The Next Caliphate Battleground

While attention remains fixed elsewhere, jihadist groups are expanding across Africa. Bill and Caleb revisit the growing threats in Mali, Nigeria, and Somalia—and why the continent remains one of the most consequential battlegrounds in the war against Al-Qaeda and the Islamic State.

Iran's military has been shattered. The Strait of Hormuz remains contested. Three months in, Bill and FDD's Jon Schanzer examine why quick victories are rare, patience is scarce, and this war is entering its most consequential phase yet.

Before Hamas. Before Al-Qaeda. Before the Islamic State. There was... (🥁)The Muslim Brotherhood. And for nearly a century, it has played the long game by building influence across the Middle East and even deep inside the West.But what exactly is it — a political movement? A terrorist organization? The ideological engine behind modern Islamism? Some combination?Bill is joined again by longtime friend of the show Edmund Fitton-Brown, now his colleague at FDD, to discuss.

Hezbollah's missiles may be depleted, but cheap FPV drones are changing the battlefield — slipping past defenses, targeting Israeli troops, and exposing a dangerous new vulnerability.Bill and David Daoud unpack Hezbollah’s drone evolution, the psychological warfare behind the footage, and why Israel may be drifting back toward the failed security zone dynamics of the past.

Iran’s nuclear program is in ruins, but the threat is far from dead. Deputy Director of FDD's Non-Proliferation Program, Andrea Stricker and Bill dive into the desperate gamble Tehran is making at the negotiating table with the U.S. — and the terrifying chemical contingency they might be holding in reserve.

The world’s most vital trade artery is under siege. As the U.S. launches "Project Freedom" to break the Iranian blockade of the Strait of Hormuz, global shipping remains in a chokehold. This week, Bill sits down with shipping expert Sal Mercogliano to break down the stalemate, the dual blockade, and the massive economic ripple effects threatening the global supply chain.

Tehran is shifting the battlefield from missiles to markets, turning the Strait of Hormuz into leverage and testing whether Washington will trade long-term strategy for short-term relief. Bill and Behnam discuss.

Across Mali, jihadis are seizing territory, encircling the capital, and pushing a fragile regime toward collapse. Backed by a sprawling network and years in the making, Al-Qaeda’s Sahel affiliate has launched its most ambitious offensive yet—one that could redraw the map of West Africa. Bill and Caleb unpack.

Iran says it’s not in a rush to negotiate, but reality signals something else.Bill is joined by FDD senior fellow Miad Maleki — former U.S. Treasury sanctions architect — to break down why Tehran walked away from talks, what the Strait of Hormuz blockade is really doing, and why the regime may be under more pressure than at any point since 1979.

Bill joins fellow FDD colleagues, Cameron McMillan and Ryan Brobst, from the Center on Military and Political Power to reassess the combat objectives met by the U.S. military after seven weeks of engagement in the Iranian War. Can the Department of Defense stand by their robust claims about Iranian hardware destruction? And, will the recent naval blockade be the military operation that ultimately breaks the Iranian regime?