Trump Administration Faces a Suddenly Promising Middle East
BACKGROUND The second Trump administration will face immediate foreign policy dilemmas in all three Eurasian fronts. This paper concentrates on the Middle East, but the competing demands of Europe and East Asia, and the links among all of them, influence decisions everywhere. The dramatic events of the past year open the door to a regional […]
The Impact of Trump’s Election on The Middle East
The landslide election of Donald Trump’s holds out real promise of encouraging peace in the Middle East. Unlike President Biden, who demanded caution from Israel in exchange for providing arms, Trump seems to be sending a message that he will support Israel’s policy of preventing Iran from developing nuclear weapons, even if that requires military […]
The Failure of the "Economic Peace" Model in the Middle East
On September 26, 2021, Israel’s then Prime Minister Naftali Bennet took the podium at the UN General Assembly and laid out a grand vision for the Middle East. It was a modernist, advanced, technological future (as befitted Bennet, a former high-tech entrepreneur) in which Israel would play a major role – focused upon a world […]
The Day After Tomorrow:
Dark Clouds Loom over the Middle East
Dark Clouds Loom over the Middle East
In one of his last interviews on German television, before passing at the age of 100, Henry Kissinger opined that the slaughter of Israelis by Hamas on October 7 could end up bringing the rest of the Arab world into the fighting. Based on recent events, his remarks were prophetic. Unless cooler heads prevail, we […]
China's Influence in the Middle East and the Strategic Considerations Underlying it
The difficulty in comparing America’s and China’s influence in the Middle East is that the two operate on entirely different planes. [Note: The Chinese use the term Western Asia, rather than the Middle East, to refer to a region that includes the Levant, Iraq, the Gulf, Turkey and Iran.] Despite China’s impressive naval construction program, China […]
Southeast Asia between Major Powers: Lessons for the Middle East
I once asked a Vietnamese friend what an impending leadership change in Hanoi meant for his country’s relations with China. “Every Vietnamese leader,” he replied, “must get along with China; every Vietnamese leader must stand up to China; and if you cannot do both at the same time, you don’t deserve to be the leader.” […]
Egypt’s Economic Challenge
Egypt’s army specializes in executing set-piece operations. In 1973, the army had the idea of using water cannons to dissolve parts of Israel’s defensive line on the Suez Canal, huge sand berms erected to prevent an Egyptian assault into Sinai. The Egyptian army did in a few short hours what Israeli planners thought would take […]
China’s Middle East Marathon
China’s evolving role in the Middle East is analyzed by US Ambassador Peter Pham.
Security Challenges Facing the New Israeli Government
The State of Israel is not required by law to adopt a national security strategy. But the need for such a document has been often raised, and several efforts have been made to write one. In October 1953, Prime Minister David Ben-Gurion presented a long disquisition on Israel’s security needs to the Cabinet, which he […]
The Abraham Accords at Year Two: A Work Plan
Although it was not the Biden administration that fathered the Abraham Accords, it proved willing to adopt them—hoping, with this endorsement, to assuage the dismay felt by many in the region with other aspects of its policy. Still, the president has done little, so far, to promote the Accords and their expansion. Moreover, the weakening […]
To the Middle East and Beyond!
Israel’s New Connectivity
New World Disorder
A Letter From the Publisher
The Illusion of Deterrence, Early Warning, and Decisive Outcome
Israel’s defense doctrine should be reassessed, if deterrence is irrelevant to anti-guerilla and anti-terror warfare
COVID-19 in the Middle East
The Crisis that Wasn’t
“Restraint” in Action: America and the Eastern Mediterranean
Biden administration’s first foreign policy crisis in the Eastern Mediterranean merely conformed to the pattern of gradual American disengagement from a region that was once vital to US interests.
Israel and Palestine—What Can the US Do?
A hawkish Bennett and a weak Abbas are unlikely to bring about a solution. A third party—and new paradigms—are needed
Power over Force: A New Policy for Israel
Israel is a regional power. The time has come for it to act accordingly
Israel–US Jewry Ties and the Abraham Accords
The Abraham Accords can remind US Jews that Israelis truly desire peace, so much so that their Arab neighbors recognize it
America and the Syrian Tragedy
The US was never much interested in Syria. What pulled America in, and who has benefitted from the Syrian tragedy?
Is War Declining?
Is the world actually becoming more peaceful? And if so, why?
Israel and the New American Landscape
Israel is far less of a bipartisan issue than it used to be. But there's something deeper going on in the US
A Reader’s Response: Reject Erdoğan’s Courtship
Erdoğan knows he has no choice. The Bennett-Lapid government should not offer him a diplomatic lifeline
Biden Must Stand With the People of Iran
A letter from the publisher: Biden must consider the plight of the Iranian people in negotiations with the regime
The Race for Advantage in Psychological Warfare
Does the growing importance of the psychological dimension in modern conflicts put the US and its allies at a disadvantage?
Same Mistakes for Israel in Lebanon, US in Afghanistan
Israel’s Lebanon Syndrome, the US’ Afghanistan Syndrome: Different military stories, similar conclusions
The Lost Battle of Ahmad Jibril
This man had dedicated his life to Israel’s extermination. What remains of his legacy of violence?
Dealing With a (Still) Hostile Iran
Five lessons to be learned from decades of ineffectual policies, and a cornered cat
The Perennial Need for the Use of Force
Force as a policy choice, necessary for liberal political leaders as it is for more conservative ones
The US and Pakistan—What Next After Afghanistan?
Will the roller coaster ride that is the US–Pakistan relationship become more “normal” now?
Afghanistan: The Ten Big Mistakes
America’s chaotic exit was merely the culmination of a series of major errors, going back to 2001
Know Thy Partner
Why “knowing the enemy” and “knowing thyself” is not enough
What Makes Israel “Iran’s Arch-Enemy”
How the Sunni–Shiite divide became a revolutionary mission, affecting the entire Middle East
An Effective—and Coercive—Iran Strategy
The Biden administration seems to be on the wrong track. Here's what needs to change
The Sinai Multinational Force, 40 Years On
A closer look at a critically important, but little known, example of US engagement in the Middle East
Personal Perspectives on Middle East Peace
Two personal perspectives on Middle East peace, offering insights into the dynamics of building bridges
The Abraham Accords and the Talking Stick
A personal perspective on Middle East peace, offering an insight into the dynamics of dialogues that can build bridges
Diplomatic Innovation and Civil Society
A personal perspective on Middle East peace, offering an insight into the dynamics of dialogues that can build bridges
New Energy Dynamics: OPEC, the US—and the EastMed
America has returned to its role as a major energy producer and exporter, affecting much more than the global market
Dealing with the New Turkey
Erdoğan’s new Turkey confuses everyone. Here are six rules for dealing with it
A Promised Land
Literature review: The Obama memoir, like his presidency, over-promises and under-delivers
Biden’s Afghanistan Mistake
The lessons learned from the poorly managed US withdrawal, and its ramifications for foreign policy
President Biden and Israel
Biden is the last of his generation of Democrats. What does it say for the present—and future—of US–Israel ties?
The Two-State Solution Imperative
JST Debate: Action is needed to break the ongoing impasse in the Israeli–Palestinian peace process
No, You Can’t: The Prospects of a Two-State Solution
JST Debate: A breakthrough in the Israeli–Palestinian peace process is unlikely
Prospects of a Breakthrough in the Middle East
JST Debate: Voices from both sides of some of the most heated discussions of our time
Understanding US Strikes in Iraq and Syria
Iran’s primary strategic objective is to drive the US from the region
The IDF’s Concept of Information Campaigns
The IDF should draw some conclusions from recent conflicts on how to revise its information campaigns
America and the Post-1945 World Order
The time has come to restore realist balance-of-power thinking to the center of international relations theory
Israel’s Place in the New Order
A practitioner’s perspective: Only a militarily strong Israel can sustain its regional position
Ideology, Asymmetric Warfare, and Deterrence
For some, the higher the cost, the stronger the claim to be the true representatives of values worth dying for
When America Creates a Vacuum, Others Fill It
America’s adversaries are not the only ones to respond to Washington’s changing regional priorities
A Letter From the Publisher
It may strike some of you as curious that of all people, a Moroccan Arab Muslim would move to create a journal about the US–Israel relationship
