Caption
A US Marine Corps VXE30 Stalker unmanned aerial system is staged during a maritime domain awareness training exercise in southern Finland on July 31, 2025. (DVIDS)
Middle East
Middle East
Header image
Caption
(What Really Matters logo)
Caption
Coptic cave church in Egypt. (Amy Nelson via Getty Images)
Caption
Pro-Palestine protest in Philadelphia on October 21, 2023. (Joe Piette via flickr)
Caption
A man praying at the Western Wall in Jerusalem, Israel. (Jake Warga via Getty Images)
Caption
Secretary of State Antony J. Blinken meets with China's Director of the Office of the Central Foreign Affairs Commission Wang Yi at the Diaoyutai State Guesthouse in Beijing on June 19, 2023. (Department of State via Flickr)
Caption
An AFPTV cameraman films while smoke plumes billow during Israeli air strikes in Gaza City on October 12, 2023. (Photo by Mohammed Abed/AFP via Getty Images)
Caption
A Chinese Coast Guard vessel collides with a Philippine supply boat near the Second Thomas Shoal, part of the Philippines’ exclusive economic zone, on October 23, 2023. (Screenshot of China Coast Guard video via Reuters)
Caption
An Israeli soldier displays military equipment and ammunition that Hamas and Palestinans militants used at the time of the attack on the Israeli south border with the Gaza Strip on October 20, 2023, in Kiryat Malakhi, Israel. (Amir Levy via Getty Images)
Caption
(Screenshot via YouTube)
Caption
(Screenshot via Fox News)
Experts
James Barnett
Research Fellow
Michael Doran
Senior Fellow and Director, Center for Peace and Security in the Middle East
Douglas J. Feith
Senior Fellow
