More than two months after a huge arms deal in the making between the United States and Saudi Arabia became public, the administration officially informed Congress of the deal. The announcement does not come as a big surprise, since the main points of the plan were published previously. The deal includes F-15SA fighter jets, AH-64D Apache heavy attack helicopters, AH-6i light attack helicopters, MD-530 light reconnaissance helicopters, and UH-60 transport helicopters. However, a close look at the details of the announcement reveals...
Is US Middle East policy playing a constructive role in the Israeli-Palestinian peace process? This question, which ought to have been asked immediately after President Obama’s speech in Cairo in June 2009, is even more poignant following President Obama’s speech at the UN General Assembly on September 23, 2010. The speech included messages that do not seem helpful to reaching a settlement between Israel and the Palestinians.
One of the main challenges for the new Iraqi government, if and when it is established, will be to build a military that is trained and equipped, can cope with internal instability in the short term, and be a source of regional stability in the long term. Given the challenges facing the Iraqi state, an American-Iraqi agreement must regulate security relations between the countries in a way that in the future allows Iraq to offset Iran’s and Turkey’s strength, without being a threat to Iraq’s weaker neighbors.
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...
On August 13, several reports appeared in the US media on plans by the Obama administration to sell arms to Saudi Arabia valued at $60 billion over a period of ten years. The reported deal is supposed to include 84 F-15S jets, approximately 60 AH-64D Apache Longbow assault helicopters, and about 70 UH-60 Black Hawk utility tactical transport helicopters. The deal will also include simulators, upgrades for existing fighter jets, and instructional and maintenance packages.
Over the course of July 2010, a few voices in the United States called for a reassessment of a military option against Iran. Some of these figures refused to identify themselves by name, suggesting that they are part of the security or political establishment. Some former senior officials, however, did identify themselves by name. Most notable among them was the former head of the CIA, General Michael Hayden, who explicitly stated in an interview with CNN that an attack on Iran’s nuclear facilities is not the United States’...
The status of the American economy in the twenty-first century will significantly affect the global security challenges both in the long and short terms. In the long term, the status of the United States on the international arena relative to other players as well as its comprehensive security approach to the new security challenges will be affected by its global economic status. In the short term, American policy and politics will be influenced by the rate of economic recovery and the ability to prevent terror on American soil. At...
The US currently faces a number of substantial challenges that are primarily not of President Obama’s making. When President Obama took office he had to confront a set of challenges that were without precedent, certainly since the Second World War and probably even before. Not only was he confronted with two wars that were not particularly successful, but he also had to deal with the collapse of the financial system and with a raging domestic economic crisis. At the same time, the president was also faced with the rise of a whole...
In speaking about US policy towards the strategic challenges under discussion, I speak only for myself and I do not represent anybody in the administration or the Obama administration itself.
The memorandum, which focuses on the critical challenges facing Israel one year into the Obama administration and the Netanyahu government, compiles the presentations given by the speakers at the INSS third annual international conference.
Listening to Prime Minister Netanyahu’s remarks the past few months regarding the Israeli-Palestinian peace process, one cannot help but wonder: Netanyahu seems to be going out of his way to open direct negotiations with the Palestinians as soon as possible. The prime minister has said he is aiming for intensive negotiations toward a comprehensive settlement (the “agreement in stages” approach, explains Netanyahu, has failed and will not resume). According to Netanyahu, the situation in the Middle East is “fluid” and the future of...
Although too little time has elapsed since the flotilla episode to allow full perspective, it is already clear that the operational failure involving the takeover of the Mavi Marmara and the international criticism of Israel’s action have damaged Israel’s international standing, its image as a law abiding state, and its strategic relations with Turkey and other countries. This is the newest expression of a reality that has accompanied Israel over the years: in the given circumstances, an operational mishap, even if...
