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1601. Watching from the Sidelines: Israel and the Syrian Uprising

Author:
Ehud Eiran
Publication Date:
11-2011
Content Type:
Policy Brief
Institution:
United States Institute of Peace
Abstract:
Israel has been generally quiet regarding the recent turmoil in Syria, a reflection of the issue\'s relative low priority, as well as Israel\'s limited influence on internal Syrian matters. Israel\'s preferred outcome would be a stable Syrian regime that disassociates itself from the “axis of resistance,” poses no bilateral threats, and controls the border area—though Israel sees no clear path for achieving these aims. The view in Israel is that the basic structure of deterrence still holds vis-à-vis Syria and the regime—even in its desperate circumstances—is unlikely to provoke Israel in dramatic ways.
Topic:
Security and Regime Change
Political Geography:
Middle East, Israel, Arab Countries, and Syria

1602. Fred Halliday: high modernism and a social science of the Middle East

Author:
Toby Dodge
Publication Date:
09-2011
Content Type:
Journal Article
Institution:
Chatham House
Abstract:
This article examines Fred Halliday's research and writing on the politics of the Middle East. It classifies Halliday as a 'high modernist', who organized his work around a constant commitment to a universal rationality, historical progress and an opposition to relativism and a particularist reading of the Middle East. The article identifies the two dominant units of analysis that shaped Halliday's work on the region throughout his life. These were the transformative capacity of capitalism and the role of a comparatively autonomous state. The article then examines how the content of each unit was transformed as Halliday moved from an overt Marxism to a more diffuse liberalism. It then goes on to argue that Halliday's ideological affinities and his deployment of these units marginalized the role and importance of ideology, specifically both nationalism and Islamism. Finally, it traces the influence of this approach and the deployment of these units in Halliday's work on Iran, Iraq and the Arab–Israeli conflict
Political Geography:
Iraq, Iran, Middle East, Israel, and Arabia

1603. Editor's Note

Author:
Ilan Berman
Publication Date:
09-2011
Content Type:
Journal Article
Journal:
The Journal of International Security Affairs
Institution:
Jewish Institute for National Security Affairs
Abstract:
Ten years ago this Fall, al-Qaeda carried out the most devastating attacks on the U.S. homeland in our country's history. That brazen attack propelled the United States—and the world—into a qualitatively new kind of global conflict. Ten years on, the anniversary of the 9/11 attacks provides the opportunity to reflect upon where we are in this effort. To do so, The Journal convened a symposium of seventeen of the country's premier counterterrorism specialists. These experts—drawn from Congress, the U.S. military and the Beltway policy community—have shared their unique insights into how far we have come in the past decade in our struggle against terrorism, and how far the United States and its allies still need to go. From there, we turn to the other pressing topic of the day: the so-called “Arab Spring.” The past half-year has seen unprecedented change sweep over the Middle East and North Africa. Long-standing regimes in Egypt, Tunisia and Libya have fallen. Others (such as Syria) continue to struggle against widespread domestic discontent. Still others—Saudi Arabia, Bahrain, Jordan and beyond—have felt their fair share of grassroots ferment. What does this geopolitical earthquake augur for the Middle East? What should America's role be in these changes? And how will the region change in the months ahead? We start to answer some of those questions with six cutting-edge articles. Barry Rubin, one of Israel's leading commentators on Mideast affairs, outlines in damning detail the misconceptions that animate the Obama administration's approach to the region—and explains how these flawed ideas have wreaked havoc on America's stature there. Indiana University's Jamsheed Choksy provides a tantalizing glimpse into the high-stakes political conflict now taking place between Iran's firebrand president, Mahmoud Ahmadinejad, and the country's entrenched clerical elite. Brent Talbot of the U.S. Air Force Academy then examines Israel's strategic options for dealing with Iran's persistent nuclear program, and argues that the Israeli government is likely to take decisive action in the not-too-distant future. The Henry Jackson Society's Julia Pettengill and Houriya Ahmed sketch the motivations behind—and implications of—the attempted “unity” deal between the Hamas movement and the Fatah faction of Palestinian Authority President Mahmoud Abbas. Robert Freedman of Baltimore Hebrew University and Johns Hopkins University outlines how the Russian government of Dmitry Medvedev and Vladimir Putin has attempted to weather the changes taking place in the region so far. And Daniel Jackman and Daniel Wagner, two geopolitical risk experts with the consulting firm Country Risk Solutions, provide a masterful tour d'horizon of the economic and social ferment that has accompanied the region's revolutions. Also in this issue, we're delighted to have as our “Perspective” interviewee former Treasury Under Secretary Stuart Levey—who, as the U.S. government's long-standing point man on sanctions against Iran and al-Qaeda, spearheaded the “financial front” of the War on Terror for much of that conflict. We also have Dispatches from Russia, Belarus and Jordan, as well as book reviews covering U.S. and Israeli counterterrorism efforts, Pakistan's duplicitous relationship with radical Islam, and the high cost of terrorism on Israel and the Jews. Over the years, our readers have come to rely on The Journal as a leading source of cutting-edge analysis of the trends, developments and policies that shape our world. The contents of this issue are but the latest proof we live up to that promise.
Political Geography:
Pakistan, United States, America, Middle East, Israel, North Africa, Syria, and Jordan

1604. Towards a regional security regime for the middle east

Publication Date:
10-2011
Content Type:
Working Paper
Institution:
Stockholm International Peace Research Institute
Abstract:
The SIPRI Middle East Expert Group met four times over an 18-month period to consider how a regional security regime might be developed. The principal points of this report are:Further progress in the Middle East peace process would create a suitable political climate for consideration of a regional security regime.
Topic:
Conflict Resolution, Security, Peace Studies, and Terrorism
Political Geography:
Middle East, Israel, and Arabia

1605. Israeli arms transfers to sub-Saharan Africa

Author:
Siemon T. Wezeman
Publication Date:
10-2011
Content Type:
Working Paper
Institution:
Stockholm International Peace Research Institute
Abstract:
Israel accounted for less than 1 per cent of transfers of major weapons to sub-Saharan Africa for the period 2006–10. Deliveries consisted mainly of small numbers of artillery, unmanned aerial vehicles, armoured vehicles and patrol craft. However, in addition to major weapons, Israel also supplied small arms and light weapons, military electronics and training to several countries in the region. Israeli weapons, trainers and brokers have been observed in numerous African trouble spots and may play a bigger role than their numbers imply.
Topic:
Defense Policy, Arms Control and Proliferation, and Weapons of Mass Destruction
Political Geography:
Africa and Israel

1606. South Korea: The Shifting Sands of Security Policy

Publication Date:
12-2011
Content Type:
Policy Brief
Institution:
International Crisis Group
Abstract:
A year after North Korea shelled an island in the South, killing four people, relations on the peninsula remain tense. South Korea has stepped up its warnings of tough retaliation in the case of further attacks and has frozen most political and economic ties. While Pyongyang has made some efforts to restart talks, it has refused to apologise for the attack and has kept up a torrent of abuse against President Lee Myung-bak, who in turn has maintained his tough line. But the political atmosphere in the South is changing as it enters an election season, with the mood shifting towards a more conciliatory position, including renewed interest in a peace zone in the Yellow Sea.
Topic:
Conflict Resolution, Defense Policy, Diplomacy, Economics, Bilateral Relations, and Sanctions
Political Geography:
Israel, South Korea, North Korea, and Pyongyang

1607. The Philippines: Indigenous Rights and the MILF Peace Process

Publication Date:
11-2011
Content Type:
Working Paper
Institution:
International Crisis Group
Abstract:
The indigenous peoples of the southern Philippines known as the Lumad are in a precarious position as the peace process between Muslim rebels and the government moves forward. If and when a settlement is reached, thorny questions about protecting their distinct identity and land will have to be addressed. Many of the tribes fear that because they lack titles for their traditional territory, they will be unable to claim the resources and exercise their right to self-governance after a deal is signed. The question is what can be done now to reassure them that they will retain control of their land. While the peace process with the Moro Islamic Liberation Front (MILF) may be ill-suited to advancing indigenous rights because its structure and content do not prioritise these issues, the government and the MILF should take steps both within and outside the parameters of formal negotiations to respond more concretely to the concerns of the Lumad.
Topic:
Conflict Resolution, Islam, Poverty, Armed Struggle, and Insurgency
Political Geography:
Israel and Philippines

1608. The Problem Is Palestinian Rejectionism: Why the PA Must Recognize a Jewish State

Author:
Yosef Kuperwasser and Shalom Lipner
Publication Date:
11-2011
Content Type:
Journal Article
Journal:
Foreign Affairs
Institution:
Council on Foreign Relations
Abstract:
Peace negotiations between Israel and the Palestinians have failed miserably. The reason, write two senior Israeli government officials, is not disagreement over specific issues, such as settlements or Jerusalem, but something much more fundamental: the Palestinians' refusal to recognize Israel as a Jewish state.
Political Geography:
Israel and Palestine

1609. Israel's Bunker Mentality: How the Occupation Is Destroying the Nation

Author:
Ronald R. Krebs
Publication Date:
11-2011
Content Type:
Journal Article
Journal:
Foreign Affairs
Institution:
Council on Foreign Relations
Abstract:
The greatest danger to Israel comes not from without -- in the form of Palestinian intransigence -- but from within. The ongoing occupation of the territories is destroying Israel's values and viability. It breeds an aggressive, intolerant ethnic nationalism and causes political gridlock, empowering an ultrareligious underclass that refuses to contribute and lives off the state.
Topic:
Politics
Political Geography:
Israel, Palestine, and Gaza

1610. How Central is Land for Peace?

Author:
Elliott Abrams, Oded Naaman, and Mikhael Manekin
Publication Date:
11-2011
Content Type:
Journal Article
Journal:
Foreign Affairs
Institution:
Council on Foreign Relations
Abstract:
A HEALTHY OBSESSION Oded Naaman and Mikhael Manekin In "The Settlement Obsession" (July/ August 2011), Elliott Abrams argues:  In the end, Israel will withdraw from most of the West Bank and remain only in the major blocs where hundreds of thousands of Israelis now live. Israelis will live in a democratic state where Jews are the majority, and Palestinians will live in a state -- democratic, one hopes -- with an Arab Muslim majority. The remaining questions are how quickly or slowly that end will be reached and how to get there with minimal violence. For Abrams, there can be no other end; all that politics can do is postpone this end or bring it about. Although it would be preferable to end the conflict as soon as possible, there is no immediate need to do so. Any sense of immediacy, Abrams writes, is overblown: he claims that nongovernmental organizations and some in the international community unjustly point to a humanitarian crisis to create unwarranted urgency. In reviewing our book, Occupation of the Territories, Abrams attempts to assuage worries about the need for urgent action, going so far as to compare Israel's military behavior during its 45-year occupation of the West Bank -- in which Israel has expropriated land, seized natural resources, and settled its own population there -- to the United States' behavior during in its ten-year occupation and massive reconstruction of Germany after World War II. Abrams then implies that Breaking the Silence does not provide reliable or sufficient evidence for the claim that, in his words, "the presence of Israeli settlers and IDF [Israel Defense Forces] soldiers in the West Bank is laying waste to the area, reducing it to misery."
Topic:
Government and War
Political Geography:
United States, Israel, Palestine, Arabia, and Germany