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Harold Rhode

Harold Rhode

Harold Rhode served as a specialist on Islamic culture and the Middle East in the Office of the Secretary of Defense from 1982 to 2010. He studied at a university in Iran during the early and mid-stages of the Islamic Revolution. He is currently a Distinguished Senior Fellow at the Gatestone Institute in New York, as well as a Senior Fellow at the Jerusalem Center for Public Affairs. See his website at: harold-rhode.com.

The hope is that a national institution, perhaps the army, can help preserve the country if the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps collapses.
Every concession offered at the table is interpreted as weakness. Every pause is time purchased for enrichment, proxy reconstitution, and the next phase of horizontal and vertical escalation.
Leaders of the Islamic Republic do not think or talk like Western nations; to believe that they do is a recipe for disasters, as history recounts.
Absent an inclusive and culturally credible leader, the country risks repeating its historical pattern of post-revolutionary chaos, regardless of popular hopes for democracy or reform.
Iranian leaders fear only strength and the credible willingness to use it.
Failure is taboo; blame is a contagion passed like a hot potato. The Islamic regime, trapped in a cycle of delusion, cannot fix what it refuses to face.
Eradicate the Iranian nuclear program, remove the regime and leave “nation-building” to the Iranian people.
Some background behind the historical ties between the people of Gaza, the West Bank, British Mandate Palestine and the wider Muslim world.
Aoun’s election offers Lebanon a chance to reclaim stability and sovereignty, but only if Lebanon’s leaders, backed by international support, address internal divisions and navigate a shifting regional landscape.
Their differing ambitions—revival of the Ottoman Empire vs. restoration of the Umayyad Caliphate—place them on a potential collision course.
That Israel eliminated Haniyeh in one of the regime’s most protected compounds makes the Iranian government the laughing stock of the Muslim world.
Israel’s successful strike on the Houthis in Yemen demonstrates Israeli strength and the Biden administration’s weakness.