Louis René Beres
As US President Trump now speaks of "obliterating" Iran and requiring "no exit strategy" from an ensuing war, questions of law will take a back seat to military operational matters. Still, there are rudimentary standards of international law that must always be observed. Opinion
In world politics, everything is interconnected. The United States' nuclear strategy will have increasingly serious implications not only for US national security, but also for assorted allies, most notably Israel. Opinion
A "common sense" view in Israel is that an American war against Iran would be desirable or even gainful. This view is erroneous because US President Trump's underlying strategic posture is indecipherable and unpredictable. Opinion
A key element to Israel’s upcoming strategic decision-making will be context. This article explains the core differences between anarchy and chaos, and the obligation to observe these vital differences with caution and wisdom. Opinion
Israel still faces a potentially nuclear adversary in Iran. At the same time, certain normally adversarial Arab states, most plausibly Egypt and Saudi Arabia, could seek to balance this growing Shi’ite threat with a Sunni nuclear capacity. In such bewildering circumstances, Jerusalem would be faced with unprecedented but unavoidable decisions on "friend or foe." Opinion
In making its cumulative judgments about Palestinian statehood, Israel’s leaders must be sure to look beyond the “ordinary” terror threat to more far-reaching strategic hazards. These significantly greater perils would be many-sided and intersecting, and should compel Jerusalem to fashion an increasingly seamless web of deterrence from Israel’s combined conventional and nuclear assets. Opinion
The distinguished Bulletin of the Atomic Scientists recently set its “Doomsday Clock” at “Two minutes before midnight.” This largely symbolic but meaningful chronology pertains both to the US directly and to the wider world system in general. For Israel, a presumptively nuclear state, the survival implications are profound, warranting even more disciplined and substantial study. Opinion
As President Trump prepares for his second summit meeting with Kim Jong-un, he will need to stay focused on reasonable goals and cautionary strategies. Most plainly, he should orient the American position toward long-term mutual deterrence with North Korea, and not to any illusionary plans for "denuclearization." Opinion