The cumulative experience of Arab states in advancing collective security reveals a persistent gap between the proliferation of alliances, coalitions, and joint organizations and the depth of the security commitments they generate. Regional states are willing to declare solidarity, but their willingness to act on behalf of their partners and bear the resulting costs depends on how closely their threat perceptions align, the relevance of the issue to their particular national interests, and the cost of taking action. The current...
This article examines how political parties confront antisemitism among candidates and elected officials and analyzes the tools available to them in determining the boundaries of political legitimacy. Focusing on the case study of the British Labour Party, the article demonstrates how Britain’s centralized party structure and external regulatory oversight made it possible to treat antisemitism within the party not as a collection of individual incidents, but as a phenomenon governed by institutional accountability. By contrast, the...
In recent years, Brazil has become an increasingly important arena for Iran and Hezbollah, where religious and cultural influence, diplomatic engagement, diaspora networks, information operations, and financial infrastructure intersect. This article examines how these seemingly distinct activities can form a broader ecosystem that enables influence, fundraising, recruitment, and potentially covert operations. Attention is given to Iran’s religious outreach through Al-Mustafa International University, Hezbollah-linked networks...
The BRICS summit held in New Delhi in September 2026 demonstrated the organization’s gradual evolution from a forum based primarily on declarations and political and economic coordination into a framework that is also developing practical mechanisms in technology, industry, health, agriculture, and space. For China, this process carries additional significance: BRICS enables it to advance ideas and initiatives originating in Beijing within a multilateral framework it does not control, thereby contributing to the internationalization...
The rapid development of artificial intelligence capabilities is broadening the way China defines the risks posed by this technology. Alongside espionage, cyber threats, and familiar national security threats, Beijing is increasingly addressing the risks originating from advanced AI systems themselves—including autonomous operation and loss of control. At the same time, technological lag and dependence on foreign technologies are also perceived as risks to national security. Official publications from September 2026 show that...
Gaza’s social media discourse has recently shown a clear shift regarding the disarmament of Hamas. Once an ideological symbol whose relinquishment was seen as surrender, the issue has become the subject of pragmatic debate about the benefits of continuing the armed struggle weighed against the heavy price Gaza’s population is paying. The online debate falls into three main approaches: (1) Hamas’s critics, who support disarmament as a necessary step toward ending the war, preventing displacement, and beginning Gaza’s reconstruction,...
On October 15, 2026, the Institute for National Security Studies (INSS) held a hybrid workshop, bringing together human experts and artificial intelligence to evaluate four alternatives for addressing the Israeli-Palestinian conflict: Continued conflict management – within an evolving framework and adjusting to developments on the ground.
The "Decisive Plan" – applying Israeli sovereignty over Judea and Samaria, dismantling the Palestinian Authority, and encouraging Palestinian emigration from the area.
A comprehensive...
For decades, diaspora Jews related to Israeli policy on the Israeli-Palestinian conflict as a matter of Israel’s interests, not their own. Based on discussions over the past six months with leaders of major diaspora Jewish organizations across the United States, Canada, France, the United Kingdom, and South America—convened through INSS’ Joint Working Group under the Chatham House Rule—we contend that this situation has fundamentally changed. The conflict, once perceived as limited to the Middle East, has become intensely...
Israeli citizens are scheduled to go to the polls on October 27, 2026, and mid-term elections will take place in the United States a week later. This report addresses a specific type of threat to artificial intelligence systems – data poisoning – and its potential implications for the election cycle.
In a recent expert discussion held in Tehran marking 46 years since the outbreak of the Iran–Iraq War, three Iranian researchers discussed the lessons of Khomeini’s decision to accept a ceasefire in July 1988 and their implications for the current conflict with the United States. The researchers pointed to Iran’s difficulty in defining achievable political goals and ending wars; the danger of overestimating its capabilities and missing diplomatic opportunities; and the impact of revolutionary ideology on the willingness to...
For years, the Arab Gulf states have invested heavily in procuring a wide range of advanced weapons systems. However, recent confrontations with Iran and its proxies highlight the difficulty of translating this investment into an independent, sustained operational capability. The gap stems from personnel constraints, organizational fragmentation, partial interoperability, and dependence on external capabilities and support—as well as the fact that defense procurement serves other objectives, including political, status-related, and...
