Category Archives: Iran

Six American service members have died in the war so far, all killed in an Iranian strike on a base in Kuwait around March 1. Since then, despite a week of continued exchanges of hundreds of Iranian missiles and drones, … Continue reading →

Drawing from the high-prestige strategy journals and the “quasi-intelligence” shops I’ve been tracking, several critical developments have emerged in the last 48 hours that haven’t hit the standard 24-hour news cycle. 1. The “Ukraine Swap” for Drone Defense Source: Semafor … Continue reading →

I’m reading Vali Nasr’s book Iran’s Grand Strategy. It’s written in the aftermath of 10-7 and it describes an Iran which dominates the Middle East, leading the mighty axis of resistance. Meanwhile, Vasr describes the US as exhausted, and that … Continue reading →

Suzanne Maloney is the Director of the Institutional Memory Bank. As the Vice President and Director of Foreign Policy at the Brookings Institution, she acts as a high-status chronicler who translates “unthinkable” Iranian transitions into “inevitable” policy outcomes for the … Continue reading →

Per Alliance Theory, Barbara Slavin is the High Priestess of Persistent Diplomacy. While Kenneth Pollack provides the “Good War” operational sensemaking and Alex Vatanka maps the “Intra-Regime” rivalries, Slavin provides the Moralized Map of Engagement. Her role in the elite … Continue reading →

The International Crisis Group Iran Project is not a single “program” in the sense of a government initiative. It is a research and policy platform inside the International Crisis Group focused on analyzing Iran’s domestic politics, nuclear program, and regional … Continue reading →

Attorney Robert Malley can be decoded through David Pinsof’s Alliance Theory as a high-level bridge figure for the diplomatic engagement coalition in U.S. Middle East policy. He is the Excommunicated High Priest of the Diplomacy Server. While Suzanne Maloney and … Continue reading →

Ali Vaez is best understood through David Pinsof’s Alliance Theory as the diplomatic-engagement interpreter for the Iran policy coalition that favors negotiation, de-escalation, and arms-control frameworks. Where figures like Mark Dubowitz articulate the pressure strategy, Vaez articulates the engagement strategy. … Continue reading →

Mark Dubowitz (FDD CEO): Extremely prominent in pro-Israel/hawkish media. Co-guest on Call Me Back emergency episodes (e.g., “WAR WITH IRAN” and “Did Israel force America into war?”), quoted on sanctions, maximum pressure, and regime vulnerabilities. Often paired with Israeli analysts … Continue reading →