fox News Poll: The First 100 Days Of President Trump's Second Term Former President Joe Biden toyed with reviving a nuclear deal with Iran and criticized Trump's decision to pull the U.S. out of the 2015 Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action, but his administration made little progress toward serious negotiations. Read On The Fox News App Trump has now expressed interest in a new nuclear deal. He told Israel the U.S. would not come to their aid in attacking Iran until diplomatic negotiations played out. As Trump's team met with Iranian counterparts in Oman this weekend for a second round of nuclear talks, he issued another threat: if negotiations whither away, the U.S. would not be dragged by Israel into war with Iran but will be "leading the pack." An offensive campaign against Yemen's Houthi terrorists launched six weeks ago has struck more than 800 targets and cost nearly $1 billion – a sharp departure from the tit-for-tat retaliatory strikes seen under the Biden administration, when Houthis attacked U.S. naval ships and Western commercial vessels. "Biden pursued a policy of retaliatory strikes: If you hit us, we'll hit you," said Roman. "What Trump is trying to do is what I call a salting the earth strategy. If you dare challenge American military supremacy or the ability for us to conduct free trade to the bottom of or through the Gulf of Aden, Gulf of Yemen, Red Sea, Suez … We will attempt to end your ability to wage war on the United States in its interests." Us Strikes Kill Hundreds Of Houthi Fighters, Hit Over 800 Red Sea Targets: Central Command While Biden had promised the U.S. would stand by Ukraine "as long as it takes" in the war against Russia, Trump expressed a desire to see the war come to an end, promising that he could end the war on "day one" of his presidency. One hundred days in, the war is not over. Negotiations are ongoing, and Trump has jumped between sounding off in frustration with Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy and Russian President Vladimir Putin. As Putin continues to strike even civilian regions of Ukraine, Trump questioned on Saturday whether the Russian leader truly wants peace or is "tapping me along." He again questioned whether he would need to slap "secondary sanctions" on nations that do business with Russia to starve its war coffers. On Monday, Russia offered a three-day ceasefire from May 8-10, but the White House was not satisfied. Press secretary Karoline Leavitt said Trump wants a "permanent ceasefire." Trump met face-to-face with Zelenskyy in Rome on Saturday, the first time since their infamous Oval Office spat in February, after slamming Zelenskyy's latest rejection of his peace proposal, one that would have formally ceded Crimea to the Russians. The Monroe Doctrine is back, analysts say, and Trump wants both Greenland and the Panama Canal under U.S. control. The proposals drew shock across the world, but at least in Panama, Trump's bold words prompted a proposal to offer the U.S. "first and free" passage for its warships, Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth said earlier this month. It also spurred the proposed sale of two ports of entry from Hong Kong-based CK Hutchison to U.S.-based BlackRock, though that deal has been delayed by Chinese regulatory and political scrutiny. Efforts to attain Greenland have proved less successful. Tough talk against Denmark and its ownership of Greenland has ratcheted up tensions with the NATO ally and Greenland's leadership has expressed little interest in becoming a part of the U.S. However, Trump has called out the threat of Russia and China's increasing arctic military capabilities – the shortest range for a missile to travel from Russia to the U.S. would be over the icy island's territory. Trump is also interested in the rare earth mining potential of the massive swath of land. Trump's threats to pull out of the NATO alliance – or refuse to come to the defense of allies that do not contribute enough military spending – has left nations across the world planning for the contingency that they may have to defend themselves without U.S. aid. The European Union announced a plan for its nations to spend $840 billion to "re-arm Europe" after Trump halted all aid to Ukraine in March. Countries like Spain, Belgium and Sweden have all announced plans this year to increase defense spending to meet NATO's 2% target, while eastern European states near Russia's border, including Lithuania, Latvia, Estonia and Poland, have announced plans to increase defense spending to around 5%. Concern over China's hegemonic ambitions bridges the partisan divide, but the Biden White House never considered such drastic measures as 145% tariffs. Trump has said the goal of the tariffs is to both bring back US manufacturing after decades of offshore production and punish China for intellectual property theft, a massive trade imbalance, and fentanyl flowing from China to the U.S. A free trade push in the early 2000s had wrongly assumed liberal trade policies would bring democratic values and free markets into Chinese borders, his supporters argue. Trump has insisted that President Xi Jinping wants to cut a deal to lower the soaring tariffs, even as China has rejected the prospect of talks. It is unclear what sort of realistic concessions the U.S. could get out of a deal, perhaps promises to buy more American-made agricultural products, fuel or other specialty goods. For now, steep tariffs remain, and China is choking off U.S. supply of critical minerals, which could spell deep trouble for everyday electronics, electric vehicles and defense article source: Trump buries Biden foreign policy in first 100 days
Fox News
29-04-2025
- Business
- Fox News
Trump buries Biden foreign policy in first 100 days
One hundred days into his new administration, President Donald Trump has reset negotiations with allies and foes across the globe, and experts say one is certain: it is all transactional. Gone are the days when the U.S. could be drawn to throw its force around the world solely in the name of defending or spreading democracy. Global leaders are learning to speak a new language with U.S. leadership, one that is less about ideology and more about how their interests benefit U.S. interests. "There is a lot more transactional engagement rather than I think we're ideological-based, policy decisions that were sort of the hallmark of the Biden administration," said Gregg Roman, executive director of the Middle East Forum. Here is a round-up of how Trump has changed U.S. foreign policy since taking office: Former President Joe Biden toyed with reviving a nuclear deal with Iran and criticized Trump's decision to pull the U.S. out of the 2015 Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action, but his administration made little progress toward serious negotiations. Trump has now expressed interest in a new nuclear deal. He told Israel the U.S. would not come to their aid in attacking Iran until diplomatic negotiations played out. As Trump's team met with Iranian counterparts in Oman this weekend for a second round of nuclear talks, he issued another threat: if negotiations whither away, the U.S. would not be dragged by Israel into war with Iran but will be "leading the pack." An offensive campaign against Yemen's Houthi terrorists launched six weeks ago has struck more than 800 targets and cost nearly $1 billion – a sharp departure from the tit-for-tat retaliatory strikes seen under the Biden administration, when Houthis attacked U.S. naval ships and Western commercial vessels. "Biden pursued a policy of retaliatory strikes: If you hit us, we'll hit you," said Roman. "What Trump is trying to do is what I call a salting the earth strategy. If you dare challenge American military supremacy or the ability for us to conduct free trade to the bottom of or through the Gulf of Aden, Gulf of Yemen, Red Sea, Suez … We will attempt to end your ability to wage war on the United States in its interests." While Biden had promised the U.S. would stand by Ukraine "as long as it takes" in the war against Russia, Trump expressed a desire to see the war come to an end, promising that he could end the war on "day one" of his presidency. One hundred days in, the war is not over. Negotiations are ongoing, and Trump has jumped between sounding off in frustration with Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy and Russian President Vladimir Putin. As Putin continues to strike even civilian regions of Ukraine, Trump questioned on Saturday whether the Russian leader truly wants peace or is "tapping me along." He again questioned whether he would need to slap "secondary sanctions" on nations that do business with Russia to starve its war coffers. On Monday, Russia offered a three-day ceasefire from May 8-10, but the White House was not satisfied. Press secretary Karoline Leavitt said Trump wants a "permanent ceasefire." Trump met face-to-face with Zelenskyy in Rome on Saturday, the first time since their infamous Oval Office spat in February, after slamming Zelenskyy's latest rejection of his peace proposal, one that would have formally ceded Crimea to the Russians. The Monroe Doctrine is back, analysts say, and Trump wants both Greenland and the Panama Canal under U.S. control. The proposals drew shock across the world, but at least in Panama, Trump's bold words prompted a proposal to offer the U.S. "first and free" passage for its warships, Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth said earlier this month. It also spurred the proposed sale of two ports of entry from Hong Kong-based CK Hutchison to U.S.-based BlackRock, though that deal has been delayed by Chinese regulatory and political scrutiny. Efforts to attain Greenland have proved less successful. Tough talk against Denmark and its ownership of Greenland has ratcheted up tensions with the NATO ally and Greenland's leadership has expressed little interest in becoming a part of the U.S. However, Trump has called out the threat of Russia and China's increasing arctic military capabilities – the shortest range for a missile to travel from Russia to the U.S. would be over the icy island's territory. Trump is also interested in the rare earth mining potential of the massive swath of land. Trump's threats to pull out of the NATO alliance – or refuse to come to the defense of allies that do not contribute enough military spending – has left nations across the world planning for the contingency that they may have to defend themselves without U.S. aid. The European Union announced a plan for its nations to spend $840 billion to "re-arm Europe" after Trump halted all aid to Ukraine in March. Countries like Spain, Belgium and Sweden have all announced plans this year to increase defense spending to meet NATO's 2% target, while eastern European states near Russia's border, including Lithuania, Latvia, Estonia and Poland, have announced plans to increase defense spending to around 5%. Concern over China's hegemonic ambitions bridges the partisan divide, but the Biden White House never considered such drastic measures as 145% tariffs. Trump has said the goal of the tariffs is to both bring back US manufacturing after decades of offshore production and punish China for intellectual property theft, a massive trade imbalance, and fentanyl flowing from China to the U.S. A free trade push in the early 2000s had wrongly assumed liberal trade policies would bring democratic values and free markets into Chinese borders, his supporters argue. Trump has insisted that President Xi Jinping wants to cut a deal to lower the soaring tariffs, even as China has rejected the prospect of talks. It is unclear what sort of realistic concessions the U.S. could get out of a deal, perhaps promises to buy more American-made agricultural products, fuel or other specialty goods. For now, steep tariffs remain, and China is choking off U.S. supply of critical minerals, which could spell deep trouble for everyday electronics, electric vehicles and defense equipment.
