Publications on Climate, Infrastructure and Energy

Read the INSS Strategic Analysis for 2023

Energy consumption on earth is expected to rise in the coming decades, due to the increase in the world population and the economic and industrial growth of developing countries. One of the most effective and green alternatives for creating energy is nuclear fusion. The ITER, the international project to study nuclear fusion, is one of the ambitious ventures to construct a research reactor, and there are other projects that in recent years have achieved international breakthroughs in a field that is expected to become critical to the...

Many studies have testified to the national-strategic importance of a state’s transportation system. The overall concept of transportation interfaces with many fields that are relevant to decision making on the national level relating to human life, quality of life, economy, housing prices, demography, hospital congestion, social aspects, distributive justice, air pollution, and efforts toward a greener world, as well as international relations. This article, which is based on insights from transportation studies and definitions of...

The World Youth Forum that met in January 2022 in Sharm el-Sheikh was cast in Egypt as preparation for the UN Conference on Climate Change that will be held there in November. At a session devoted to environmental issues, President Abdel Fattah el-Sisi declared that “Man is the only creature on earth that is capable of bringing destruction but is also capable of building and repairing.” Indeed, the Forum showed that Egypt seeks to play a leading role in building and repairing, both in its own territory and in the regional arena –...

The economies of the Middle East are divided into high-income economies – those of Israel and the Gulf states – and poor/developing economies, with some states – Lebanon, Syria, and Yemen – suffering deep economic and political crises. The wealthy economies responded to the COVID-19 crisis with vaccinations for the majority of their populations and fiscal expansions, and global price increases are expected to lead to a moderate increase in inflation in these economies. The developing economies, however, have had difficulty...

The year 2021, which began with the change of administration in Washington in January and ended soon after the UN Climate Change Conference in Glasgow in November, was “the year of climate change” in the international arena. Despite disappointment over the failure of the conference to achieve its main objectives, the event did mark important achievements, including the return of the United States to global leadership, the formulation of several international treaties and agreements, and the enlistment of many countries, including...

The strategic assessment for Israel for 2021 is shaped by significant uncertainty in three principal areas: the level of success in coping with COVID-19; the modus operandi and policies of the new administration in the United States; and the political developments in Israel. The current assessment is based on a broader conception of national security, which places greater weight than in the past on the domestic arena and on threats to internal stability, social cohesion, values, and fabric of life. This of course does not detract...

After brief and discreet coalition talks, Olaf Scholz became Germany’s ninth Chancellor and the fourth from the Social Democratic party. Scholz will head a tripartite coalition, the first of its kind in the history of the Republic (at the federal level) – “the traffic light coalition,” referring to the colors of the constituent parties. The starting position of the Scholz government will not grant it one hundred days of grace: the fourth wave of COVID-19 has hit Germany, and in foreign affairs the Chancellor will have to deal with...

Alongside the global campaign for reducing greenhouse gas emissions, defense communities worldwide are also stepping up their efforts in coping with climate change. In this context, especially noteworthy are recent reports by the Pentagon and the US intelligence community (IC) in dealing with the national security challenges related to the climate crisis, particularly their call for more substantial intelligence action in this area. Such calls are also relevant to Israeli intelligence, both because the Middle East and North Africa...

The latest IPCC report shows that global climate changes of a few degrees have considerable impact, but local phenomena pack the same punch. The significance of the “urban heat island,” for example, is that urban spaces are on average 4-5 degrees warmer than the rural areas around them, creating oppressive heat, health problems, and increased energy consumption. In order to ensure that cities are prepared to withstand climate changes, Israel’s leadership should draw up plans that would enable local authorities to allocate resources...

Saudi Arabia, which alongside the United States is ranked first in greenhouse gas emissions per capita, has launched an ambitious initiative for itself and for the Middle East, integrated into the kingdom’s 2030 Vision: producing 50 percent of its energy needs from renewable energy by 2030. The motives for the initiative are economic and political, and not purely environmental – namely, a desire to score points with the current US administration, which has placed environmental issues high on its agenda. Israel should consider...

At the virtual summit on climate change hosted by the United States on April 22, 2021, Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu recalled the government’s goal of generating 30 percent of electricity from renewable sources by the end of this decade. While further advances in innovative technologies, including hydrogen and carbon capture as well as renewable energy and solar energy storage, are certainly needed for Israel to meet its projected national targets, becoming a net zero carbon economy by 2050 may require cooperation...