Latest Article from Judith Miller

Legislative Survivors

December 14, 2018  •  City Journal

It's been a good week for Britain's Theresa May and America's Nancy Pelosi, both of whom survived leadership challenges—and both of whom have repeatedly been underestimated by their colleagues and the media.

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Latest Article from Michael Freund

The more they try to kill us, the more we must build

December 13, 2018  •  Jerusalem Post

Though you would never know it from the mainstream press, a new wave of Palestinian terrorism in Judea and Samaria appears to be well under way.

Over the course of the past several weeks, there has been a series of widespread and increasingly serious attacks against Israelis, including stabbings, stonings and shootings.

And while the death toll from this latest round of Palestinian violence has thankfully been relatively low, it isn't for lack of trying by the perpetrators. And that is why it is essential that Israel take immediate, concrete Zionist steps to restore deterrence vis-à-vis the terrorists.

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Latest Article from Clifford May

Punishing the Saudi Prince

December 12, 2018  •  The Washington Times

ABU DHABI | Consult a map of the Middle East. Locate the Strait of Hormuz, a narrow sea passage separating the Arabian Peninsula from Iran, and connecting the Gulf — whether you call it the Persian Gulf or the Arabian Gulf is a thorny question — to the open oceans beyond.

The Strait of Hormuz is among the world's most strategic waterways, essential to the health of the global economy. More than a third of seaborne oil shipments and 20 percent of the oil traded internationally pass through it.

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Latest Article from Matthew RJ Brodsky

European Powers Still Looking to Circumvent U.S. Sanctions with Iran

December 12, 2018  •  ClearCut with Michelle Makori / i24News

Matthew RJ Brodsky joins Michelle Makori on i24News "ClearCut" to discuss Secretary Pompeo's remarks at the UN regarding the advances on Iran's ballistic missiles program, Europe's attempts to circumvent U.S. sanctions on Tehran, and the importance of keeping Saudi Arabia and the UAE in America's coalition of the willing against Iran.

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Latest Article from Tevi Troy

The Underestimated: George H.W. Bush, R.I.P.

December 1, 2018  •  City Journal

George H. W. Bush was always being underestimated. Though he was successful at almost everything he did—Yale student, baseball team captain, fighter pilot, oil executive, politician, and father—people always seemed to think that he was missing something. Peter Flanigan, the Nixon aide who dangled in front of Bush a senior job in the Nixon White House, seemed to typify this uncharitable and inaccurate view when he told him, "Well, you know, George, you'd have to work hard if you took this job." Bush, ever gracious, held his tongue at the insult, prompting his impressed wife Barbara to marvel, "How George kept his temper, I'll never know." Bush went on to serve in a multitude of high-level positions in the Nixon and Ford administrations, including head of the Republican National Committee, UN ambassador, liaison to China, and CIA director. This array of positions served as a launching pad to the vice presidency and then the presidency. Flanigan tried and failed to become ambassador to Spain. Fooled by his quiet resolve, those who underestimated Bush—from Flanigan to Bob Dole to Michael Dukakis to Saddam Hussein—found themselves astounded when Bush bested them. They shouldn't have been. Beneath his gracious, even goofy, WASP exterior was a real warrior.

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Latest Article from Ilan Berman

How The United States And Europe Can Punish Russia For Ukraine Ship Attack

November 30, 2018  •  USA Today

Last weekend's maritime dust-up between Russia and Ukraine — in which the Russian navy fired on Ukrainian ships in the Sea of Azov — caught Western capitals by surprise. Predictably, the skirmish has elicited condemnations from a host of nations worried about the possibility of further escalation in the four-and-a-half-year-old conflict between Moscow and Kiev. But a resolute Western response to Russia's renewed aggression has been far slower to materialize. This, however, hasn't been because of a lack of policy options. To the contrary, U.S. and European policymakers currently have a broad range of ways by which they can ratchet up the costs to Russia for the recent hostilities.

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Latest Article from Soeren Kern

Switzerland: "Creeping EU Accession"

November 29, 2018  •  Gatestone Institute

Swiss voters have resoundingly rejected a referendum calling for the Swiss Constitution to take precedence over international treaties and law.

Two-thirds (66.2%) of voters in the November 25 referendum opposed the "self-determination" initiative, put forward by the eurosceptic Swiss People's Party (Schweizerische Volkspartei, SVP), the largest party in the Swiss parliament.

SVP leaders had argued that the new law was necessary to safeguard national sovereignty from further encroachment by supranational organizations such as the European Union and the United Nations.

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Latest Article from Jonathan Schanzer

I'm a Wonk at a Think Tank. Turkish Media Say I'm an International Man of Mystery.

November 29, 2018  •  The Weekly Standard

I'm a terrorist, an intelligence agent for at least two Middle East governments, a coup-plotter, and a member of a sex cult.

At least that's what the Turkish press is reporting.

My career as a Turkish outlaw and secret agent began when I began researching Ankara's burgeoning links to terrorist groups. In 2010, I observed that Turkey had become a hub for the Palestinian terrorist group Hamas. A year later, I was shocked to learn from senior U.S. officials that Turkey was backing jihadists of all stripes in a bid to topple embattled dictator Bashar al-Assad. Then in 2012 and 2013, reports emerged that Turkey helped Iran evade sanctions—moving more than $20 billion in gold and cash—at the height of the nuclear standoff.

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Latest Article from Asaf Romirowsky

As the US cuts funding, UNRWA employees forced to flee Gaza

October 11, 2018  •  Washington Examiner

The United Nations Relief and Works Agency for Palestine evacuated at least 10 international senior officials from the Gaza Strip last Monday. The reason? These top staffers had received death threats following the announcement of budget cuts and planned layoffs by the agency.

This is all because U.S. had decided not to renew its funding — emboldened, perhaps, by the Taylor Force Act's prohibition on funding organizations that abet terrorism.

UNRWA confirmed later that it had "decided to temporarily withdraw part of its international staff from Gaza following a series of worrying security incidents affecting its personnel in the Strip."

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Latest Article from Aymenn Jawad Al-Tamimi

The Middle East Studies Association and Islamic State Documents- Complaining About What?

October 8, 2018  •  History News Network

[Originally published under the headline "Why is the Middle East Studies Association Trying to Stop the Online Publication of Islamic State Documents?"]

Why would the Middle East Studies Association (MESA), the primary umbrella organization for the field of Middle East studies, oppose the New York Times partnering with George Washington University (GWU)'s Program On Extremism to produce a public archive of the thousands of Islamic State (ISIS) documents the newspaper retrieved from northern Iraq?

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Latest Article from Henry I. Miller

Eco-Bullying Crosses the Pond
Activists' abuse of Freedom of Information laws is spreading to Europe

October 8, 2018  •  Daily Caller

Some bad ideas have originated in America. Reality television, spray-on cheese, pineapple pizza, and deep-fried Hostess Twinkies come to mind. But the most obnoxious of all may be eco-activist campaigners armed with Freedom of Information Act requests, or FOIAs, who pervert the intention of the law in order to undermine sound science, academic scholarship and the free exchange of ideas.

They're about to make a menace of themselves in Europe

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