Eight months ago, President Obama stood on the dais at Cairo University and declared with great fanfare that he intends to open a “new page” in relations between the United States and the Islamic world in general and the Arab states in particular. Both the tone and contents of the speech left no room for doubt that to the president, these relations ranked high on the list of the administration’s priorities. President Obama made it clear that he rejected the approach of his predecessor, George W. Bush, towards the...
The 2001 anthrax envelopes affair was a formative event, as in its wake the United States and the West escalated their response to the threat of biological terrorism, including new legislation and extensive resources. Yet while nearly a decade has passed, only recently did President Obama issue a document called “National Strategy for Countering Biological Threats.” In this document, the term “biological threat” refers to severe diseases and pandemics liable to bring about tens or hundreds of thousands of...
The book, which continues the annual Strategic Balance series, includes thirteen analytical essays written by INSS researchers. The focus is on developments in the internal, regional, and internaional arenas that shape Israel’s strategic environment and the strategic options before it. Special emphasis lies on the Middle East as it adjusts to a new US administration and a newly-elected Israeli government.
The United States remains the most influential international element in the Middle East. This is so notwithstanding its relative weakening internationally and the slow move of the international system towards a more multi-polar dynamic, the involvement of additional actors in the Middle East, and the American failures in the region. The influence of the United States is based on its political, economic, and military weight; its determination to persevere in its involvement and spearhead processes; and the fact that states in the...
The attempted attack on Northwest Airlines Flight 253 (December 25, 2009) by a would-be suicide bomber is a rude reminder of the trend that has been emerging for some time, and is evidence of renewed efforts on the part of al-Qaeda and its affiliates to attack the United States on its own soil and US allies around the globe.
Despite the tendency to denote any simulation exercise on security issues a “war game,” the recent simulation designed and held at INSS did not focus on the option of a military attack. Rather, it developed the scenario of a bilateral US-Iranian negotiation over Iran’s nuclear program. With Barack Obama – in line with his self-imposed end of the year deadline – currently poised to assess the progress made with his diplomatic outreach to Iran, the importance of understanding the implications of a possible direct...
On December 1, President Obama unveiled the administration’s new approach towards the wars raging in the Afghan-Pakistan (AfPak) arenas. Entering into office with a message of peace and detente toward the Muslim world, Obama did not make his decision lightly. Yet in light of the alternative strategies proposed by his inner circle, it appears that the president has chosen a solid course regarding the AfPak campaigns.
So far the withdrawal of American forces from Iraq has proceeded on schedule. At the same time, the uncertainty over whether elections will be held on time, the probability of heightened motivation to launch strategic terrorist attacks around the scheduled date for elections, Kurdish-Arab volatility, and external constraints such as more US soldiers in Afghanistan are liable to cause a situation whereby the continued withdrawal of forces at the present rate would challenge the relative stability achieved in Iraq over the last two...
On November 8, 2009, Tom Friedman published an op-ed piece in The New York Times entitled, “Call White House, Ask for Barack,” in which he surveys the sorry state of the Israeli-Palestinian peace process. In his opinion, currently neither side is really interested in advancing the process towards a permanent settlement. Rather, the Palestinians seemingly want a settlement without talks whereas Israel wants talks without a settlement. The impression is that the American administration is more interested than the parties...
President Barack Obama’s most difficult and challenging national security issue is to reverse the deteriorating situation in Afghanistan and Pakistan. The war in Afghanistan will likely define Obama’s foreign policy and consume large amounts of Presidential time and political energy. The stakes are enormous for Obama: the future of NATO, the risk of another 9/11, the danger of nuclear war in south Asia and the cost of sustaining and succeeding in an increasingly unpopular war.
We have recently been witness to a new US initiative launched by the Obama administration for dialogue with Russia that affects both the bilateral and global levels. The American proposal, which generated several top level meetings, including with presidents and foreign ministers, was apparently submitted to the Russian side as a comprehensive ג€package deal.ג€ If it materializes, this arrangement will yield a positive change in relations between Russia and the West and stands to have considerable implications for the international...
I would like to briefly discuss three points: the history and nature of technological cooperation between the US and Israeli armed forces; the issue of Israeli military export; and US military aid to Israel.
