Sunday morning, an Iranian Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps missile commander and sixteen other IRGC officials were killed in an explosion at a base southwest of Teheran. Iranian officials called the explosion an accident during the transport of munitions, but there are a number of reasons to believe it was not. Firstly, the commander killed...
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Summary: Over the past year, events in the Middle East, including most notably the Arab Spring, have dramatically altered the security landscape facing the nation of Israel, as well as the national security interests of the United States in the region.  While each of these events have been well cataloged separately and in greater...
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In the post-modern world, we are too quick to dismiss ideology as a motivating — or even the strongest — factor underlying a nation state’s behavior. In spite of having recently fought two against two dangerous  and deadly ideological opponents, first fascism, and then communism, understanding the motivating power and fanaticism generated by an...
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Revolution and turmoil continue throughout the Middle East, with Moammar Qaddafi’s brutal suppression of the uprising in Libya earning the majority of headlines. But in tiny Bahrain, events are unfolding that may have tremendous consequences for the entire region. On March 14, the Gulf Cooperation Council, led by Saudi Arabia, deployed more than 3,000...
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Last Thursday, London’s Financial Times reported that U.S. officials are worried that Iran could deploy a new generation of centrifuges. Such devices are three times faster than the centrifuges Iran relies on now, thus shortening the time needed to enrich uranium and reach nuclear weapon status. “If they were to deploy large numbers of...
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This week, Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad arrived in Lebanon to throngs of thousands upon thousands of cheering supporters who threw candies and rose petals at his passing motorcade. In a highly symbolic move, the Iranian leader went to Bint Jubail, just four miles north of the border with Israel, a southern Lebanese village that...
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By Sarah N. Stern and Kyle Shideler After Lebanon’s August 3rd cross-border sniper attack that killed Israel Defense Forces Colonel Dov Harari and injured a second officer, the U.S. Congress, led by Rep. Howard Berman (D-CA) and Rep. Nita Lowey (D-NY) ordered a hold placed on $100 million in military aid for the Lebanese...
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By: Kyle Shideler, Senior Research Fellow The recent announcement of a proposed $30 billion arms deal to Saudi Arabia, which includes 84 F-15E fighter jets, has once again raised questions on whether the United States is honoring its oft-stated commitment to help maintain Israel’s qualitative military edge (QME). It has long been an unwritten...
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As I write these words, exactly ten years have passed since the IDF (Israel Defense Forces) withdrew from Southern Lebanon on May 24, 2000. It is a sad, although some might argue, bittersweet anniversary. Israel first entered Southern Lebanon in 1978 after a wide series of PLO attacks onto Israel’s northern border towns. The...
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(This is a speech that Sarah Stern delivered to Beth Jacob Congregations in Los Angeles) We recently celebrated the 62nd anniversary of the establishment of the state of Israel. The scratchy video tape of that momentous vote in the United Nations will be forever etched on the collective memories our generation. And as you...
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