Articles

NATO Gets A New Lease On Life – For Now

July 31, 2022 Ilan I. Berman Jewish Policy Center

Perhaps the most profound impact of Russia’s new war has been to revitalize the West’s oldest and most enduring alliance. Until recently thought by many to be on its deathbed, NATO has found renewed purpose in deterring a revanchist and neo-imperial Russia, and convinced skeptics of the indispensable role it should play in maintaining global security.

How the U.S.-Israel Partnership Is Tackling China

July 26, 2022 Ilan I. Berman Newsweek

It is clear that Israel is working hard to strike a balance between its own economic interests and a new, and changed, global landscape that has U.S.-China competition as a defining feature. Other American allies should be watching closely, because they will soon be expected to follow suit.

The Logic of Israel’s Laser Wall

June 23, 2022 Ilan I. Berman National Institute for Public Policy

In early February, Israeli Prime Minister Naftali Bennett announced a major new defense initiative when, in an address to Tel Aviv University’s Institute for National Strategic Studies, he laid out his administration’s plans for a “laser wall” to protect the country from rockets, missiles and UAVs. 

Establish Space National Guard now

June 7, 2022 Peter Garretson The Hill

Establishing the Space National Guard is the smart thing to do. To secure the nation’s advantage, it is essential that both the House and Senate include the Space National Guard language in this year’s National Defense Authorization Act.

US, Ukraine need to agree on goals

May 20, 2022 Lawrence J. Haas The Hill

Are the United States and its allies willing to pay the price, assume the risks, and support Ukrainian efforts not only to restore the borders of Feb. 23 but also retake Crimea? They may be. But let’s make sure there’s no misunderstanding on that score in Kyiv, Washington, or the capitals of our NATO allies.

How Not To Counter Disinformation

May 5, 2022 Ilan I. Berman Newsweek

At some point, Washington will indeed need to stand up a serious, transparent and bipartisan effort to counter the phenomenon of "fake news," but it is already clear that the Biden administration's new board isn't it.

Russia’s New Iron Curtain

April 3, 2022 Ilan I. Berman National Review

 Against the backdrop of the war in Ukraine, Western media outlets are closing up shop in the country, independent Russian outlets are being shuttered, and the last embers of press freedom are being extinguished.

Israel Considers Its Iran Options

March 31, 2022 Ilan I. Berman Al Hurra Digital

For more than a year, reversing the "maximum pressure" policy of its predecessor and hammering out some sort of nuclear compromise with Iran has been the centerpiece of the Biden administration's Mideast policy.

Stick with sanctions in Iran

February 14, 2022 Lawrence J. Haas The Hill

“Society is in a state of explosion,” an official from Iran’s Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC) warned in a leaked seven-page state document that Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty recently reported on, and “social discontent has risen by 300 percent in the past year.”

Propaganda enables Putin’s aggression

December 20, 2021 Ilan I. Berman The Hill

[T]he Russian government’s current mobilization is designed with some clear goals in mind: to advance its standing at home and improve its strategic posture abroad. It’s an approach that’s succeeding on both fronts — and the reasons have everything to do with propaganda.

Bosnia: The Next Hotspot Russia Creates Trouble In?

December 7, 2021 Kate Flaherty 19FortyFive

Last month marked the 26th anniversary of the Dayton Accords, a monumental and controversial peace agreement that ended one of the most violent wars in Southeastern Europe’s history. On November 21, 1995, the United States brokered the agreement that ended three years of ethnic violence and genocide in Bosnia & Herzegovina, which had broken out in the wake of Yugoslavia’s dissolution. The Dayton Accords, signed by the presidents of Bosnia, Croatia, and Serbia, laid out new terms for the people of Bosnia, including a tripartite presidency that would represent each of the three major ethnicities: Bosniaks, Serbs, and Croats. The accords resulted in an uneasy, but relatively stable peace.

China’s Environmental Threat to Antarctica

December 1, 2021 Alexander B. Gray The Wall Street Journal

While much of the world was focused on the recent climate summit in Scotland, China had its eye on a very different environmental issue. For the fifth year in a row, China, with Russian assistance, used an international forum to prevent the establishment of new marine protected areas along the coast of Antarctica. Beijing is increasingly interested in the southern continent, and for all the wrong reasons.

Tehran sets the table in Vienna

November 30, 2021 Ilan I. Berman Washington Examiner

What precisely does the Biden administration want to accomplish in its diplomacy with Iran? With new talks over Iran's nuclear program now underway in Vienna, it’s a question worth asking.

Iran, Like China, Isn’t a Responsible Stakeholder

November 26, 2021 Ilan I. Berman Newsweek

In a much-publicized address in 2005, then-Deputy Secretary of State Robert Zoellick laid out the prevailing wisdom in Washington regarding the proper way to approach the People's Republic of China (PRC). "Chinese leaders have decided that their success depends on being networked with the modern world," Zoellick argued before the National Committee on U.S.-China Relations. As a result, he contended, the U.S. needed to make every effort to turn the PRC into a "responsible stakeholder" on the world stage.

Egypt’s Biggest Worry Is Its Population

October 27, 2021 Ilan I. Berman Al-Hurra Digital

Today, the Egyptian state faces no shortage of strategic threats, ranging from instability emanating from the ongoing crisis next door in Libya to an escalating conflict with nearby Ethiopia over access to the Nile. Yet its biggest long-term challenge is a distinctly domestic one: the quickening pace of its own population.

Is a sanctions rethink in the works?

October 21, 2021 Lawrence J. Haas The Hill

The Biden administration’s announcement that it will limit economic sanctions as a tool of foreign policy could prove significant, since it follows two decades in which policymakers of both parties dramatically increased the use of sanctions against governments, individuals, and entities that they considered bad actors.