
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Secretary of State Marco Rubio speaks to reporters after watching people board a repatriation flight bound for Colombia in Panama City on February 3, 2025. (Mark Schiefelbein/AFP via Getty Images)
Senior Fellow, The Washington Institute
Michael Knights is the Jill and Jay Bernstein Senior Fellow at The Washington Institute, specializing in the military and security affairs of Iraq, Iran, and the Gulf states. He is cofounder of the Militia Spotlight platform, which offers in-depth analysis of developments related to Iran-backed militias in Iraq and Syria. Knights worked for six years in Iraq and travelled to Iraq across a twenty-year period, working in a number of militia-saturated environments.