Israel’s New Strategic Opportunity
Israel’s 2022 integration into the US regional military command for the Middle East, CENTCOM, is a game changer. It is not a formal alliance, yet provides many of the advantages of a defense treaty: stronger deterrence, coordinated defense with other US allies in the region, deeper strategic depth, and the capacity for joint action, while […]
The 2025 National Security Strategy – <i>Plus ça change, plus c’est la même chose</i>
JST Advisory Board chair Dov Zakheim explains what’s new – and what isn’t – in President Trump’s National Security Strategy.
Zalman Shoval on the Staying Power of US-Israel Relations
Zalman Shoval, one of the founders of the Likud, served twice as Israel’s ambassador to the US. Ksenia Svetlova interviews him about the “special relationship.”
Defining an Acceptable Outcome to the Russo-Ukraine War
Nikolas Gvosdev discusses alternative ways that modern wars end in the context of the Russo-Ukraine war.
US Involvement in the Post-October 7 Middle East
In the years preceding the Hamas attack on October 7, 2023, two alternative strategic trajectories seemed to shape the discourse on US involvement in the Middle East: gradual disengagement or intensified great-power competition. By late 2025, following two years of war, a third strategic option has reemerged: American dominance. The US Options Before the October […]
Reforming the Department of State: A Vision for an Elite, Agile Diplomatic Corps
How to reform the State Department? Michael Gfoeller’s plan would return the American Foreign Service to an elite corps focused on its core strengths of operational know-how and regional expertise.
The United States as an Offshore Balancer
Michael Mandelbaum looks at the traditional British practice of offshore balancing as a potential role model for current American foreign policy.
AIPAC’S Dilemma
Congressman Seth Moulton is one of the most highly respected members of the House Armed Services Committee. The Massachusetts Democrat and retired Marine has a record of working both sides of the aisle. He and Jim Banks, a conservative Republican from Indiana, co-chaired the Future of Defense Task Force; their 2020 report garnered considerable attention […]
Where We Are Headed with the Trump Peace Plan
It was a holiday like no other in recent memory. On the eve of Simhat Torah 2025, exactly two years on the Jewish calendar to the day of the Hamas attack in 2023, the 20 remaining live hostages were released to ambulances. Watching from a respectful distance, Israeli crowds on the Gaza border cheered. Later […]
No Real Alternative: Why the Gulf Will Rely on the US
Israel’s attack on Hamas leaders in Doha, Qatar, on September 9 jarred the region and spurred a new outburst of skepticism about the value of US security commitments. The US has long sought a stable regional environment in which American partners do not attack one another, which the Doha attack obviously disrupted. Nevertheless, the Middle East simply has […]
