Dear MEPIN Readers,

In my latest comprehensive interview with my colleague and friend Brian Schrauger, we analyze the shifting dynamics across Israel, Gaza, and the wider region.

Our conversation explores:

  • What “peace” truly means in the Middle East.
  • Understanding Israel post–October 7: a strategic shift from management and containment to preemption.
  • The disarmament dilemma: can Hamas ever be neutralized without Israel returning to combat?
  • The “Trump veto” on Israeli kinetic actions and its strategic implications.
  • Qatar and Turkey — enablers of Hamas and the Muslim Brotherhood — now acting as mediators to the very crisis they helped ignite.
  • Whether Gaza is moving toward a “Lebanon model”
  • The deepening partisan divide on Israel within the United States and its long-term policy implications.
  • Iran’s next steps as it rebuilds its “Ring of Fire.”
  • And why, despite the ceasefire, anti-Israel campaigns continue to dominate global discourse.

Please share your thoughts as always. — Eric