America-Israel Disagreement over Gaza at a Critical Junction
Rarely in the American special relationship with Israel has there been such a dramatic display of discord between leaders. What began as a remarkable show of American support and solidarity with Israel, in the wake of Hamas’s assault in October, came by February and March to be increasingly marred by acrimony. The White House statement […]
The Outlook for European Security: An Uncertain Trumpet
The American general Maxwell Taylor wrote a book published in 1960 under the title “The Uncertain Trumpet” about American defense complacency in the Cold War. It triggered a change in strategy. The trumpets of Jericho brought down walls. Today, a trumpet is needed to break through Europe’s walls of inertia and a comfortable “business as […]
Security Planning for Postwar Gaza
“No one starts a war–or rather, no one in his senses ought to do so–without first being clear in his mind what he intends to achieve by that war and how he intends to conduct it.” While The famous Prussian military theorist Carl Von Clausewitz penned that strategic wisdom in the 19th century, those words […]
How to Delegitimize the Practice of Hostage Taking
One of the conclusions from the Israel-Hamas war is the need for renewed, concerted action to address hostage taking. There are concrete diplomatic and law enforcement actions that the international community should take to delegitimize this practice and raise the cost to hostage takers, governments that also employ this tactic, and governments that provide safe […]
The Danger of Failed States Surrounding Israel
Four months into the war in Gaza and the cafés in Tel Aviv are full. It’s nearly impossible to find a spot in trendy restaurants on weekends. Yet no one should be mistaken. Israel is not back to normal. A radio or television plays in the background of nearly every café and shop, and when […]
Making Somalia Safe Again
In January 2018, I traveled via armored convoy over 20 kilometers of bad roads from a regional airport to the Hirshabelle provincial state capital of Jowar in central Somalia. Protected by Burundian soldiers of the African Union peacekeeping force, we sped through countryside and villages controlled by the al-Shabaab terror group. In Jowar, the UN […]
Israel’s Revised National Security Doctrine Must Include Border Defense
Twice in the last fifty years, Israel sustained surprise attacks on a major scale. In the first instance, in October 1973, the IDF failed in fulfilling its mission of defending Israel’s frontiers, but partially compensated for this failure later in the war. Fifty years later, in October 2023, the IDF failed in an irreversible way […]
Video Interview with Former Israeli Prime Minister Ehud Olmert
JST columnist Ksenia Svetlova interviews Israel’s former Prime Minister Ehud Olmert about the war with Hamas during his time in office, about the current conflicts in Gaza and the northern border, and Israeli domestic politics. Read the full transcript below. Note: This transcript is lightly edited for accuracy. Ksenia Svetlova: Were you surprised when October 7 […]
After Two Years of War: <Br> The West’s Strategic Choice in Ukraine
With support from Europe, the United States, and others, Ukraine has held off – and in part, beaten back – Russia’s campaign of conquest and subjugation. But Ukraine has not won, Putin seems determined to fight on, and the West seems beset by doubts as to whether continuing to back Ukraine is practical or worth […]
Self-Deterrence Will Not Stop the Houthis or Their Iranian Suppliers
Self-deterrence is a defense concept that a state may be restrained from using its military power not by the fear of a counter strike but rather owing to reputational concerns arising from moral, legal or other considerations. This concept may partly explain US reluctance to escalate the current level of military conflict with Iran, though […]
