Section: Begin-Sadat Center for Strategic Studies (Israel)
Washington and Moscow: Confrontation or Cooperation?
Executive Summary: Behind the ongoing media frenzy, America seems deeply divided over whether to pursue a hard line with Russia or to cooperate with it. With Donald Trump favoring the latter course, Moscow “voted” for him in the 2016 elections. But the Kremlin’s cybernetic interference in the election has led to ongoing Russo-gate and...
Turkey: NATO’s Odd One Out
Recep Tayyip Erdoğan, image via Presidential Executive Office, KremlinBESA Center Perspectives Paper No. 491, June 9, 2017 EXECUTIVE SUMMARY: Discounting the sincerity of Turkish President Erdoğan’s fiercely anti-western rhetoric ahead of the April 16 referendum is akin to disregarding bitter facts about once staunch NATO ally Turkey....
The Six-Day War Was a One-Time Event
Six-Day War, image via Jewish Virtual LibraryBESA Center Perspectives No. 487, June 5, 2017 EXECUTIVE SUMMARY: The events of the Six-Day War of 1967 are often used by proponents of withdrawal from the West Bank as proof that Israel can defend itself from behind the “green line.” Since Israel won the 1967 conflict from this starting point, they...
A Border as a Dynamic Space
Viewing Syria and Jordan from Israel, Oct. 18 2015, D. Myles Cullen/US Department of DefenseBESA Center Perspectives No. 477, May 26, 2017 EXECUTIVE SUMMARY: Israel aspires to permanent borders. Yet a nation, a homeland, a state, and permanent borders are not necessarily congruent, and this complexity is not unique to Israel. Israel should...
Arrow Intercepts a Syrian Missile: Technological, Operational, and Political Aspects
Stages of missile interception by Arrow system, via WikipediaBESA Center Perspectives Paper No. 437, April 2, 2017 EXECUTIVE SUMMARY: Israel’s Arrow recently made its combat debut with the interception of a Syrian anti-aircraft missile. Remarkably, the 1991 vintage Arrow missile defense system managed to track, engage, and destroy a type of...
Turkey: A Sunni Iran in the Making?
Turkish PM Recep Tayyip Erdogan via Presidential Press and Information Office of the Russian Federation www.kremlin.ruBESA Center Perspectives Paper No. 431, March 22, 2017 EXECUTIVE SUMMARY: The rising tide of an aggressive blend of nationalism and Islamism might be prompting Ankara to pursue its own WMDs, and its preference appears to be...
Decoding Flynn-gate: Russia, the Middle East, and the US Elections
US Army Lt. Gen. Michael Flynn testifies before the House Permanent Select Committee on Intelligence in Washington D.C. on Feb. 4, 2014. (US Air Force photo by Staff Sgt. Jonathan Lovelady, via US Department of Defense)BESA Center Perspectives Paper No. 418, March 6, 2017 EXECUTIVE SUMMARY: The FBI has concluded that ousted National Security...
How Likely Is an Irrational US Presidential Order to Use Nuclear Weapons?
Nagasaki bomb, via WikipediaBESA Center Perspectives Paper No. 417, March 5, 2017 EXECUTIVE SUMMARY: There is no scientifically valid way to predict US presidential irrationality. Nor is there any analytically acceptable way for an American president to foretell the nuclear outcomes of any considered policy decision. There is another, less...
Tread Carefully with the New US Administration
Donald Trump by Michael Vadon, September 13 2016, Aston PA, via FlickrBESA Center Perspectives Paper No. 414, February 16, 2017 EXECUTIVE SUMMARY: The new US administration is far more sympathetic to Israel than was its predecessor, but we must avoid taking steps from which there is no return. The Middle East is not Washington’s sole focus...
Trump, the Mideast Conflict, and the Jordanian Option
King Abdullah of Jordan, WEF, Flickr, Wikimedia CommonsBESA Center Perspectives Paper No. 407 EXECUTIVE SUMMARY: Instead of fixating on an independent Palestinian state, the new US administration should look east to the Hashemite Kingdom as a stabilizing influence on Palestinian politics. President Trump has an opportunity to help Jordan prosper...
