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Perspectives Papers

Perspectives Papers provide analysis from BESA Center research associates and other outside experts on the most important issues pertaining to Israel and the Middle East.

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The 75th Anniversary of North Korea’s Kim Dynasty: A Striking and Strange Spectacle

Kim Jong-un recently presided over an extraordinary military parade in Pyongyang to commemorate the 75th anniversary of the Kim dynasty’s control over North Korea. While the parade unveiled some gargantuan hardware that was clearly intended to inspire awe and fear in Kim’s adversaries, it also highlighted the wastefulness and imbalance of Pyongyang’s military machine.

From Junior Associate to Senior Partner? The Israeli Navy’s Strategic Challenges in the 21st Century

Israel depends on the Mediterranean Sea, and the Israeli Navy bears overall responsibility for safeguarding the country’s strategic, security, and economic assets in and around its territorial waters. For various historical reasons, the Israeli Navy was not originally given the priority afforded to its two brethren services: the ground and air forces. Recent geostrategic trends have altered the security situation of the Middle East and the Eastern Mediterranean, however, and this has affected the nature of the threats to Israel's national security. These developments have led to an increasingly important role for the Israeli Navy in securing Israel's national interests.

France’s Skirmishes with Violent Islam

France has insoluble problems with part of its Muslim population. This recently became apparent once again when a high school teacher who had shown controversial cartoons of the Prophet Muhammad to his students was beheaded by an 18-year-old Muslim. The French government’s current skirmishes with radical Islam will ultimately be seen as a footnote in a massive and lengthy battle.

France’s Showdown with the Islamic World

The beheading of schoolteacher Samuel Paty, which occurred two weeks after a momentous speech by President Emmanuel Macron in which he unveiled a plan to defend French secular values against “Islamist radicalism,” marked the start of what might turn out to be an all-out war between France and the Islamic world, with Turkey’s Erdoğan leading the Muslim charge. By taking a stand against Muslim extremist violence and suppression of freedom of speech, Macron might find himself facing a new wave of Islamic terror.

The Abraham Accords as an Impetus to Rehabilitate Western Civilization

Biblical morality, which can also be called Abrahamic morality, was born in Mesopotamia and from there spread west. Until Europe freed itself of its yoke, it was the legacy of the West. Europe’s renunciation led to a series of horrendous calamities from which it was rescued by the US and Britain, which, unlike continental Europe, continued to uphold Abrahamic morality. The Abraham Accords were signed at a time when the US, patron of the Accords and leader of the West and the world, is likewise disavowing its moral values and being taken over by progressivism—another utopian European ideology that has broken from morality. The children of Abraham must make the most of the peace they have reached to reconnect the West with the moral roots that took form in the East.  

The Era of Changing Supply Chains

The world is an increasingly unstable place. This is reflected in the way supply chains, a pillar of the globalized world, are changing. More and more countries are considering moving away from their dependence on China to the Indo-China region, which has a burgeoning population and rising economies. This process will accelerate as differences between the West and China multiply.

Sudan and Israel: An Era of Change

On October 23, the US, Israel, and Sudan issued a joint statement on the normalization of relations between Khartoum and Jerusalem. This step follows the peace agreements between Israel and the UAE and Bahrain and helps cement the nascent regional axis that features Israel as a highly prized ally rather than a vilified enemy. Time will tell to what extent this step will help the provisional Sudanese government overcome its internal differences and reach the 2022 elections as a functioning and effective body.

George Soros’s Negative Interactions with the Jewish World

From a Jewish and Israeli point of view, there are two main issues to look at when analyzing the activities of American Jewish billionaire George Soros. The first are his damaging statements and actions against Jews and Israel, and the second are antisemitic attacks on Soros himself. For Jews, the problems that arise around these issues require fine tuning of their reactions to Soros’s statements and actions.

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