The Clash of Civilizations and Trump’s Foreign Policy
Is the Iran War a manifestation of the rise of the Clash of Civilizations as a dominant attribute of current international politics? This conception of a civilizational clash seems relevant to the current war in the Middle East. A Christian-majority state and a Jewish state cooperate in a joint war against a country ruled by […]
Taiwan Is No Berlin – It’s More Important for US Deterrence
What is Taiwan to the United States? Is the security of that beleaguered island a peripheral issue for the US, in which the stakes would be too low to risk nuclear escalation in a fight with China? Or does the defense of Taiwan bear directly on the American way of life? The answers to these […]
Why Does China Claim Taiwan?
The most dangerous feature of international politics is the claim by China’s communist government, dating from its formation in 1949, that the island of Taiwan, 100 miles from its southern coast, is a rebellious province rather than a sovereign state. In its view, therefore, Beijing has the right to use force to bring the island […]
What October 7 Revealed About Institutions, Democracy, and National Strength
Every major war forces nations to discover what they are truly prepared for. In the days following Hamas’s attack on October 7, Israelis witnessed something extraordinary. Before the government had fully organized its response, thousands of ordinary citizens already had. Volunteers transformed WhatsApp groups into nationwide logistics networks. Technology companies built emergency databases for missing […]
Ukraine Is the World’s Defense Innovation Lab
The United States risks falling behind in the most important military learning environment of our time: Ukraine’s drone-interceptor battlefield. Ukrainian forces are refining AI-enabled targeting, autonomous interception, electronic warfare resilience, and battlefield tactics, techniques, and procedures at a pace unmatched anywhere else in the world. While the United States continues to learn from Ukraine through […]
The Architecture of a Secular Iran
How the separation of religion and state could reshape citizenship, governance, and national life in a democratic Iran For more than four decades, Iran has lived under a political system in which religion and state power have been deeply intertwined. The Islamic Republic did not merely draw inspiration from religion; it transformed religious authority into […]
THE FUTURE OF AN ILLUSION
“WISH FULFILLMENT” IN WORLD POLITICS
“WISH FULFILLMENT” IN WORLD POLITICS
In his major work on religion, The Future of an Illusion (1927), Sigmund Freud offers a broad definition of “illusion.” According to Freud, “We call a belief an illusion when wish-fulfilment is a prominent factor in its motivation and in doing so we disregard its relation to reality.” Examined in terms of Israel and world […]
The New BDS Wears a Suit
An ideological boycott has been laundered into a “high controversy” risk score — and your pension is paying for it. For two decades the Boycott, Divestment and Sanctions movement tried to make Israel a pariah on supermarket shelves and university quads. It largely failed. The grocery boycotts never bit; the student-government resolutions made headlines and […]
Is the Tide Turning?
Ukraine’s Deep Strikes, Russia’s Growing Economic Problems, and the Future of the Russo-Ukrainian War While the Russian drone and missile attack on Kyiv on the night of July 1–2 was the largest such state terrorist attack to date against civilian infrastructure in the Ukrainian capital, this act by the Kremlin does little to change the […]
Israel Must Become a Provider of Power and Water
Recalibrating its strategy in the wake of the Iran war, a focus on the carrot as opposed to the stick would go far towards advancing Israel’s security aims The details of the emerging US-Iran deal, while taking shape in the MOU, are yet to be written, with a final text supposedly to be completed in […]
A New U.S.-Colombia Deal for Security, Growth, and Migration
After Abelardo De La Espriella’s victory this past weekend, the United States and Colombia have an opportunity to reset one of the most important relationships in the western hemisphere. For more than two decades, the U.S.-Colombia partnership has been anchored by security cooperation and counter-narcotics efforts. A De La Espriella administration presents an opportunity to […]
Gaza’s Fate Hangs in the Balance in a Crucial Three-Day Meeting in Cyprus
The fate of 2.1 million people in Gaza hangs in the balance this week as key officials working for the Board of Peace meet in Cyprus starting Tuesday for three days to decide how to jump-start President Trump’s stalled twenty-point plan. Despite pledges of $17 billion and behind-the-scenes planning done by a small team of […]
