EMERGING THREATS U.S. NATIONAL SECURITY

MULLAH'S IN IRAN NEED MONEY: EXTORTION RACKET BEGINS AGAIN & U.K. PM JOHNSON NEEDS PATHWAY OUT OF LOCKDOWN FAST

1/19/2021

Joe Biden should reverse Trump’s decision on Somalia
Katherine Zimmerman | Critical Threats Project
The new Joe Biden administration should reverse the Donald Trump administration’s shortsighted 11th-hour decision to withdraw from Somalia to stave off a worst-case possibility.

Saudis Expanding US Military Access to Airfields, Port, to Counter Iran // Katie Bo Williams: The year-old initiative is intended to give CENTCOM "more options" in a fight, general reveals.

The Forgotten People Fighting the Forever War // Jessica Donati, The Atlantic: A devastating incident in Afghanistan shows the perils of relying on Special Operations alone to fight the nation's battles.

Nuclear Extortion: Mullahs Want More Concessions from Biden
by Majid Rafizadeh

The Pernicious Effects of Popular Nuclear Mythology
by Stephen Blank and Peter Huessy

US War Surge Production Too Slow, CSIS Finds
The United States could not make enough military equipment fast enough to sustain its military in the event of a major war. While much thought has been given to how a great power conflict might erupt or play out, far less has been written on how the U.S. industrial base could sustain U.S. wartime equipment…

‘Made In USA’ Won’t Secure Supply Chain Vs. China: Solarium
Rather than try to mine strategic minerals, build key technologies, and develop high-tech talent entirely on its own, the US should work together with trusted allies like Australia, the Cyberspace Solarium Commission and other experts argue.

Johnson's Days Look Numbered Unless He Can End Lockdowns
By STEPHEN MacLEAN, Special to the Sun | January 18, 2021
https://www.nysun.com/foreign/johnsons-days-looking-numbered-unless-hes-able/91394/

Turkey Continues to Honor Its Racists
By Dr. Efrat Aviv, January 26, 2021
EXECUTIVE SUMMARY: The true danger facing modern Turkey is not religious extremism but ultra-nationalism. While other nations tear down their monuments to racists, Turkey continues to honor its own.
Continue to full article ->

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ISRAELI EXISTENTIAL THREAT: DENIAL

1/12/2021

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Israel Is Facing a Domestic Existential Threat
By Maj. Gen. (res.) Gershon Hacohen, January 12, 2021
EXECUTIVE SUMMARY: The Israeli government is living in denial about the growing violent anarchy in the Negev, the Galilee, and in certain cities. Putting a stop to this phenomenon, which is developing into an existential threat, requires an all-out effort to enhance the power of the military and the police alongside appropriate preparations by the State Attorney’s Office and the legal system to restore sovereignty and governance.
Continue to full article ->

Debating Yad Vashem
January 18, 2021
EXECUTIVE SUMMARY: The recent attempt by PM Netanyahu to appoint former IDF general and cabinet minister Effi Eitam as chairman of the Yad Vashem Holocaust Remembrance Center has stirred a heated public debate about the Center’s depiction of the Holocaust in recent years and its implications.
Two BESA associates have joined the debate.
Continue to full article ->

Al Qaeda in Iran–and Afghanistan

Israel’s Air Force attacks warehouses used to ‘store and stage Iranian weapons’ in Syria

Why Hasn't Anyone Attacked Iran's Nuclear Sites

Can Nigel Farage Reform the Tories After Brexit?
By STEPHEN MacLEAN, Special to the Sun | January 11, 2021
https://www.nysun.com/foreign/can-nigel-farage-reform-the-tories-after-brexit/91389/

Intra-Party Feud Of the Democrats Is the Key Battle
By IRA STOLL, Special to the Sun | January 11, 2021
https://www.nysun.com/national/in-divided-america-the-rift-to-watch-is-among/91388/

Our So-Called Foreign Policy: Trumply Deranged Coverage of a Trump Security Policy Win

Israel's Supreme Court Vindicates MEF News from the Middle East Forum
https://www.meforum.org/61924/israel-supreme-court-vindicates-mef

Sunk Costs In Iraq And Afghanistan
by David R. Henderson via EconLog
Will Joe Biden have the guts and/or the sense to recognize sunk costs?

The Big Lesson Of 2020: Government Failure
by David R. Henderson via EconLog
The year 2020 gave us a huge amount of evidence about the relative merits of government intervention and free markets. The bottom line is that government failed massively and free markets triumphed spectacularly (with one major exception) within the constraints that government placed on them. The one apparent exception to government failure is Operation Warp Speed but, as we shall see, that apparent exception may not be an exception at all.

U.S. CHINA

Experts note that if the US is serious about refocusing on great-power competition with China and Russia and away from the Middle East, then withholding high-end reinforcements from the Persian Gulf is the hard call American leaders need to make. This argument is dangerous, argues Fred Kagan in a Hill op-ed. The US cannot allow its policy on China and Russia to starve the Middle East of essential military resources amid a crisis. As long as the US has a diplomatic presence in the region, the US must continue to deter escalation and prepare to protect its people. Learn more here.

US-China competition may not be a “superpower marathon,” but a decade-long sprint. In an AEI report, Michael Beckley and Hal Brands argue that the US will need a “danger zone” strategy geared toward preventing China from achieving major gains that could alter the long-term balance of power with respect to technology and Taiwan. Washington must harden its base infrastructure in Asia, help Taiwan fight asymmetrically, take part in long-term endeavors to reform the World Trade Organization, and reinvest in the domestic foundations of American innovation.
Read the full report here.

Has the Chinese century begun, or is trouble brewing on the horizon? In a new AEI video, Michael Beckley dives into the hard numbers to reveal China's challenges in the decades ahead. He concludes that as China’s economic growth slows, it will continue to crack down on domestic dissent and deter foreign rivals from exploiting their financial woes. The United States must firmly but patiently contain China with a careful blend of deterrence, reassurance, and damage limitation. Watch the video here.

If Beijing poses such a clear global threat, then why has Washington struggled to build a coalition to counter its rise? In a Foreign Policy op-ed, Zack Cooper and Hal Brands debunk the belief that a single alliance will emerge to counter China. Instead, the US must forge a geostrategic coalition of countries in the Indo-Pacific, an economic alliance, a technological alliance, and a governance coalition. Unless the US adopts a more sophisticated approach to coalition building, it will be stuck trying to re-create a world that no longer exists. Continue here.

BIDEN & CHINA

Joe Biden will rediscover Russia when he assumes the presidency. In a Dispatch op-ed, Leon Aron notes that Biden should beware of the pull to befriend or even change Russia. Attempting to change countries’ behavior from the outside usually fails. However, the US doesn’t have to wait for a regime change to moderate hostile policies. Joe Biden’s first priority in his discovery of Russia should be readying credible, quick, and robust responses. Learn more here.

Europe is divided by two different views on the threat Russia poses. In Sweden, increased preparedness for its aggression has produced larger defense budgets. In contrast, Germany and much of Western Europe seem far less concerned over such a “hard power” threat from Russia, explain Gary Schmitt and Craig Kennedy in a Hill op-ed. The new Joe Biden administration, with its clear desire to rebuild transatlantic ties, will look to Germany as the keystone to those efforts. Berlin could do well to look to Stockholm for an idea over what Washington could ask of its partners in Europe. Read here.

BIDEN & GERMANY

No easy reset for US relations with Germany

The Faultline Between Futurists and Traditionalists in National Security
by John Speed Meyers, David Jackson

Something Old, Something New
by Francis J. Gavin

Why Israel's Massive Radar Deal With Slovakia Matters by Seth J. Frantzman
The National Interest
January 14, 2021
https://www.meforum.org/61940/israels-massive-radar-deal-with-slovakia

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THE LONG WAR: FOR AFRICA

1/8/2021

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Rwanda and the African Union: The Promise of Increased US-Africa Engagement
Featuring H. R. McMaster and Paul Kagame via BattlegroundsAfrican nations’ efforts to expand economic prosperity and defeat jihadist extremism underline the continent’s need for strong and stable governance, argues Rwandan president Paul Kagame in the latest episode of Battlegrounds, Hoover’s foreign policy video series hosted by Fouad and Michelle Ajami Senior Fellow H. R. McMaster.

Unresolved Border Dispute Escalates Tensions. Tensions between Ethiopia and Sudan continue to escalate following an ambush and military movements along the contested al-Fashaga frontier. Al-Jazeera

Mogadishu Siege Ends. Somali security forces ended yesterday’s hotel siege by al-Shabab militants. Five civilians were killed, including a former Somali Army general, along with four militants. Associated Press Al-Jazeera

Tigray Situation Continues to Deteriorate. Despite the capture or killing of significant TPLF leaders, fighting continues in Ethiopia’s Tigray region. Refugees have been caught in battles between government forces and rebel militants. Sudan, currently preoccupied with its own border dispute with Ethiopia, could be key to sustaining or inhibiting the TPLF’s cause.
Al-Jazeera BBC

AEI & TERROR & THE SAHEL: READ THE LATEST EDITION HERE
Vicious cycles: How disruptive states and extremist movements fill power vacuums and fuel each other

Russia crowds out Turkey in post-war Caucasus
Having brokered a cease-fire deal between Azerbaijan and Armenia, Vladimir Putin is now giving priority to the development of transport links in the conflict-ridden region.

Ethiopia’s worsening crisis threatens regional, Mideast security
With the Horn of Africa increasingly becoming an integral part of the Middle East’s security landscape, the fallout from Ethiopia's current crisis will have a significant impact on states of the region.

Nile dam talks hit yet another snarl
The latest round of talks between Egypt, Sudan and Ethiopia over the controversial Nile River dam again collapsed amid Sudanese objections and calls for African Union experts to take on a greater role in resolving the dispute.

What can Turkey expect from Qatari-Gulf deal?
Turkey feels vindicated as al-Ula Declaration ends the blockade against Qatar.

Egypt seeks to bypass Turkish presence in Senegal
In an attempt to counter Turkey’s expansion in West Africa, Egypt and the UAE seek to consolidate their ties with Senegal, the gateway to West Africa, by pushing forward new investments in the African country.

EMERGING THREAT ASSESSMENT
GLOBAL STRIKE MEDIA.COM
NORTH AMERICA

MULLAH'S IN IRAN NEED MONEY: EXTORTION RACKET BEGINS AGAIN & U.K. PM JOHNSON NEEDS PATHWAY OUT OF LOCKDOWN FAST

ISRAELI EXISTENTIAL THREAT: DENIAL

U.S. CHINA

BIDEN & CHINA

BIDEN & GERMANY

THE LONG WAR: FOR AFRICA

THE U.K. MOVES BEYOND BREXIT TO GOVERNANCE

EXAMINING IRAN'S BREAKOUT TIME FOR NUKES & BIDEN'S APPEASEMENT

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EMERGING THREAT ASSESSMENTGLOBAL STRIKE MEDIA.COM NORTH AMERICA

MULLAH'S IN IRAN NEED MONEY: EXTORTION RACKET BEGINS AGAIN & U.K. PM JOHNSON NEEDS PATHWAY OUT OF LOCKDOWN FAST

ISRAELI EXISTENTIAL THREAT: DENIAL

U.S. CHINA

BIDEN & CHINA

BIDEN & GERMANY

THE LONG WAR: FOR AFRICA

THE U.K. MOVES BEYOND BREXIT TO GOVERNANCE

EXAMINING IRAN'S BREAKOUT TIME FOR NUKES & BIDEN'S APPEASEMENT

Archives

Categories

What Our Clients Are Saying

Contact Us

Subscribe Today!

EMERGING THREAT ASSESSMENT
GLOBAL STRIKE MEDIA.COM
NORTH AMERICA