STRATEGIC SPOTLIGHT
War and Peace
Shlomo Ben-Ami
Is an Islamic civil war underway? Can democracy take root in the Middle East? Is the “war on terror” winnable? Can the UN’s ability to resolve conflicts and keep the peace be strengthened? What, if anything, will deter Iran’s nuclear ambitions?
When communism collapsed, some saw the “end of History” at hand. No longer. The quagmire in Iraq and Afghanistan now jeopardizes America’s influence, as Russia returns to oil-funded global prominence and new superpowers rise in Asia. Peace in the Middle East appears more distant than ever. Failed states proliferate, as do nuclear weapons. History, it seems, has returned with a vengeance.
...read more| RECENT COMMENTARIES | FEATURED COMMENTARIES | MOST READ COMMENTARIES |
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The Decline of the West Revisited
Shlomo Ben-Ami Series: War and Peace 2012-02-02Since the publication in 1918 of Oswald Spengler’s The Decline of the West, prophecies about the inexorable doom of what he called the “Faustian Civilization” have been a recurrent topic for thinkers and public intellectuals. But the debate's recurrence is itself proof that Spengler was wrong.... read Comments: 4 Recommended: 0 Read: 9353
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The Lasting Damage of Iraq
Shlomo Ben-Ami Series: War and Peace 2012-01-02
The folding of the American flag in Iraq amid a collapse of public security and a severe crisis in the country’s fragile political order seals a tragic chapter in US history. America now faces a time of reckoning, which should usher in a period of comprehensive strategic rebalancing.... read Comments: 3 Recommended: 0 Read: 9772
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Egypt’s Revolutionary Coup
Shlomo Ben-Ami Series: War and Peace 2011-12-01The Arab Spring was never expected to be a linear process, or a Middle Eastern version of Central Europe’s non-violent democratic revolutions in 1989. Egypt, where the military's hijacking of the revolution has reignited mass protest, is a case in point.... read Comments: 0 Recommended: 0 Read: 9485
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Ransoming Israel’s Chance for Peace
Shlomo Ben-Ami Series: War and Peace 
2011-11-03
Hamas and Hezbollah are bound to read the Gilad Shalit exchange as a sign of Israel’s weakness and as a promise of its imminent capitulation. In these circumstances, Israel's task is to boost Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas, not weaken him, as it did in the Shalit deal.... read Comments: 1 Recommended: 0 Read: 12438
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Has Palestine Won?
Shlomo Ben-Ami Series: War and Peace 2011-09-30Israel’s isolation during the UN debate on Palestinian statehood marks the political tsunami that Binyamin Netanyahu’s critics warned would come if Israel did not propose a bold peace initiative. But, more importantly, the debate showed that any initiative to restart direct negotiations might turn out to be futile.... read Comments: 9 Recommended: 1 Read: 14023
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Nuclear Disarmament and Neighborhood Bullies
Shlomo Ben-Ami Series: War and Peace 2011-09-06
Today's nuclear-disarmament efforts must focus not only on elimination of stockpiles by the major powers, but also on regional powers’ concerns. The "Global Zero" campaign must go hand in hand with a robust strategy of conflict resolution and confidence-building in trouble spots such as Southeast Asia and the Middle East.... read Comments: 1 Recommended: 0 Read: 17111
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The Middle East’s New Game
Shlomo Ben-Ami Series: War and Peace 2011-08-02Even before the dust has settled on the Arab Spring, the strategic structure of the Middle East has shifted. The region's "Axis of Resistance," formed by Iran, Syria, Hamas, and Hezbollah, has almost entirely collapsed.... read Comments: 4 Recommended: 0 Read: 13184
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Arab Spring, Western Fall
Shlomo Ben-Ami Series: War and Peace
2011-07-01
America’s reluctance to be drawn into the Libyan quagmire, and the West’s failure to intervene to stop the Syrian army from massacring civilians, now looks like a sad, and fairly accurate, guide to the future. The future is not one of Western non-interventionism, but of restraint, owing to the limits of US power.... read Comments: 3 Recommended: 0 Read: 16897
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Netanyahu’s Border War
Shlomo Ben-Ami Series: War and Peace 2011-05-24Israeli Prime Minister Binyamin Netanyahu furiously rejects Barack Obama’s proposal to use the 1967 borders as the basis for a two-state solution to the Israeli-Palestinian dispute – frontiers that he called “utterly indefensible.” But his position reflects not only poor statesmanship, but also his antiquated military philosophy.... read Comments: 4 Recommended: 1 Read: 18426
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