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inFOCUS Quarterly The JPC on Top Research Issues and Regions Latest Items Most Viewed Most Mailed 
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inSIGHTArticles by the JPCby Shoshana Bryen The American people often prove to be more sophisticated about themselves, their rights, and their government than they get credit for. Even if they can't enumerate the clauses, most people know the Bill of Rights is designed to restrict the government's ability to curb their speech or religious practice; take their weapons; search their persons or property without a warrant; make them incriminate themselves; deny them a lawyer, a speedy trial, and a jury of their peers; or set excessive bail. Some people know that at least in peacetime, the Army can't live in your house without your permission. They Voted for a Moderate: Now What? by Shoshana Bryen The 686 men who expressed their desire to run in Iran's presidential election were whittled down to 8 -- not by primaries, debates and polls, but by the six theologians and six jurists on the Guardian Council. The candidates had to be Iranian-born, over 21, and believe in "God, Islam and the Iranian Constitution." Education, military service and "public service" were also taken into account by the Council. So while much has been made of the differences among them in the West, similarities rule. by Shoshana Bryen Yesterday it was revealed that that the current US ("I've Got Israel's back") administration leaked to the media the specifications for the heretofore-secret US-Israel installation for Israel's Arrow 3 missiles. It was quickly called just another leak from an administration already reeling from leaks; someone apologized. But it was more likely a deliberate decision -- by someone. The constellation of players in the administration now contains a heavy contingent of those determined to bring "peace" to Israel. "Peace" is defined as the creation of the State of Palestine under whatever circumstances they can, and the operative question is how to bring Israel in line. Wissam Allouche and the Touchy Problem of Immigration by Shoshana Bryen There are people for whom access to the United States is access to targets, whether human, material, or information targets. They predominantly come from or come through countries of the Middle East in which terrorists live, train, and operate. Until Congress and NGOs are willing to discuss the Wissam Allouches and the problem they present, American security will be compromised. Israel Should be Poor, Palestinians Should be Rich by Shoshana Bryen Palestinian poverty is not a plague or an earthquake: it is intimately related to Palestinian government policy. Hezballah: A Chicken on the EU Terror List by Shoshana Bryen Elite Hezb'allah troops poured into Syria in a conventional military effort to help Assad's army retake the rebel-held town of Qusayr. It was not a great success -- at least 100 militiamen were killed, probably the largest death toll of Hezb'allah operatives in a single battle, and Qusayr is still in rebel hands. But it is astonishing that after Hezb'allah's years of successful bloody terrorism against Israeli, American, French, and other Western interests, it is a mostly failed exercise in conventional warfare that got the attention of the European Union. Obama's Still Trying to Define the War by Shoshana Bryen There are both Sunni and Shiite terrorists and state sponsors. Iran on the Shiite side, of course, but Saudi Arabia, Qatar and sometimes Turkey provide money, arms and training to Sunni radicals. Al Qaeda, Hezb'allah, the al-Nusra Front, the Muslim Brotherhood, Hamas, and the Assad's Alawite government are all players; Chechens, too. They despise and fight one another -- the monstrous bloodshed in Syria, Lebanon and Iraq has nothing to do with the West -- and despise the West on parallel, rather than congruent, paths. The enemy of my enemy can just as easily be my enemy as not. US: Israel's Prosperity a Problem by Shoshana Bryen There are people – not necessarily Secretary Kerry – who prefer their Jews as needy supplicants, but that is not a role Israel is prepared to play, thank you. The entire Zionist enterprise is designed precisely to ensure that Jews in the State of Israel are able to wake up every day with a "sense of security" and determine their own interests. The fact that Israelis also wake up with a hard-earned and well-deserved "sense of accomplishment and of prosperity" is icing on the cake. Tension on the Syrian-Israeli Border by Matthew RJ Brodsky Matthew RJ Brodsky appears on CCTV News where he describes Hezbollah's growing role in the Syrian civil war and Israel's rationale for preventing the transfer of more sophisticated weapons to the terrorist group. He explains how Russia and Iran continue to be the Assad regime's chief weapons supplier with Hezbollah being the regime's main provider of manpower. It is in Iran's interest to make sure that as many high-quality surface-to-surface and surface-to-air missiles are in Hezbollah's possession if Assad falls from power. He goes on to say that the Geneva 2 conference to be held in June under U.S. and Russian sponsorship represents a rolling back of America's previously articulated foreign policy that stated Assad must "step aside" and that the conference is unlikely to end the conflict. Russia: Playing a Losing Hand like a Winner by Shoshana Bryen Russia has the worst of red lines: like King Cnut, Putin is trying to stop the tide of Sunni-Shiite fighting within the borders of Syria, where he plans to control the outcome. In 1982, Hafez Assad killed perhaps 40,000 Syrians in Hama in an attempt to bury the Muslim Brotherhood. But the Brotherhood emerged like cicadas 30 years later. How many remain in Chechnya, Dagestan, and Ossetia, waiting for an opportunity to rise? by Matthew RJ Brodsky The recent Israeli airstrikes outside of Damascus have refocused the United States' attention on the Syrian civil war. In the wake of the attacks, the phrases – "red line," "game-changer," and "enormous consequences" – have permeated the lexicon of the conflict, with each resonating differently in Washington and Jerusalem. "I've stated repeatedly, publicly that red line, and that is we're not going to accept Iran having a nuclear weapon," President Obama said in a September 2012 interview with Telemundo. "I've been very clear about my position." But the administration has long suffered from mixed messaging on Iran; Syria is merely the latest example. It augurs poorly for security guarantees Team Obama offers Israel at a time when Israel requires a steadfast ally in America. Mistaking Cause and Effect in Syria by Shoshana Bryen Russia's President Vladimir Putin called Prime Minister Netanyahu during Mr. Netanyahu's visit to China, surely a diplomatic oddity.  (Chinese Premier Li Kegiang answers the hotline in Beijing and says, "Oh, sure. Hey, Bibi, it's for you.")  President Obama called him there as well, making Netanyahu appear to be the most important man in the world at the moment. Both conversations were reportedly about Syria and what appears to have been Israel's demonstration of the utility of red lines and the inutility of Syria's Russian air defenses. Israel's Game-Changer with Hezbollah by Matthew RJ Brodsky Israel's recent airstrikes in Syria reflect its understanding of the new reality in the Middle East. For more than a decade, Israel watched as massive arms shipments passed from Iran and Syria to Hezbollah in Lebanon. Their complaints went unheeded by the international community — and the unstated rules were that Israel could not launch a pre-emptive strike despite the mountain of evidence it had gathered. Israel's actions in Syria are not just about preventing the transfer of game-changing weapons — they are about changing the rules of the game in how it engages with Hezbollah and Syria. Moreover, the strikes represent an eye toward a confrontation with Iran over its nuclear program in which Tehran may look to use Hezbollah as a tool in its arsenal. |
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