The peace agreement between the United Arab Emirates (UAE) and Israel is an important boost to the formation of a strategic Middle Eastern alliance between Israel and moderate Sunni states. The pact takes Israel’s central role in cooperating with Sunni Arab states out of the shadows. A boost to regional stability,…
[This article/review was originally published in April of 2014.] The article that follows is a review of Mao — The Unknown Story by Jung Chang and Jon Halliday. However, I have chosen to include this Preliminary Note before the formal review for reasons that will soon become apparent to the reader. This…
Israel’s regional posture of deterrence and global high tech prominence have motivated the United Arab Emirates (UAE) to conclude the August 13, 2020 peace accord with Israel. The same Israeli features have prompted the pro-US Saudi Arabia, Oman, Bahrain and Kuwait, as well as Jordan and Egypt, to dramatically expand…
Western misreading yields devastating consequences The Libyan turmoil is, mostly, the outcome of the 2011 reckless toppling of the Qaddafi regime by a US-led NATO offensive. The offensive was launched despite the fact that the ruthless Qaddafi had become a fervent warrior against Islamic terrorism in Libya, North and Central…
The suggestion that the application of the Israeli law to the Jordan Valley and parts of Judea and Samaria would severely undermine Israeli interests, jeopardize Israel’s peace treaties with Jordan and Egypt and Israel’s overall ties with Arab countries, is divorced from the Israeli track record and Middle East reality.…
On March 28-30, 2020, the US-Israel Air Forces conducted a joint F-35 jet training exercise over southern Israel. It took place while most US joint military maneuvers with allied forces were suspended due to the Covid19 pandemic. The exercise highlighted the blossoming, mutually-beneficial US-Israel strategic cooperation, which is driven by…
Why is the red carpet, which welcomes Palestinian leaders to Western capitals, exchanged for a shabby rug when they land in most Arab capitals? In 2020, the widely-disseminated Arabic hashtag, “Palestine is not my cause,” reflects the growing Arab disdain toward Palestinians. It is consistent with the policy of key…
The centrality of Track record Western foreign policy and national security establishments – government, media and academia – have been overwhelmingly preoccupied with assessments of future track record of the proposed Palestinian state. They have sidestepped the Palestinian past track record. While a future track record is subjective, intangible, precarious and speculative, a past…
*Notwithstanding Saudi philo-Palestinian talk, Riyadh considers the Palestinian issue a low priority. It ranks significantly lower than the clear and present lethal threat posed by Iran’s Ayatollahs; the potential tectonic eruption in Iraq; the lethal threat from volcanic Yemen; and the domestic powder keg in the oil-rich and Shia-dominated Qatif…
Perhaps the best response to the dire warnings and threats regarding Israeli annexation of parts of Judea and Samaria is that given by former Israeli Prime Minister Menachem Begin to then-Sen. Joe Biden in 1982. On July 1, Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu is expected to announce plans to extend Israeli…
Lt. Gen. Michael Flynn, President Trump’s national security adviser in the early days of the administration, pled guilty on Dec. 1, 2017, to lying to FBI supervisory officials during a Jan. 24, 2017, White House interview. Under Title 18, U.S. Code, Section 1001, it is a felony to lie about a…
The coronavirus pandemic has hit Iran hard, and not only on the health front. The virus has delivered the latest in a succession of blows to the Iranian regime’s domestic status, fractured economy, and already-low credibility level at home. It also appears to be slowing down its malign activities across…