Center for International Policy

How the US funded Israel’s wars on Gaza, Lebanon, Iran Twin reports from the Costs of War Project find the US has backed Israel with more than $21bn since October 2023.

"Budgets are about priorities, but even though Americans have the thinnest social safety net of any modern country, somehow we always seem to find billions upon billions of dollars to assist Israel in its various wars," @mattduss.bsky.social told
told @ajenglish.bsky.social

aje.io/1q9jnc

Two Years Later: Five Recommendations for a Permanent Ceasefire in Gaza and Ensuring Human Security in Israel and Palestine - CIP How the United States can work to end the war and the atrocities faced by Palestinian civilians and Israeli hostages, for long-term peace.

Ending the Gaza war and ensuring the long term security, rights and well-being of Palestinians and Israelis will take work and international support. My colleagues at @cipolicy.bsky.social have five recommendations for how the United States can start that work internationalpolicy.org/publications...

This week marks two years since the Oct. 7, 2023 attack on Israel.

A new @cipolicy.bsky.social memo sets out recommendations for permanently ending the Gaza war that followed & ensuring the long term security, rights & well-being of Israelis & Palestinians:

internationalpolicy.org/wp-content/u...

Why Europe's snapback gamble against Iran will backfire European and US officials have said that diplomacy remains an option. But Europe's "snapback" of UN sanctions on Iran shrinks the possibility of successful diplomacy and fuels escalation.

Europe’s snapback of UN sanctions on Iran, presented as a defense of nonproliferation, will instead undermine it by narrowing space for diplomacy and fueling escalation.

Read @sinatoossi.bsky.social's analysis in @thebulletin.org

thebulletin.org/2025/10/why-...

Trump’s Wag The Dog Moment  - CIP If you want to break up a drug cartel, blowing up a boat does little to accomplish that, unless you believe cartels only own one boat.

Re-upping my recent piece for CIP’s International Policy Journal as more escalatory US strikes on Venezuela are on the horizon.

Arab nations react to Trump's peace plan for Gaza - ABC listen All eyes are on Hamas as the terrorist organisation considers its response to a 20-point peace plan for Gaza announced by the White House. Israel says it supports the plan, though details are scant. ...

Listen 🎧➡️ @nancyokail.bsky.social discusses Trump's peace plan with @ABCaustralia: “It leaves a lot to Israel and Netanyahu’s judgment… this gives Netanyahu the words to be indefinitely there and continue the occupation.”

www.abc.net.au/listen/progr...

Trump-Netanyahu Joint Remarks Ripped as 'Litany of Lies... Not a Promising Foundation for Peace' | Common Dreams US President Donald Trump announces peace plan for Gaza, but critics skeptical. Plan requires Hamas to release hostages in exchange for Palestinian prisoners.

Trump’s plan for Gaza “contains numerous opportunities for Netanyahu to renege on his commitments, as he has repeatedly done in the past – @mattduss.bsky.social told @commondreams.org ⬇️

www.commondreams.org/news/trump-g...

The Emptiness of Bob Woodward On The Nation Podcast: Matt Duss on the limitations of DC’s most famous chronicler.

🎧 Listen: @mattduss.bsky.social on Bob Woodward's book 'War' and the limitations of DC’s most famous chronicler.

www.thenation.com/podcast/poli...

Following President Trump’s meeting with Prime Minister Netanyahu at the White House, and the Trump administration’s release of a “21-point plan” to end the conflict in Gaza, Matt Duss, Executive Vice-President at the Center for International Policy, released the following statement: "The world desperately needs an immediate ceasefire in Gaza, whose people have endured unspeakable horror over these past two years. Unfortunately, the 21-point plan released by the Trump administration today, while thankfully walking back from Trump’s previous goal of expelling Gaza’s people, contains numerous opportunities for Netanyahu to renege on his commitments, as he has repeatedly done in the past. It is not clear who has agreed to which terms of Trump’s plan, or whether Trump himself understands what is in it. Trump and Netanyahu’s remarks today were a litany of lies about the last 30 years, not a promising foundation for peace. "Despite his claim of being close to a deal, Trump's statement that Israel will have 'full US backing' to "'finish the job' in Gaza if his plan is not agreed to stood out most clearly. This would be more of what we have seen not only the last nine months, but the last two years, as the United States has unconditionally armed and subsidized a genocide in Gaza." "The path to a desperately needed peace remains the same as it has for nearly two years: using leverage and pressure on Israel to achieve a ceasefire that stops its atrocities, frees all hostages, ends the humanitarian crisis in Gaza, and supports a real path to Palestinian liberation, without which the region will not know real security."

New from @mattduss.bsky.social for @cipolicy.bsky.social: following President Trump’s meeting with Prime Minister Netanyahu at the White House, and the Trump administration’s release of a “21-point plan” to end the conflict in Gaza.

YouTube video by TRT World Now Netanyahu’s UNGA speech met with jeers, scattered applause following walkout

WATCH 📺: @nancyokail.bsky.social analyzes Netanyahu’s UN speech amid global protests over Gaza.

www.youtube.com/watch?v=QN1N...

🚨NEW STATEMENT by @nancyokail.bsky.social in response to President Trump’s issuance of a Presidential Memorandum targeting U.S. civil society organizations under the guise of countering domestic terrorism and political violence:

internationalpolicy.org/publications...

Is Tren de Aragua a real threat -- or a convenient villain? Trump uses Tren de Aragua to justify deportations and deadly strikes on boats. Experts say it doesn't pose a threat.

Trump has used Tren de Aragua as a ‘convenient boogeyman’ to achieve political goals and distract from domestic controversies, Senior Non-Resident Fellow @mpaarlberg.bsky.social told the @latimes.com

www.latimes.com/world-nation...

These Countries Recognized Palestine, but Still Send Arms to Israel Canada, France, and the United Kingdom recognized Palestine as a state this week but continue to fund Israel’s genocide in Gaza.

“Recognition of Palestinian statehood is largely symbolic unless paired with halting arms transfers that fuel the genocide—otherwise it’s a performance of justice while complicit in violence," @nancyokail.bsky.social told @theintercept.com

theintercept.com/2025/09/25/p...

How to fix America ‘Our politics is deeply corrupt and people need to understand that’

“How to Fix America” 🎧➡️ @mattduss.bsky.social joined @gideonrachman.bsky.social on the @financialtimes.com Rachman Review to discuss the challenges defining America’s future.

www.ft.com/content/4581...

Video Key takeaways from Trump’s UN speech on Palestinian statehood, hostages and Russia Matt Duss, vice president at the Center for International Policy, reacts to the president's remarks at the U.N. General Assembly.

WATCH ➡️ @mattduss.bsky.social reacts to the Trump's remarks at the U.N. General Assembly.

abcnews.go.com/Politics/vid...

Five Big, Beautiful “Peace” Announcements Trump Could Make Next Week - CIP What if Trump used his UN speech to propose bold new initiatives that could spark international cooperation against the scourge of war?

I presume Trump is saying none of this, but if he did want to openly campaign for a Nobel Peace Prize here's 5 straightforward plans for him (or anyone else) to try and make a safer world.

@cipolicy.bsky.social

internationalpolicy.org/publications...

NEW statement by Executive Vice President @mattduss.bsky.social in response to key U.S. allies, including the UK, France, Canada, Australia, and Portugal, recognizing Palestinian statehood on September 21 and 22 🚨

internationalpolicy.org/publications...

This Indigenous tribe fights for Indonesia's vanishing forests - CIP Mangroves absorb four times more CO₂ than tropical forests. But in Sumatra, as these forests vanish fast, locals patrol to save what remains.

Mangrove forests are a tremendous store of carbon, or quick cash if logged. In Indonesia, protecting forests for now and the future is undertaken by indigenous patrols, outpaced by those they seek to stop.

The latest feature at @cipolicy.bsky.social

internationalpolicy.org/publications...

UN experts say Israel is committing genocide in Gaza. Now what? | The National As the evidence mounts, countries are being told they have a legal obligation to act

It’s evident, it’s documented — now states have an obligation to prevent and punish acts of genocide, @nancyokail.bsky.social told @thenationalnews.com regarding the UN commission’s findings on Gaza.

www.thenationalnews.com/news/mena/20...

Five Big, Beautiful “Peace” Announcements Trump Could Make Next Week - CIP What if Trump used his UN speech to propose bold new initiatives that could spark international cooperation against the scourge of war?

Trump is desperate for a Nobel Peace Prize, even as he orders assassinations in the Caribbean and threatens destabilization elsewhere.

For @cipolicy.bsky.social, Peter J. Quaranto and Chandrima Das have some suggestions for bold, uncharacteristic policy he could announce at the UN next week.

Think Big to Rein in the Arms Trade  - CIP American weapons sales cause outsized harm. Congress can change that.

@jwrchappell.bsky.social via @cipolicy.bsky.social concludes "Congress should be working towards a reclamation of their constitutional authority and an end to the system that allows the president to sell weapons to war criminals and human rights abusers..." internationalpolicy.org/publications...

Congress should reintroduce the National Security Powers Act and National Security Reforms and Accountability Act, or other legislation to reassert congressional authority over arms sales, and work toward a mark-up. Advocates and researchers should connect crises to the structures that made them possible. Presidential aspirants should commit to working with Congress to overhaul the arms sales framework. Ultimately, arms sales should be guided by a “first, do no harm” ethos.

Senators, representatives, and Presidential aspirants can all work to change this back to a first principle of restraint, and they should do so, argues John Ramming Chappell for @cipolicy.bsky.social. internationalpolicy.org/publications...

The Palestinians in El Salvador Highlight - A Prosperous, yet Depoliticized Diaspora - El Salvador, one of the smallest countries in Central America, is an unlikely home for what has become the third largest Palestinian diaspora in....

The Palestinians in El Salvador – A Prosperous, yet Largely Depoliticized Diaspora.

@mpaarlberg.bsky.social traces 19th-century Palestinian immigration to El Salvador and the community’s economic, cultural, and political evolution.

www.palquest.org/en/highlight...

1/ 🧵
shadowworldinvestigations.org/statement-in...
This letter, out today, has been endorsed by a number of experts listed by the Forum on the Arms Trade. The Forum itself does not take positions. Partial list of endorsers includes:

Tuesday tidings! Joining @zerlinamaxwell.bsky.social: @repgabevasquez.bsky.social of NM-02, @cipolicy.bsky.social Executive Vice President @mattduss.bsky.social + NatSec & Intelligence Analyst @frankfigliuzzi.bsky.social!

☎️ 866-997-4748
📻 @siriusxmprog.bsky.social Ch. 127
siriusxm.us/Zerlina

Trump’s Wag The Dog Moment  - CIP If you want to break up a drug cartel, blowing up a boat does little to accomplish that, unless you believe cartels only own one boat.

"Cocaine, famously, comes from just three countries, Colombia, Peru, and Bolivia, none of which are Venezuela."

-- @mpaarlberg.bsky.social for @cipolicy.bsky.social internationalpolicy.org/publications...

Israel launches airstrikes against top Hamas members in Qatar for Gaza ceasefire talks Israeli officials say US notified before attack, which Doha calls cowardly and a flagrant violation of international law

"If it was conducted with US approval, it's the latest nail in the coffin of Trump's claim to be a 'peacemaker'," @mattduss.bsky.social tells @theguardian.com regarding Israel's strike in Doha, with the US notified in advance.

www.theguardian.com/world/2025/s...

The Catastrophe of Democratic Foreign Policy A new book on the Biden’s wars serves as a stark reminder that the Democrats need to formulate a new foreign policy—as well as reckon with the one they had.

Read @mattduss.bsky.social in @thenation.com on Bob Woodward’s "War": In its total absence of real reflection on what the Biden admin could have gotten wrong, the book serves as a compelling brief for why Trump was reelected.

www.thenation.com/article/worl...

Trump’s War on Crime Is a War on Democracy Democrats should fight back against the president’s militarization of law enforcement before it’s too late.

Trump is turning a “show of force” into policy - blurring the lines between the military and law enforcement.

Democrats should push back before it’s too late, @mattduss.bsky.social and @harrisonmann.bsky.social write in @foreignpolicy.com

foreignpolicy.com/2025/09/08/t...

President of Peace, Department of War. A New Name Sends Mixed Signals.

Trump’s Pentagon rebrand shows what @mattduss.bsky.social ss calls “belligerent chest-thumping, not peacemaking — with dangerous consequences for U.S. security, global standing, and our armed forces.” @nytimes.com

www.nytimes.com/2025/09/06/u...