Washington’s North Korea Dilemma

The June 30, 2019 meeting between President Donald Trump and Kim Jong-un at Panmunjom, the border between North and South Korea, reignited negotiations between North Korea and the US on the Singapore agreement. The gap between Washington and Pyongyang remains huge. The negotiation team will have to find new ways to weave together North Korea's Yongbyon offer and Washington’s demand for full disarmament.

The UAE Withdraws from Yemen

A UAE decision to withdraw the bulk of its forces from Yemen shines a spotlight on hard realities underlying Middle Eastern geopolitics. The pullback suggests that the UAE is preparing for the possibility of a US military confrontation with Iran in which the UAE and Saudi Arabia could emerge as prime battlegrounds. It also reflects long-standing subtle differences in the approaches of Saudi Arabia and the UAE toward Yemen.

Is the BDS Movement on the Rise?

According to the BDS movement’s Palestinian branch, the impact of the movement “is increasing substantially.” Many pro-Israel sites and organizations agree with that assessment. But how accurate is this prognosis?

Venezuela: A Mafia State

President Nicolás Maduro’s Venezuela is effectively a mafia state, run by a military leadership that is heavily involved in the drug trade and security forces that aid the criminal networks they are supposed to be battling. They are shored up by 15,000 Cuban military and security personnel and in cahoots with Iran, the world’s largest state sponsor of terrorism.

The Palestinians Continue to Reject Any Settlement with Israel

The “Deal of the Century” and the Bahrain conference show that Saudi Arabia and the Gulf States, like other Islamic countries, have no real reason to oppose either normal relations with Israel or a settlement aimed at improving the lives of the Palestinians. The Palestinians, however, are not interested in a peace settlement but rather in maintaining the status quo of an ongoing struggle against the “Zionist enemy.”

Declining US Naval Power Does Not Augur Well for Eurasia

Emil Avdaliani
July 29, 2019
Paper No. 1240

As US naval power declines, other powers – such as China, Russia, and, to a lesser extent, India and Iran – are set to increase their presence in the world’s naval lanes. Because American power depends on its dominance at sea, Washington’s ability to control Eurasia is coming under increasing pressure.

Barreling Toward a Nuclear and Ballistic Missile Arms Race in the Middle East

The Middle East is barreling toward a nuclear and ballistic missile arms race. That race is being aided and abetted by a US policy that views the region through the dual prism of the need to stop an aggressive, expansionary, and destabilizing Islamic Republic that seeks to dominate it, and the view of the region as a lucrative market for the US defense and nuclear industry.

Russian Soft Power in the Middle East

Russian soft power efforts in the Middle East are bearing fruit, as many young Arabs now view Moscow as an ally and the US as unreliable. Russia wants to build more ties with the Muslim world and views Trump’s presidency as an opportunity in that regard. This ambition is tempered somewhat by the Muslim jihadist threat in Russian areas and, of course, the painful legacy of the war in Afghanistan.

Jordan’s Double Game with Israel

Dr. Edy Cohen
July 25, 2019
Paper No. 1237

Despite 25 years of formal peace, many in Jordan regard Israel as an illicit enemy state. The Jordanian government plays a double game: its public hostility toward Israel enables it to preserve its popularity while, behind the scenes, it maintains close ties with Israel.

The BBC Revelations: Holocaust Promoters Inside the Labour Party

One of the most sensational revelations of the recently screened BBC Panorama documentary on antisemitism within the British Labour Party is the presence there of actual Holocaust promoters. The documentary did not address every element of Labour antisemitism, but did provide much new information on “smokescreening” by the leadership: the practice of falsely claiming that it took determined action against antisemitism when in fact it took only partial, lukewarm action.

Perspectives Papers