Section: Begin-Sadat Center for Strategic Studies (Israel)
The Return to the Era of Spheres of Influence in Eurasia
Map of Eurasia in a 1936 textbook, photo by Bryan Costin via Flickr CCBESA Center Perspectives Paper No. 1,575, May 21, 2020 EXECUTIVE SUMMARY: Geopolitical trends of the last two decades show that pivotal states in Eurasia are working to recreate their zones of influence. In so doing, they are challenging the US, which implies a corresponding...
Iran’s Nuclear and Military Efforts in the Shadow of Coronavirus and Economic Collapse
Iraj Harirchi (left), Director of Iran’s National Center for the Fight Against Coronavirus, showing signs of infection at press conference on Feb. 23, 2020, photo via Wikimedia CommonsBESA Center Perspectives Paper No. 1,568, May 17, 2020 EXECUTIVE SUMMARY: Notwithstanding the difficult challenges of the coronavirus crisis and a...
Russia, Saudi Arabia, and the US: A Slippery Oil Triangle
Muhammad bin Salman and Vladimir Putin, photo via WikipediaBESA Center Perspectives Paper No. 1,552, May 6, 2019 EXECUTIVE SUMMARY: Oil relationships are as unstable and volatile as romantic ones. Following a deadlocked OPEC summit in February, Moscow and Riyadh announced they would ramp up production, sending already low prices tumbling. Since...
Putin’s Religious Soft Power Hits Jerusalem
The Church of the Holy Sepulchre, Jerusalem, photo via WikipediaBESA Center Perspectives Paper No. 1,550, May 5, 2020 EXECUTIVE SUMMARY: The recent “backpacker deal,” the Crimean Peninsula annexation, and Russia’s Sochi Olympic Games are all examples of Vladimir Putin’s global “smart power” strategy, which combines soft and hard...
Turkey and the Libyan and Syrian Civil Wars
Libyans protest GNC extension, photo via WikipediaBESA Center Perspectives Paper No. 1,548, May 4, 2020 EXECUTIVE SUMMARY: Turkey under Recep Tayyip Erdoğan is constantly looking for opportunities to enhance its status as a regional superpower and promote its Islamist ideology in the Arab Middle East. Libya is the newest arena in which Erdoğan is...
Erdoğan Battles on Multiple Fronts in Risky Regional Power Bid
Recep Tayyip Erdogan, photo via Office of the President of RussiaBESA Center Perspectives Paper No. 1,510, March 30, 2020 EXECUTIVE SUMMARY: Turkish president Recep Tayyip Erdoğan is at odds with just about everybody. He is on opposite sides with Russia in Syria as well as Libya and is trying the patience of his US and European allies. Turkey and...
Turkey’s Syria Intervention Serves Israeli Strategic Interests
Map of Idlib ceasefire as of March 6, 2020, map by OpenTopoMap and MilitaryMaps via Wikimedia CommonsBESA Center Perspectives Paper No. 1,508, March 29, 2020 EXECUTIVE SUMMARY: Turkey’s invasion of Syria to protect Idlib will bog it down in a war it cannot win. At the same time, it severely weakens the Assad regime and could help oust Iran...
Coronavirus Delivers Another Devastating Blow to the Iranian Regime
Coronavirus patients at the Imam Khomeini Hospital in Tehran, Iran, photo via Wikimedia CommonsBESA Center Perspectives Paper No. 1,507, March 27, 2020 EXECUTIVE SUMMARY: The coronavirus pandemic has hit Iran hard, and not only on the health front. The virus is the latest in a succession of blows to the Iranian regime’s domestic status,...
Coronavirus in the Middle East: Unlearned Lessons and Missed Opportunities
Disinfection of Sadeghiyeh, Iran, against coronavirus, photo via WikipediaBESA Center Perspectives Paper No. 1,490, March 18, 2020 EXECUTIVE SUMMARY: There is little indication that Middle Eastern rulers are learning any lessons from the devastating coronavirus. Nor is there any suggestion that they are willing to see the pandemic as an...
The Long-Term Political Fallout of Coronavirus
3D medical animation still shot showing the structure of a coronavirus, image via Wikimedia CommonsBESA Center Perspectives Paper No. 1,488, March 17, 2020 EXECUTIVE SUMMARY: As the coronavirus spreads, so does its likely political fallout. For authoritarians and autocrats, this is likely to be a mixed bag. Some will benefit from invasive tracing...
