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Sportswashing: A masterstroke of foreign influence operations (Video)

Sportswashing: A masterstroke of foreign influence operations (Video)

While you are thinking about your favorite teams and stars you are not thinking about Saudi Arabia's crimes and human rights record.

Analysis | Washington Politics
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Sportswashing is the next frontier of foreign influence in the United States. Authoritarian regimes are investing billions of dollars in the sports that Americans love — from the NBA to WWE, UFC, and, the PGA Tour.

In many cases these investments come with strings attached. Foreign powers aren’t just trying to make money, they’re hoping to launder their reputations and censor their would-be critics in the U.S. This can have potentially dire consequences for Washington foreign policy, given that many of these regimes seek to pull the agenda in a decidedly unrestrained direction via U.S. military entanglements.

(Video production by Khody Akhavi)


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Analysis | Washington Politics
In new peace, US firms will help Israel spy on and target Gazans
Top Image Credit: U.S. and German military personnel stand in front of a monitor running Palantir software, at the Civil-Military Coordination Center in Kiryat Gat, southern Israel, on November 12, 2025. (U.S. Army photo by Spc. Aiden Griffitts/Wikimedia Commons)

In new peace, US firms will help Israel spy on and target Gazans

Military Industrial Complex

Since mid-October, some 200 U.S. military personnel have been working out of a sprawling warehouse in southern Israel, around 20 kilometers from the northern tip of the Gaza Strip. The Civil-Military Coordination Center (CMCC) was ostensibly set up to facilitate the implementation of President Donald Trump’s 20-point “peace plan” — whose stated aims are to “disarm Hamas,” “rebuild Gaza,” and lay the groundwork for “Palestinian self-determination and statehood” — which last week received the endorsement of the UN Security Council.

Yet while no Palestinian bodies have been involved in the conversations surrounding Gaza’s future, at least two private U.S. surveillance firms have found their way into the White House’s post-war designs for the Strip.

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US Palestine Peace Gaza
Top photo credit : Shutterstock

Congress, you have a chance to implement Trump Gaza plan right

Middle East

Weeks have passed since the UN Security Council adopted Resolution 2803, endorsing a U.S.-backed plan that creates a “Board of Peace” to run Gaza for at least two years and authorizes a new International Stabilization Force (ISF) to secure the territory after a ceasefire.

Supporters call it a diplomatic breakthrough. For many Palestinians, it looks like something else: Oslo with helmets, heavy on security, light on rights, and controlled from outside.

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I was canceled by three newspapers for criticizing Israel
Top image credit: dennizn and miss.cabul via shutterstock.com

I was canceled by three newspapers for criticizing Israel

Media

As a freelance writer, I know I have to produce copy that meets the expectations of editors and management. When I write opinion pieces, I know well that my arguments should closely align with the publication’s general outlook. But I’ve always believed that if my views on any particular topic diverged from an outlet I’m writing for, it was acceptable to express those viewpoints in other publications.

But I’ve recently discovered that this general rule does not apply to criticism of Israel.

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