Obama Needs to Do More Than Pay Lip Service to Regime Change in Syria
By Ilan Berman, Newsweek, January 31, 2012

When the dictatorship of Bashar al-Assad was engulfed by the “Arab Spring” last March, many waxed optimistic that regime change in Syria wouldn’t be long in coming. But ten months into the ensuing civil war, Assad’s regime shows no signs of fading away quietly. To the contrary, it has doubled down on repression, waging an extended campaign of official brutality against its own people in its bid to remain in power. As of mid-January, the death toll from Syria’s uprising had topped 6,000, with no let-up in sight.

Beijing And Tehran's Coming Divorce
By Ilan Berman, Wall Street Journal, January 11, 2012

Is China finally coming around on Iran? For years, Beijing's steady backing has helped the Iranian regime frustrate international efforts to isolate and penalize it for its nuclear ambitions. This month, however, there are heartening signs that China is reassessing its longstanding strategic partnership with the Islamic Republic.

Radical Muslim Power Grabs In Key Arab Nations Would Be Huge Setback For U.S.
By Lawrence J. Haas, McClatchy Newspapers, January 5, 2012

In the short term, Washington works to protect Israel and other U.S. allies, combat terrorism, rebuff Iran's hegemonic ambitions, and support regional stability, all of which ensures the continued flow of oil to power Western economies.

Reading The Tea Leaves On Obama's New Military Strategy
By Ilan Berman, Forbes.com, January 5, 2012

Earlier today, President Obama unveiled a revamped national military strategy in a major address at the Pentagon. While the full details of the strategy—dubbed “Sustaining U.S. Global Leadership: Priorities for 21st Century Defense”—have yet to be disclosed, early reports offer some important insights into the Administration’s evolving national security and defense priorities.

Kim’s Death Chance For Joint Sino-US Efforts
By Abraham M. Denmark and Joshua Eisenman, Global Times, January 4, 2012

North Korean leader Kim Jong-Il's death has strategists and policymakers asking the same question: What's next? Among some there is a strong sense that a leadership change in Pyongyang represents the best opportunity in decades for North Korea to join the international community as a normal state. Pyongyang stands at a crossroads.

Iran Strategy Brief No. 5: Iran's Venezuelan Gateway
Norman A. Bailey, February 2012

For years, the media and the U.S. government have repeated a familiar refrain: that the regime of now-ailing Venezuelan strongman Hugo Chavez, however annoying, poses no serious threat to the national security of the United States. Compelling evidence, however, suggests otherwise. Under Chavez, Venezuela has systematically opposed U.S. values and initiatives throughout the Western Hemisphere and the world in general. It has tried to influence political events in other Latin American countries, sometimes successfully. It has supported guerrilla movements and terrorist organizations in other countries (most notably Colombia). And it has facilitated the activities of drug traffickers active in the region, even as it has destabilized the regional status quo through massive military purchases.

The most dangerous threat to the U.S. from Venezuela, however, results from its facilitation and encouragement of the penetration of the Western Hemisphere by the Islamic Republic of Iran. Since 2005, with Venezuela’s assistance, Iran has created an extensive regional network of economic, diplomatic, industrial and commercial activities, with significant effect. The sum total of Iran’s declared investments in the region now stands at some $20 billion, at a time when the Iranian economy itself is in exceedingly poor condition. The depths of Iran’s involvement in the Western Hemisphere are all the more surprising—and significant—given that there is no historical or cultural affinity whatsoever between Iran and the countries on this side of the Atlantic. Nevertheless, the Iranian regime in recent years has exhibited an unprecedented level of interest and involvement in the region, facilitated by its burgeoning strategic partnership with Caracas.

Iran Strategy Brief No. 4: Hezbollah's Inroads Into The Western Hemisphere
Ilan Berman, August 2011

A year after the attacks of September 11th, then-Deputy Secretary of State Richard Armitage, in contextualizing the terrorist threat facing the country, made a telling assessment. “Hezbollah may be the A-team of terrorists,” Mr. Armitage told an audience at the United States Institute of Peace in Washington, DC, “and maybe al-Qaida is actually the B-team.” The description was apt, and remains so. With a presence in an estimated forty countries on five different continents, the Lebanese Shi’ite militia represents one of the very few terrorist groups active today that possess a truly global presence and reach.

This footprint extends not only to the greater Middle East and Europe, but to the Western Hemisphere as well. Over the past quarter-century, Hezbollah has devoted considerable energy and resources to establishing an extensive network of operations throughout the Americas. Today, its web of activity in our hemisphere stretches from Canada to Argentina, and encompasses a wide range of illicit activities and criminal enterprises, from drug trafficking to recruitment to fundraising and training.

China Reform Monitor - No. 945
February 3, 2012

Joint patrols on Mekong river after Chinese targeted; Saudi, China sign nuclear, energy coop deals

Eurasia Security Watch - No. 249
February 1, 2012

Saudi cyber terrorism directed at Israel; US saves Iran in the Persian Gulf... Again; Future of the Arab League Mission to Syria in Doubt; Integrating Hamas and Islamic Jihad

Russia Reform Monitor - No. 1760
February 1, 2012

 Dwindling protests, and government remedies;

China Reform Monitor - No. 944
January 31, 2012

Beijing profits from booming tobacco industry; Cities resist social security tax on foreigners

China Reform Monitor - No. 943
January 25, 2012

US sells China high-tech telescope to track satellites; Hackers steal info from 100 million Chinese netizens