After years of a weakening transatlantic alliance, exacerbated by President Trump’s four years in office, strategic cooperation between the European Union and the United States is likely to resume. This cooperation is necessary to tackle the coronavirus crisis and its consequences, as well as the geopolitical and technological changes that have occurred over the last two decades. The renewed dialogue between the two sides of the Atlantic will have implications for several other actors in the international arena, primarily...
A report by the Intelligence and Security Committee of Parliament sheds light on Britain’s efforts to resist Russian attempts to weaken Britain, part of Russia’s goal to undermine the status of Western democracies and widen social rifts within them. According to the report, Britain has not handled the threat well, due to lapses in the strategy it adopted when confronting the challenge and problems with its implementation. These can be attributed to gaps in the regulation of relations between the various responsible bodies, the low...
The global, regional, and internal implications of the coronavirus are still not fully clear, but Israel’s 35th government will have no 100-day grace period. It must quickly restore the economy to full activity, despite the presence of the virus and the possibility of a renewed outbreak. On the security level, all the regimes in the Middle East are busy with the pandemic and internal affairs, and will most likely seek to avoid escalation in conflicts with Israel. At the same time, the risk of unplanned escalation (in Syria,...
The accords reached in Moscow between Russian President Vladimir Putin and Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan on March 5, 2020 regarding a ceasefire in the Idlib province are almost certainly temporary, and friction between the two countries over the region’s future is likely to resurface in the not too distant future. However, Turkey’s acceptance of the Russian terms (including Erdogan’s visit to Moscow, while Putin ignored a previous invitation from Turkey) demonstrates its weak position. Moreover, although the Turkish...
The peace agreement signed by the United States and the Taliban on February 29, 2020 in Doha, Qatar is intended to end the nearly two-decade war between the Taliban and US-led forces in Afghanistan. In the broader strategic picture, the failure of the US to achieve a decisive victory over the Taliban in Afghanistan in the course of 19 years of fighting highlights the limitations of military power. Iran in particular could seemingly benefit from the US withdrawal (notwithstanding possible cross-border destabilizing ramifications), as...
Turkey’s President Recep Tayyip Erdogan recently complained about the unfair situation whereby some countries are free to possess nuclear tipped missiles, while others are not – a situation he cannot accept. What might be motivating Erdogan not only to raise the nuclear issue at this time, but for the first time to threaten to develop his own capability? If Erdogan decides to go down the nuclear path, this decision will have implications for Turkey’s relations with NATO/EU, the nuclear nonproliferation regime, and the Middle East....
The INSS 12th annual international conference addressed the web of challenges and opportunities Israel faces at the start of 2019. As in previous years, we chose strategic issues from the different spheres – domestic, regional, and international – that make up Israel’s strategic reality, and examine these individually and in context of one another. Continuing a trend from our previous conferences, we approached Israel’s national security priorities critically from a variety of perspectives.
On May 20, 2012, at the end of their meeting in Chicago, the leaders of NATO member nations published a statement whose formulation downplayed a host of unresolved problems that have ramifications for the organization’s future. The nature of summit meetings is such that concluding declarations do not dwell on disagreements any more than necessary. This was especially true of the Chicago summit, which had to end with a demonstration of unity given that the meeting was supposed to help Obama’s reelection campaign.
