Search: Clare Lopez

West’s Indecision Only Emboldens Erdogan

As other crises take center stage for the Trump administration’s national security team, the dangerous ambitions of Recep Tayyip Erdogan’s Turkey have been spreading instability across the Mideast and North Africa (MENA). For years Erdogan made no secret of his intention to restore the Ottoman Empire and become the sultan…

Ending the Qatar Blockade

Last week, at the 2020 Global Security Forum, U.S. National Security Advisor Robert O’Brien said that ending Qatar’s blockage by three Gulf nations and Egypt is “a priority” of the Trump administration in “the next 70 days.” The dispute among the Arab neighbors grew out of concerns about Qatar’s close…

Facing Iran in 2021

In a little noticed comment made in September 2020, Iran’s Supreme Leader Ali Khamenei praised the 21 July 1988 decision of his predecessor, Ayatollah Ruhollah Khomeini, to accept a cease-fire in the eight-year war with Iraq. Khomeini had vowed jihad to total victory, but after a devastating toll in lives, Khomeini referred to his halt in the fighting as “taking poison.” In his…

© 2025 Citizens Commission on National Security

© 2025 Citizens Commission on National Security