The IDF in Gaza: “Gideon’s Chariots” Making Slow Progress
The Israel Defense Forces have been on the offensive in Gaza since March 18. This offensive faces the same challenges the IDF encountered throughout 2024. Israeli commanders appear reticent to enter some key urban areas in Gaza, including the Central Camps area of Gaza. This may be due, inter alia, to concerns that hostages are […]
Triumphing on Tariffs
On April 2, President Trump presided over a “Liberation Day” ceremony in the Oval Office, announcing dramatic increases in America’s tariffs on foreign goods and services, in a bold move that he described as America’s declaration of economic independence. Trump imposed a general ten percent tariff on all countries, with additional surcharges on most countries […]
The Struggle for Syria
On May 14, President Donald Trump stood smiling with Saudi Arabia’s Crown Prince Mohamed bin Salman and Syria’s self-declared leader, Ahmed al-Shara’a, on the sidelines of the President’s visit to Riyadh. After the get together, the President declared that the United States would lift sanctions on Syria and re-establish diplomatic relations between the two countries. […]
Progress in US-Europe Ballistic Missile Defense
The proliferation of drones, cruise missiles and ballistic missiles contributes to a dangerous threat environment today. These threats are not concentrated in any one area but range from the Russia-Ukraine conflict to the Middle East and the Asia Pacific. In the past two decades, expensive but effective integrated air and missile defense systems like Patriot, […]
Syria: Not Federation, Rather Local Governance
Introduction Yusri Hazran, writing in the May Jerusalem Strategic Tribune , has raised important questions about the future of Syria, for many reasons critical to the security of the rest of the region as well as to the US and Europe. However, his suggestion of a federated Syria may not be feasible, although elements of […]
The Twilight of Palestinian “Armed Struggle”?
“Armed Struggle” was the main pillar, the tallest banner, the essence of the ethos of the Palestinian national movement since the last years of the 19th century. The conviction that the Zionist movement can be confronted only on the battlefield gave rise over the decades to many Palestinian military groupings. It became the ultimate narrative […]
Russia’s Defense Ties in the Middle East Poised to Rebound
Russia’s defense relationships in the Middle East and North Africa have been gravely weakened as a result of its war in Ukraine. However, a peace deal, sanctions relief, or even a lengthy ceasefire could provide Russia with an opportunity to resume arms sales and security assistance to the Middle East, Africa, and the Indo-Pacific. The […]
Egypt-Israel Military Ties: Washington Must Pay More Attention
The Hamas attacks of October 7, 2023 marked a critical test of Israel’s quiet military partnership with Egypt. For more than a decade, Egypt and Israel maintained robust security coordination focused on ISIS cells in the Sinai peninsula. That cooperation, mostly kept out of the media, now faces its most serious challenge. Since the conflict in […]
A Warning from Munich
Munich is a city the Nazis regarded with special affection, terming it Hauptstadt der Bewegung, “capital of the movement.” Here in 1919 the German Army stationed Adolf Hitler after the First World War, employing him as a political agent. Here in November 1923 Hitler led the abortive Beer Hall putsch that was supposed to lead […]
Where is the Military-Industrial Complex Now That We Really Need It?
In his long and distinguished public career – including as Supreme Commander of Allied Forces in Europe in World War II and two terms as president of the United States – a single phrase of Dwight D. Eisenhower’s has entered and remained in the language: the military-industrial complex. He spoke those words on January 17, […]
The Regional Minorities of Syria and Their Relations with the New Regime
The popular uprising that erupted in Syria in March 2011 was largely limited to the Sunni Arab majority and was eventually led by Islamist activists. It confronted the country’s religious and ethnic minorities with existential challenges. Caught between the anvil of anarchy and the hammer of Islamism, they feared for Syria’s future as a secular […]
No Need to Rely on Russia to Keep China in Check
The Trump administration has identified China as the primary adversary of US global interests. CIA Director John Ratcliffe recently declared that, “no adversary in the history of our Nation has presented a more formidable challenge or a more capable strategic competitor than the Chinese Communist Party.” Some in Trump’s circle maintain that a key to […]
