JONATHAN SPYER
For
the first time since the 1970s, there was no serious dispute as to who
would emerge as prime minister from the 2013 Israeli elections campaign.
Despite the lackluster campaign, the election results and the
government that emerged from them do represent a certain change. Most
notably, the election campaign focused on internal issues. This is
because a core, centrist consensus on external and national security
affairs now exists among a critical mass of Israeli Jews. This is also
reflected in the new government. The governing coalition consists of
the entire center, right and national religious bloc (with the exception
of the rump Kadima party, with 2 seats, which has not entered). Labor,
the largest opposition party, is centering its criticism of the
government on internal, socioeconomic issues, on which it (rightly)
perceives the new government to
have a fairly united and coherent identity.
TWILIGHT LEBANON, 1990-2011
BY
This
extract from William Harris, Lebanon: A History 600-2011 (Oxford:
Oxford
University Press, 2011) discusses the most recent period in that
country's history, from its devastating era of civil war and striff
(1975-1990), the period of Syrian control, after 1990, and the
present-day implosion of neighboring Syria in its own civil war.
BY
This article deals with the Azerbaijani minority in Iran and its
potential and real security threat for the country’s internal affairs
and for the entire Caspian region. The article opens with an
introduction on the ethnic and religious identities of Iranian
Azerbaijanis and the community’s historical development in Iran--with a
particular emphasis on the 1990s and onward. Next, it reviews the
current situation in the region and the group’s primary motives and
goals
WESTERN INFLUENCE ON ARAB MILITARIES: POUNDING SQUARE PEGS INTO ROUND HOLES
This
article is a personal account of retired U.S. Army Colonel Norvell De
Atkine’s experience in dealing with Arab militaries for over 40 years.
Based on observation and study of Arab military establishments, he
concludes little of significance has happened to change the deeply
embedded character of the Arab militaries.
ISRAELI-AZERBAIJANI ALLIANCE AND IRAN
BY
This
article discusses cooperation between Israel and the Republic of
Azerbaijan in order to neutralize foreign threats and ensure regional
security. Expanding and improving ties with Azerbaijan has been part of
Israel's newly adopted strategy toward non-Arab
Muslim states. Also addressed is Iran's attitude towards Azerbaijan and
the political and ideological opposition between the two mainly
Shi'a-populated countries.
BY
Since
the Arab Spring, China has been quietly asserting its influence and
fortifying its foothold in the Middle East, while the United
States pivots to the Asia Pacific after a decade of war. It is
aligning with states that have problematic relations with the West and
are also geo-strategically placed on the littoral of the “Four
Seas”--the Caspian Sea, Black Sea, Mediterranean Sea, and Arabian
Sea/Persian Gulf.
Professor Barry Rubin, Director, Global Research in International Affairs (GLORIA) Center http://www.gloria-center.org
The Rubin Report blog http://rubinreports.blogspot.com/
He is a featured columnist at PJM http://pajamasmedia.com/barryrubin/.
Editor, Middle East Review of International Affairs (MERIA) Journal http://www.gloria-center.org
Editor Turkish Studies,http://www.informaworld.com/smpp/title~db=all~content=t713636933%22
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