Columnist

Joseph Braude

Middle East specialist Joseph Braude is the author of Broadcasting Change: Arabic Media as a Catalyst for Liberalism (Rowman & Littlefield). He is Advisor to the Al-Mesbar Center for Research and Studies and tweets@josephbraude.

Latest Articles

  • By Joseph Braude

    Hardliners Consolidate in Tehran, Face International Pushback in Bid to Evade Sanctions

    */ While Ayatollah Khamenei consolidates control of the Iranian judiciary for the hardline camp and President Rouhani visits Iraq, Israel and the UN expose Iranian maritime efforts to evade oil sanctions and cooperation with North Korean arms manufacturers. HARDLINER TIED TO MASS EXECUTIONS ...

  • By Joseph Braude

    Iranian Ties with Europe Suffer Amid Leadership Crisis and Diplomatic Row

    */ The past week saw a deepening of Iran’s international isolation, together with more fallout from tensions within the upper echelons of the Islamic Republic. Factional infighting prompted the leak of a 2018 speech by Supreme Leader Ayatollah Khamenei in which he appeared to lower expectation...

  • By Joseph Braude

    Tehran Leadership: Erratic Behavior at Home, Aggression Abroad

    */ The Iranian government has been showing signs of discord in its senior ranks, with the attempted resignation of the popular foreign minister Javad Zarif over his exclusion from a meeting with Syrian dictator Bashar al-Assad. At the same time, the Iranian military has taken an increasingly a...

  • By Joseph Braude

    Tehran Celebrates Four Decades of Revolution 

    As the fortieth anniversary of the Iranian revolution approached, American media and policymakers reflected on the continuing enmity between the U.S. and Tehran’s rulers. National Public Radio, for example, aired a retrospective on the 1953 CIA-backed coup against Iran’s elected prime minister,...

  • By Joseph Braude

    The U.S. and Europe Increasingly Aligned to Contain Iran

    Tensions between Iran and its Western opponents sharpened over the past week, between Iranian saber-rattling on the one hand and growing coordination among Western powers against Tehran on the other. The EU sounded the alarm over Iranian cyber espionage. The U.S. designated new Iranian proxy...

  • By Joseph Braude

    As Iran Sails West, the U.S. and Europe Close Ranks

      Iran sent new signals of military boldness this past week, while critics of the regime in the U.S. and Europe worked through their legal systems to pressure the Tehran leadership financially, with .prospects for trans-Atlantic unity against the regime inching forward The U.S. Navy Times ...

  • By Joseph Braude

    U.S. Federal Trade Commissioner: Consumer protection and fair competition are keys to a developing economy

    Noah Joshua Phillips serves as one of five Commissioners on the U.S. Federal Trade Commission, following his appointment to the position by President Trump and unanimous confirmation by the U.S. Senate last year. He came to the post after a meteoric rise in the legal profession: He served as a...

  • By Joseph Braude

    Trump’s Syrian Troop Withdrawal Sparks Bipartisan Distress in Washington

    On December 19, President Trump asserted that ISIS has been defeated and that the U.S. would withdraw all of its 2,000 American troops from Syria “within 60-100 days.” Wire reports indicated that the President reached his decision following a conversation with Turkish President Erdogan. Shortly...

  • By Joseph Braude

    Iran Lashes Out

    The Iranian government over the past week has suffered new losses in the court of international public opinion, ranging from legal action arising from its crude exports to Latin America to condemnation of its interference in Iraq. But the regime remains on the offensive against Western...

  • By Joseph Braude

    New Uncertainties Over Effects of Iran Sanctions

    It has been a week of mixed outcomes with respect to Iranian sanctions and military confrontation with its neighbors and the world. The grave implications of a new missile test were seemingly mitigated by suggestions that Iran’s presence in Syria would soon begin to shrink. Claims by Iran’s...

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Opinion

US Policy Towards Lebanon
By Elie Fawaz
U.S. Sanctions Are Hurting Hezbollah
By Hanin Ghaddar
Pressure Mounts on Hezbollah
By Elie Fawaz
The U.S. and Europe Increasingly Aligned to Contain Iran
By Joseph Braude
The New Lebanese Government: The Devil is in the Details
By Hanin Ghaddar
American Voices Emerge in Support of the U.S.-Saudi Alliance
By Joseph Braude