Let Israel Finish the Job
Did you know that Saddam Hussein won the First Gulf War of 1991? That is the version I heard in Iraq in 2003, after noticing the same Arabic inscription decorating chandeliers in Saddam’s palaces all over the country. ‘How sweet is victory with God’s aid,’ the inscription proclaimed. “What victory was Saddam referring to?” I […]
In Gaza, Israel Can Win the War But Not the Peace
The Israeli military can prevent more attacks like the one on October 7, but achieving genuine peace depends on the Palestinians. Two major questions loom over the ongoing Israeli military operation in the Gaza Strip: can the Israeli Defense Forces (IDF) achieve their military goals there? And can postwar political arrangements that will make future […]
Why Israel is Unable to Explain the Gaza War: A Second Opinion
Ksenia Svetlova laid out, in exquisite detail in this journal, the challenges Israel faces and many of its failures in the realm of information warfare. Unfortunately, the situation is worse than she portrays. In my view, many shortcomings are not just failures of policy execution or of imagination, as Svetlova describes, but rather the deliberate […]
Israel Shifts Tactics in Gaza
Three months into the war in Gaza ,with the defeat of most of the Hamas battalions in northern Gaza, the Israel Defense Forces (IDF) is preparing for a new phase of fighting. The new phase will focus on removing terrorist infrastructure in northern and central Gaza. It will include continued battles in and around Khan […]
The Gaza War as Seen from Southeast Asia
The Hamas onslaught upon Israel on October 7 and the resulting military response by Israel prompted a wide range of responses across Southeast Asia. Some are motivated by political and religious ideology, particularly in Muslim-majority nations, and others by pragmatism, self-interest and established relationships. Indonesia In Indonesia, numerous leaders expressed support and admiration for the Hamas terror […]
Sisi’s Struggles: Egypt Faces a Widening Set of Challenges
The grand opening ceremony of Egypt’s new National Museum, reportedly the world’s largest museum space, was postponed. President Abd Al-Fattah al-Sisi had hoped to invite world leaders to gather in Giza outside Cairo, with the Pyramids as the backdrop, and give a boost to both tourism and himself as he begins a third term in […]
Next Steps in the Red Sea: Offense, Not Just Defense
Recent events in the transit lanes of the Red Sea have underscored the need for international action to restore freedom of navigation for commercial shipping traffic. Attacks on commercial ships by the Iranian proxy Houthi regime in Yemen have become a daily occurrence, not seen since Iran’s attacks on oil tankers in the Gulf from […]
Israel’s Best Friend Ever
President Joe Biden’s poll numbers are in freefall. A December 14 Pew poll found that only one-third of respondents approve of his job performance, the lowest such result since he took office. Moreover, his approval ratings even among Democrats plunged twelve percentage points since October 2022. >> Window on Washington: Read more from Dov S. Zakheim […]
The Gaza War and East Asia
What can be said about the impact of current developments in the Middle East on East Asia? The most compelling current development is obviously the ongoing war between Israel and Hamas in Gaza, which has dominated the headlines for two months and will do so for many more months to come. War arouses strong emotions. […]
Why is Israel unable to explain the war in Gaza to the world?
The scope of the massacres committed by Hamas terrorists and Gazan civilians in southern Israel on October 7 deeply shocked Israeli society. In the aftermath of October 7 Israel was shocked a second time – by multiple denials of the massacre, the indifference to Israeli women who were raped and Israeli children who were kidnapped, […]
