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The Middle East is increasingly central to the wider competition among the United States, China, Russia, and Iran. Shifting regional alignments, pressure on Iran and its proxies, and China’s growing economic and strategic reach are creating new challenges and opportunities for American leadership.
Hudson Institute’s Center for Peace and Security in the Middle East develops policies to confront Iran and counter Russian and Chinese influence. The center also works to strengthen the US-Israel alliance and build cooperation with regional partners to deter adversaries and preserve stability.
Below are the center’s most recent efforts.
Highlights
October 22, 2026
Five days before Israel’s first national election since October 7, Hood and Doran joined David Wurmser of the Jerusalem Center for Security and Foreign Affairs and David Makovsky of the Washington Institute to discuss the race. The discussion explored paths forward for the US-Israel relationship.
Michael Doran | Tablet
Michael Doran argues that the proper America First position on Israel is that the Jewish State is a force multiplier that helps the US contain Iran and China. He critiques Tucker Carlson and National Conservatism and writes that their understanding of American constitutionalism is flawed.
Iran’s Maritime Threat and the Conflict in Yemen
Can Kasapoğlu | Hudson Institute
In the latest issue of the MENA Defense Intelligence Digest, Can Kasapoğlu analyzes the threats posed by Iran and its Houthi proxies to undersea cables and global connectivity. He also notes that Tehran’s efforts to disable vessels transiting the region’s maritime corridors could constrain energy flows without closing the Strait of Hormuz.
Iran and Its Houthi Proxies Target Saudi Airports and Gulf Shipping
Can Kasapoğlu | Hudson Institute
Where Does the Iran War Go Next?
Michael Doran | The Free Press
Doran writes that the US has the upper hand over Tehran, prevailing at sea in the battle for control of the Strait of Hormuz. But he warns that, with American troops withdrawn from Iraq, the Islamic Revolutionary Guards Corps could move the war onto land, using Iraqi militias to strike Kuwait, Jordan, and the Kurdistan Region while denying responsibility.
October 7 Exposed Terrifying American Truths—and Launched a Righteous Reckoning
Liel Leibovitz | New York Post
Liel Leibovitz argues that October 7 exposed three decades of campus indoctrination and revealed the anti-Israel movement’s real target: America. Three years on, he reads the reckoning that followed as a story of American resilience and rebirth.
The Unbearable Lightness of American Restraint
Ludovic Hood | National Review
Amid reports of Pentagon troop cuts in Europe and escalating Russian hybrid warfare, Ludovic Hood argues that “restraintism” risks repeating one of America’s most dangerous patterns: when the US narrows its commitments, adversaries read fatigue as opportunity.
China Twisted Trump’s Words—and Proved You Don’t Need Lies to Win an Information War
Ken Moriyasu and Hamza Azhar Salam | Washington Examiner
Ken Moriyasu and Hamza Azhar Salam argue that today’s most consequential information contests are not simply over facts, but over how those facts are interpreted. They explore three instances in which China manipulated facts to advance its interests.
Ludovic Hood | The National Interest
Hood writes that the US should escalate pressure on Iran by tightening secondary sanctions against Chinese entities involved in transporting Iranian oil and resuming airstrikes against Iran’s energy infrastructure.
Trump’s Iran Strategy Is Working—The Ayatollah Suffers as Oil Flows Again
Zineb Riboua | New York Post
Zineb Riboua argues that President Donald Trump’s maximum pressure campaign against Tehran is working. She points to the collapse of Iran’s rial , an 85 percent decline in oil exports compared with last year, and systematic pressure on the IRGC’s regional financing network.
How Democrats Lost Their Way on Gaza
Ludovic Hood | National Review
Hood argues that the Biden administration let narrow political considerations and far-left pressure displace the moral clarity that former President Joe Biden displayed in the days after October 7.
Events
October 26, 2026
In August, Saudi Arabia, Türkiye, and Pakistan signed the Mecca Pact, a mutual defense agreement stretching from Anatolia to South Asia. The India–Middle East–Europe Corridor aims to link Indian and Gulf markets to Europe through Israel. Moriyasu and Doran hosted Chaim Martin, Israel’s minister of economic affairs to the United States, Aslı Aydıntaşbaş of the Brookings Institution, and Soner Cagaptay of the Washington Institute to discuss the logic behind each framework and the implications for US policy.
October 21, 2026
Casey Babb of the Macdonald-Laurier Institute joined Riboua to discuss his new book, The Moral Case for Zionism, on the eve of its release. Babb argued that Zionism offers something meaningful to all people and discussed how Jews and non-Jews can embrace its ideas amid rising anti-Zionism and antisemitism in the West.
Watch or listen here.
October 22-25, 2026
Hudson Institute’s Political Studies program hosted a policy certificate workshop for early-career professionals to examine whether support for Israel is essential to US national security and liberal democracy.
In the Media
Israel Update: Doran and Gadi Taub discussed the controversy surrounding the National Conservatism conference in Jerusalem over how conservatives should respond to rising antisemitism on the right.
World Review: Moriyasu joined World Review to examine Xi Jinping’s Washington visit, America’s withdrawal from Iraq, and Britain’s renewed debate over Brexit.
Iran International: Joel Rayburn discusses the US-Iran deal. He argues that opening the Strait of Hormuz and lowering global energy prices will be positive signs for US domestic politics. He cautions, however, that the Iranian regime may attempt to “shift the goalpost” by reopening settled issues and expanding negotiations to additional items, especially Israel’s campaign in Lebanon.
NTD: On NTD, Joel Rayburn discussed the White House’s hybrid strategy against the Iranian regime, why China remains an economic lifeline for Tehran, and how Beijing is likely helping Iran target American interests.
TV7 Israel News: Rayburn discussed the escalating crisis in the Middle East, including the Strait of Hormuz blockade, Houthi aggression, Iranian threats, and Iraq’s struggle with militia groups.