|
|
|
Periodicals
| Found 778 items |
Page 1 of 78 |
|
Iran's Late-Summer Display
INSS Insight No. 205, September 5, 2010 |
| Shapir, Yiftah |
| Every day for a full week beginning August 20, as part of the Government Achievement Week festivities, the Iranian media reported the unveiling of new weapon systems. That week Iran also celebrated the insertion of fuel rods into the nuclear power plant in Bushehr. In all probability, the events were reported at the same time to impress the world with Iran’s ability to progress and grow stronger in the fields it considers important despite the sanctions against it. |
| more info |
|
|
Israel's National Security Concept: New Basic Terms in the Military-Security Sphere
Strategic Assessment, Volume 13, No. 2, August 2010 |
| Shabtai, Shai |
| In Israel, the term “national security concept” has gained a foothold in
the context of a (partial) discussion of national security strategy that lacks
any deep engagement with the definition of national objectives on the one
hand, and the formulation of general principles of doctrine and policy
in the field of national security on the other. This situation is a product
of Israel’s problematic reality: Israel has never defined agreed-upon
national objectives in writing since the time of David Ben-Gurion, and
there is no coherent, systematic, and significant discussion of security
doctrine and policy. |
| more info |
|
|
Unusually Quiet: Is Israel Deterring Terrorism?
Strategic Assessment, Volume 13, No. 2, August 2010 |
| Schachter, Jonathan |
| Recent years, and 2009 in particular, were relatively quiet in terms of
Palestinian terrorist activity within Israel. 2009 was the first year in a
decade in which Israel did not experience a single suicide bombing. Some
senior officials have attributed this comparative calm to Israeli deterrent
power,1 especially in the wake of Israel’s use of force during the Second
Lebanon War (2006) and Operation Cast Lead (December 2008-January
2009). This essay will briefly examine the role and limitations of
deterrence in Israeli counterterrorism efforts, while recognizing that
determining the effectiveness of deterrence is easier said than done. The
available evidence does not allow for definitive conclusions, but suggests
that Israeli deterrent success is more modest than is often presumed, and
that Israel is not making optimal use of the deterrence-enhancing tools at
its disposal. |
| more info |
|
|
Israel and the CTBT
Strategic Assessment, Volume 13, No. 2, August 2010 |
| Bar, Alon |
| Statements by the Obama administration that it hopes to ratify
the Comprehensive Nuclear Test Ban Treaty (CTBT), together with
discussion of the CTBT at the NPT Review Conference this past May,
invite a reexamination of Israel’s stance on the treaty, its considerations
regarding ratification, and its interests vis-à-vis the treaty. Israel signed
the CTBT in September 1996 when it was first opened for signature, but it
has yet to ratify the treaty. |
| more info |
|
|
The Failed State: Ramifications for Israel's Strategic Environment
Strategic Assessment, Volume 13, No. 2, August 2010 |
| Guzansky, Yoel and Kulick, Amir |
| Israel faces a wide range of threats and challenges, among them
terrorist attacks against civilian population centers; high trajectory fire
from the Gaza Strip, Lebanon, and Syria; arms smuggling to terrorist
organizations; and the growing influence of Iran in the region. Added
to these are new social challenges, particularly the arrival of thousands
of African refugees seeking refuge and work in Israel. While these may
appear to be disparate phenomena, a broader approach links many of the
threats and challenges that Israel faces in a single analytical framework
centered on the notion of the failed state. This essay explains how a
failing or failed state in Israel’s near and far circles affects its strategic
environment, and demonstrates how the use of this analytical framework
suggests some new responses to the challenges Israel faces. |
| more info |
|
|
The Iranian Nuclear Issue: The US Options
Strategic Assessment, Volume 13, No. 2, August 2010 |
| Kam, Ephraim |
| Thus far the Obama administration’s policy on the Iranian nuclear issue
has been characterized by two approaches. The administration initially
attempted to promote President Obama’s initiative to develop a direct
dialogue with Tehran in an effort to arrive at an agreement about the
future of Iran’s nuclear program. To that end, the administration was
prepared to concede the precondition set by the Bush administration
– suspension by Iran of its uranium enrichment program – and also
allowed several postponements in starting the dialogue, which played
directly into Iran’s hands. The administration was not overly optimistic
about the initiative, but believed that if Tehran were responsible for its
failure, the administration would find it easier to enlist international
support for increasing the pressure on Iran. |
| more info |
|
|
The EU's Nonproliferation Strategy: Iran as a Test Case
Strategic Assessment, Volume 13, No. 2, August 2010 |
| Oezbek, Elisa |
| An Iranian nuclear capability would pose a grave threat to the international
community, invariably lead to a structural change in regional as well
as international power relations, and undermine the international
community’s efforts to halt nuclear proliferation in the Middle East. |
| more info |
|
|
Russian Arms Exports to the Middle East: A Means or an End?
Strategic Assessment, Volume 13, No. 2, August 2010 |
| Magen, Zvi, Shapir, Yiftah, and Bagno-Moldavsky, Olena |
| When the Soviet Union became the primary arms supplier to the Middle
East during the Cold War, it gained much influence in the region. The
collapse of the Soviet Union seriously harmed Russian preeminence, and
only in recent years has Russia begun gradually to recover its status as
a superpower in the field of weapons production and export (capturing
approximately 17 percent of total global export contracts). As in the
past, active participation in this arena is considered highly prestigious
internationally, and Russia deems this effort as particularly important.
Indeed, arms export has always been seen as a tool to its international
standing, both from an economic standpoint, with arms constituting
Russia’s primary export market, as well as from the political standpoint,
as an essential component of foreign policy. In fact, for Russia the Middle
East is an important region more from a strategic standpoint than from
an economic one (the supply to the Middle East represents on average
approximately 16 percent of Russian arms exports over the last decade),
and Russia is rebuilding its presence in the region by initiating arms
supply deals with local actors. |
| more info |
|
|
The Straits of Hormuz: Strategic Importance in Volatile Times
INSS Insight No. 204, September 3, 2010 |
| Guzansky, Yoel |
| Iran’s oft-sounded threats to close the Straits of Hormuz to international shipping and thereby stop the flow of Gulf oil seem to have increased in frequency and intensity, apparently in light of the decision to impose harsher sanctions against Iran. Senior Iranian officials have thus warned that “any act of aggression or adventure” – in practice this means inspections of cargoes of Iranian ships (a step included in the Security Council resolution on Iran) – would generate an “appropriate” Iranian response and turn the Straits into an unsafe place for Iran’s enemies. |
| more info |
|
|
Renewing the Direct Negotiations between Israel and the Palestinians
INSS Insight No. 203, August 26, 2010 |
| Brom, Shlomo |
| Secretary of State Hillary Clinton recently announced that direct talks between Israel and the Palestinians will be renewed on September 2, 2010 in Washington. The talks will be launched in the presence of Prime Minister Netanyahu, Palestinian Authority President Abbas, and President Obama; also invited to the inaugural meeting are President Mubarak of Egypt, King Abdullah of Jordan, and Quartet emissary Tony Blair. After the initial meeting, the sides will proceed to direct talks, in the United States or in this region, and continue with active American involvement. A similar announcement was also issued by the Quartet. |
| more info |
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
| Happy New Year |
1283726551.bmp) Best wishes from INSS for a happy and healthy new year, full of peace, security, and propsperity.
|
|
|
(IMG)1283693540.JPG)
1244449510.JPG)