Publications

American Carrots For Syrian Sticks?

November 25, 2008 Jerusalem Post

As the president-elect begins to weigh the carrots and sticks he can employ when dealing with the Middle East, he will run into the question of how to handle Syria. Bashar Assad was the first to reach out with a telegram to Barack Obama on November 7 that "expressed hope for constructive dialogue so that the difficulties can be overcome which have hampered the advance of peace, stability and progress in the Middle East."

Read More >

Iran’s Economic Dire Straits

November 18, 2008 Ilan I. Berman Forbes.com

What should the next administration do about Iran? During the 2008 presidential campaign, Sen. Barack Obama advocated the need for direct negotiations as a way of addressing the Iranian regime's persistent nuclear ambitions. And since his electoral victory, the president-elect has given every indication that he intends to initiate a diplomatic dialogue with Tehran after he assumes office on Jan. 20.

Read More >

The Presidential Test Has Begun

November 12, 2008 James S. Robbins Washington Times

During the presidential campaign Vice President-elect Joe Biden predicted, "It will not be six months before the world tests Barack Obama like they did John Kennedy." This wasn't just another gratuitous allusion to the impending Camelot 2.0, but an apt comparison. A new, young president is a standing temptation to foreign powers seeking to find his limits.

Read More >

Will Georgian Anniversary Bring Renewed Political Violence?

November 6, 2008 E. Wayne Merry Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty Newsline

November 7 marks the first anniversary of the Georgian government's use of force to break up peaceful opposition demonstrations in the heart of Tbilisi. Opposition groups have announced renewed public action against President Mikheil Saakashvili on that date, with the added objective of bringing him to account for his disastrous military confrontation with Russia in August. Georgia's image in the West as a developing democracy will be influenced by the ability of the government and the opposition to mark this anniversary in a peaceful manner.

Read More >

South Asia Security Monitor: No. 242

November 2, 2008

AMID TENSIONS, INDIA FORTIFIES BORDER WITH CHINA...;

... WHILE CHINA LOOKS TO PLAY THE KASHMIR CARD;

BANGLADESH SHUTS THE DOOR ON HIZB-UT TAHRIR;

MRAP GETS A MAKEOVER FOR AFGHANISTAN

Read More >

Chill Wind Blows Over Claims To Arctic Lands

October 21, 2008 Ilan I. Berman Jane's Defense Weekly

Give the Kremlin credit for ambition. Just weeks after its invasion of Georgia ignited a major conflict in the Caucasus and dramatically altered the status quo in the 'post-Soviet space', the Russian government appears to have set its sights on another strategic prize.

Read More >

Holding The Line On Iran

October 14, 2008 Ilan I. Berman The American Spectator

These must be heady days for Iran’s ayatollahs. Just a year ago, American efforts to contain and isolate the Islamic Republic seemed to be gathering steam. A third UN Security Council resolution censuring Iran for its nuclear advances was on the horizon, and the Bush administration could claim headway on the creation of a regional coalition of Sunni Arab states to counteract Iran’s growing clout. Today, however, things are very different. Western efforts to control and contain the Islamic Republic have clearly faltered, while Iran’s march toward the bomb gives every indication of having accelerated.

Read More >

North Korea Wins Again

October 13, 2008 James S. Robbins National Review Online

Over the past few years we have been witnessing the slow rolling defeat of the United States at the hands of North Korea. In the past six years this charter member of the Axis of Evil, a country with a nominal GDP slightly less than Aruba — and GDP per capita one-thirteenth that of the island paradise — has gone from being an isolated remnant of Stalinist political theory in action to joining the nuclear club and becoming a major weapons-of-mass-destruction proliferator. This took place while the United States asserted that North Korea should not, must not, will not be allowed to go nuclear, but obviously could not figure out how to get the North to cooperate.

Read More >

How To Think About The Iranian Bomb

October 12, 2008 Ilan I. Berman The Journal of International Security Affairs

When he takes office on January 20th, 2009, the next President of the United States will have to contend with a range of pressing issues, from a global economic slowdown to soaring energy prices and a domestic housing market in crisis. On the foreign policy front, however, none will be as urgent as dealing with the persistent nuclear ambitions of the Islamic Republic of Iran. How the United States responds to Iran’s atomic drive will, to a large extent, dictate the shape of American strategy toward the greater Middle East for the foreseeable future.ÂÂ

Read More >