Security Implications of the Iran-China Deal

The implications of the newly signed Sino-Iranian deal go beyond economics. The deal also covers security matters pertaining to intelligence and military cooperation that provide both Iran and China with advantages over rival states.

Ideology Is Losing. China Is Winning

Lev Stesin
May 9, 2021
Paper No. 2018

The clash with China is upon us and the US is losing. It is not losing technologically, or at least not yet. It is losing ideologically. China is winning not because it has a more appealing ideology than the US but because it has none.

What the Recently Leaked Recordings Reveal About Iran

Yaakov Lappin
May 6, 2021
Paper No. 2017

A recently leaked audio recording featuring Iran’s foreign minister lamenting the dominance of the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC) in setting Iranian policies provides new evidence of the way Iranian hardliners exclude all others in setting the Islamic Republic’s agenda.

Sisi’s Egypt Has the Upper Hand Over Erdoğan’s Turkey

The foreign policy of Turkish president Recep Tayyip Erdoğan, a combination of imperialism and Muslim Brotherhood sentiment, was most visible in his moves against Abdel Fattah Sisi’s Egypt. Ankara is beginning to recognize its folly. Will the new US administration learn from its mistake?

The Two Faces of American Foreign Policy

Dr. Alex Joffe
May 4, 2021
Paper No. 2015

The ongoing crisis in American culture has brought two seemingly unrelated trends to the forefront: advocacy of technocratic expertise aimed at solving global issues, and condemnation of America’s allegedly irredeemable racism. American diplomacy exemplifies these trends through the figures of Secretary of State Antony Blinken and UN Ambassador Linda Thomas-Greenfield. Both trends are founded in Puritanical moralism, according to which salvation is difficult if not impossible and “crisis” is a tool for accumulating power.

The Khatam al-Anbiya Camp and the Future of the Revolutionary Guards’ Empire

The West assumes that if the Islamist regime of Iran is granted some leeway, it will stop its aggression toward other nations. The Revolutionary Guards’ push for absolute power in Iran and belligerent empire-building across the Middle East suggest otherwise.

The Jerusalem Declaration on Antisemitism and Its Jewish Supporters

Evyatar Friesel
May 2, 2021
Paper No. 2013

The Jerusalem Declaration is a political hit piece targeting the Jewish State and should be recognized as such. Even if we accept the claim of its authors that the intention of the Declaration is to “clarify” what antisemitism means, we should take note of the deviousness of the disguises used by modern-day antisemites. Many Jews and Israelis are among the Declaration’s signatories, pointing toward a growing ideological chasm between sectors of present-day Jewry.

Will Violence Erupt If Abbas Cancels the Palestinian Elections?

Hamas and others are threatening violence if Mahmoud Abbas cancels the elections to the Palestinian Legislative Council scheduled for May 22. However, Google Trends data on the declining popularity of both Hamas and Fatah suggest that an eruption of violence is unlikely.

Strategic Ambiguity “Comes Out of the Closet”

Misguided political discourse on the question of the value of strategic ambiguity endangers Israel’s effort to craft its regional image as much as does the loss of such ambiguity.

Turkish, not Saudi, Schoolbooks Under Scrutiny

In a sign of the times, Turkish schoolbooks have replaced Saudi texts as the focus of criticism of supremacist and intolerant curricula in the Muslim world.

Perspectives Papers