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Iran Threatens to Expand its Missile Program: Did Trump Back Himself into a Corner?

October 19, 2017  •  Crossroads with Michelle Makori & David Shuster / i24News

Matthew RJ Brodsky joins a panel with Senior Washington Correspondent Dan Raviv and Senior Diplomatic Correspondent Nina Larsen on i24News "Crossroads" with Michelle Makori and David Shuster. They discuss the escalating rhetoric coming out of Tehran where Iran says it intends to continue full-steam ahead with its ballistic missile program. Asked whether President Trump has backed himself into a corner by demanding changes to deal, Brodsky explains that the deal needs to be changed to address the vital flaws otherwise there's no point in staying in an agreement that is against America's interest.

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What's Next for ISIS after Raqqa?

October 17, 2017  •  Stateside with David Shuster / i24News

Matthew RJ Brodsky joins David Shuster on i24News "Stateside" to discuss what next for ISIS after U.S.-backed forces take their self-declared capital in Raqqa, Syra. Brodsky explains that ISIS 2.0 is around the corner, especially as the conditions are still ripe across the region. The Sunnis will remain dispossessed in Syria and Iraq with the rise of Iran and the Shi'i. There may be less recruits willing to join from the West but attacks against Western targets may actually increase. Europe will also likely discover that the refugees who came by the droves will not be beating a path back to their countries of origin. As long as the ideology of political Islamism endures, it will attract followers.

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The U.S. Needs to Shift Focus from ISIS to Iran
Supporting the Kurds Would be a Start

October 17, 2017  •  The Rundown with Calev Ben-David / i24News

Matthew RJ Brodsky joins Alan M. Noory, assistant professor at the American University of Iraq-Sulaimani in Erbil, Iraq and Muhammad al-Kassim, senior Middle East correspondent on i24News "The Rundown" with Calev Ben-David. They discuss the latest political developments in Kirkuk where Iraqi and Iranian proxy forces have pushed the Kurds out of the city. Brodsky suggests that the U.S. needs to change its focus in the Middle East that has up until now been solely fixed on defeating ISIS. It is blocking the creation and implementation of a wider strategy that would push back against Iran. The greatest strategic threat facing the U.S. from the Middle East is Iran and its nuclear program, not ISIS. The main problem today, however, isn't their nuclear program but their expansion throughout the region. Changes in the Middle East's power structure cannot easily be reversed, which means the clock is ticking. Where Iran gains ground, the U.S. should push back. That should include supporting allies such as the Kurds.

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Israel and the U.S. Plan to Withdraw from UNESCO

October 13, 2017  •  i24News Desk with Jeff Smith

Matthew RJ Brodsky joins Diplomatic Correspondent Ellie Hochenberg on i24News Desk with host, Jeff Smith, to discuss the recent decisions by the U.S. and Israel to leave UNESCO. Ellie explains why Prime Minister Netanyahu is waiting a little before leaving and Brodsky describes how the choice makes sense from an American perspective. The Trump administration won't tolerate the level of anti-Israel smears at the world body that was accepted during the previous administration. UNESCO has an important function that has been subsumed by morally objectionable states with political axes to grind. The U.S. will still be able to have it's voice heard but at a time when the State Department is facing budget cuts, the decision to stop funding and walk away from UNESCO was an easy choice to make.

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The Conservative Politics of the Iran Deal
There are two schools of Republican thought on what to do about the agreement. Both have merit.

October 11, 2017  •  National Review

Republicans have more or less coalesced into two primary political camps regarding the nuclear deal with Iran. Call them, "the Fixers" and "the Walkers." Both see the agreement as fundamentally flawed and would never have offered what the Obama administration gave away. They recognize the deal as both technically and structurally deficient, setting Iran on a patient path toward nuclear weapons while tying America's hands until the Iranian nuclear program is industrial in scale, lethal in scope, and too costly and difficult to destroy from the outside. While sharing the same objective vis-à-vis Iran, the two camps differ on the strategy for preventing such an outcome and thus favor divergent paths to reestablish American leverage. Their conflicting aims will become all the more pronounced once President Trump withholds his certification of the deal as a first step down one path or the other.

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