Over the past year the hike in oil prices has aroused concern among many in the United States about the potential geopolitical implications of the increased economic clout of the Gulf states. The decision by the Gulf states to diversify their foreign assets and to use billions of petrodollars to buy Western stocks in various corporations and particularly in banks raised the concern that a foreign foothold in the large financial institutions and conglomerates is liable to become a means of political leverage. This concern led to the...
The book includes ten analytical essays written by INSS researchers that dwell on Israel’s strategic environment in the period under review. The ongoing challenges represented by the Palestinian issue and the Iranian nuclear program are well documented, as well as developments elsewhere in the Arab and Muslim world and in Israel.
There are increasing signs that President Bush’s administration is having serious doubts over possible American military action against Iran. Statements on a military option by senior ranking members of the administration, including the president, are heard less frequently, and there seems to be less conviction and determination behind them. There are ten primary reasons for this.
At the Israeli Presidential Conference “Facing Tomorrow,” Prime Minister Ehud Olmert declared that real progress has been made in Israel’s talks with the Palestinian Authority. According to Olmert, “understandings and agreements regarding highly important matters have been achieved, though some issues are still outstanding.”
Israel and American leaders tend to bask in the wonderful friendship and special relations between the two countries. This is reflected in the numerous meetings at senior levels, generous military aid to Israel, and political and strategic cooperation. However, for most Israelis, the first encounter with the US administration and its representatives is far less heartwarming: in the line for a visa, which every Israeli citizen is required to obtain for a visit to the United States.
On April 24, US officials briefed lawmakers on Syria’s covert nuclear reactor. They explained their “high confidence” that what was destroyed last September in Syria was in fact a nuclear reactor for the production of plutonium, and that it was built with the long-term and sustained assistance of North Korea. In contrast to this certainty, a central aspect of their estimate regarding Syria’s nuclear plans adopted a vaguer tone: when asked whether the material to be produced by the reactor would be used in a...
The December 2007 NIE report still basically reflects the American intelligence community’s assessment of the Iranian nuclear program. However, the harsh criticism directed against it, the declarations of the Administration and of other government following the report’s publication to the effect that their approach to the Iranian threat had not changed, the admission of the National Intelligence Council’s Chairman that the formulation of the document could have been different, and the more balanced report of the...
During her visit to Israel and the Palestinian Authority in early March, U.S. Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice spoke about activating the trilateral mechanism headed by US General Charles Frasier to monitor the fulfillment of the Roadmap obligations of both sides. American officials explained that the Administration has not given up hope of reaching agreement on the core issues in the conflict but that it is logical to focus now on a parallel improvement in the situation on the ground. If the reality does not change, they argued,...
During his visit to Israel this month, President George W. Bush laid out his updated approach to an Israeli-Palestinian settlement. In a statement delivered at the King David Hotel in Jerusalem, Bush fleshed out his vision of “two states, Israel and Palestine, living side by side in peace and security,” on the eve of negotiations over “core issues” between delegations of the two parties.
On the whole, the international system that influences Israel most, led by the US, the European Union, and Russia, adopted an amicable approach towards Israel in 2007. Regarding Israel’s three key regional issues – the Israeli-Palestinian conflict, Iran, and Syria-Lebanon – Israel’s positions enjoyed considerable international backing, whether in practice or in principle.
in the past few months, we have seen some interesting transactions involving the purchase by states of chunks of global financial corporations that have run into liquidity problems. This phenomenon attests to the weakness of corporations, at least temporarily, but also to the acknowledgement by states of the global influence of corporations, and not only in the economic realm. If that is the case, it means that the financial market has joined the battlefield and UN voting as a theater in which political influence can be acquired. For...
Ever since the Geneva Conference in December 1973, Middle Easterners have become used to the suspense surrounding the question of whether the ג€bad boyג€ of Arab politics, Syria, will or will not take part in any meeting connected with the peace process. In recent years, as Syria has become more closely integrated into the political axis led by Iran, the question has become less interesting. Still, it has arisen again in advance of the Annapolis meeting. Will Syria take part and, if so, at how senior a level?
