Ghosts at the Banquet: The Washington NATO Summit
The Vilnius NATO summit of 2023 was stalked by a spectre. How would the allies deal with Ukraine’s NATO aspirations while its vaunted counter-offensive had gotten off to a sputtering start, amidst nuclear saber rattling by Vladimir Putin and his henchmen, eliciting in turn a focus on “escalation management” by Joe Biden’s national security team. […]
Russia’s Targeting of Civilians in Ukraine: A Ukrainian Response
On July 8, Russia launched a barrage of missiles that hit the Okhmatdyt Children’s Hospital in Kyiv, killing at least 38 persons. One missile demolished the ward which cared for child patients on dialysis. The explosion was so powerful that the top floor of the building collapsed; the shockwave and secondary shrapnel destroyed two other […]
A New Era of Long Wars
The conflicts in Gaza and Ukraine signal a shift in the nature of warfare. The advent of long wars will affect both military strategy and broader national decision-making. Long wars require not just military readiness but also economic planning, especially civilian and military long-term logistical planning. For Israel, this is a particularly challenging development, as […]
Eastern European Views of the Upcoming US Presidential Elections
Despite Russia’s attack on Ukraine, Eastern Europeans feel secure today. They have confidence in NATO as an organization led by the United States and thus appreciated in Moscow as strong. At the same time, some politicians and diplomats in Eastern Europe wonder what might happen to their countries if Donald Trump wins the presidential elections […]
Hidden Discord in the Russia-Iran Alliance
When Iran’s President Raisi died in a helicopter crash in May, President Putin expressed condolences and called Raisi a “very reliable partner.” Russian Muslims offered prayers for Raisi at Moscow’s main mosque, and Russian state television provided continuous updates on the funeral arrangements from Iran. Raisi and Foreign Minister Hossein Amirabdollahian, who also perished in […]
A Truce to End the War in Ukraine
Public support in the West for the war in Ukraine rests upon three frequently repeated assumptions: Russia’s invasion was unexpected and unprovoked.Ukraine is a unified and democratic nation.Ukraine can win the war and regain its lost territory. None of these is true. The United States strongly opposed the Soviet Union placing missiles in Cuba. Washington […]
Quo Vadis Germany: Is It Ready for an Era of Great Power Conflict?
The German term Zeitenwende, or historic turning point, entered the American political lexicon three days after the Russian invasion of Ukraine, on February 24, 2022. On that day, Chancellor Olaf Scholz convoked a special session of the Bundestag and employed this term to underscore the need for a dramatic change in Germany’s foreign and national security […]
Protest, Colonization, and the Ukrainian Nation
Many observers of the pro-Gaza/Hamas demonstrations at college campuses throughout the U.S. have been taken aback by the rhetoric and behavior of the protestors and their advocates. Masked faces and widespread refusals to self-identify display the protestors’ reluctance to face real consequences for their actions. What is most troubling, however, is the contention that Israeli […]
The Collective West Needs to Stand up for Ukraine
I am a child of the Cold War. Growing up in Sweden, I was acutely aware of the occupation and suffering of the Baltic peoples. I visited Estonia and Latvia for the first time in 1974. In Riga I met a young Latvian who told me instantly: “We live in an occupied country.” My dream […]
No End to National Security Surprises
The surprise was total and horrific—Israeli men, women and children brutally killed or taken hostage by Hamas on October 7, 2023. Israel’s vaunted intelligence services failed to provide adequate warning, its military—the Israeli Defense Forces—failed to provide adequate security, and Israeli political leadership remained cocooned in their comfortable assumptions about risks to Israeli security posed by Palestinians in […]
