Louis René Beres
Anti-reason in Israel’s defense policy: Addressing the Jihadist threat
“There is something inside us that yearns not for reason, but for mystery…. for whisperings of the irrational.” Karl Jaspers, Reason and Anti-Reason in our Time (1952)
In matters of national security, anti-reason can be as determinative as...
Israel’s Survival in a ‘State of Nature’: Unprecedented Obligations of Law and Strategy
Facing recurrent cycles of terror-violence in a “state of nature,” Israel must defend itself in both law and strategy. Though generally unacknowledged, this dual-level defense could prove gainful not just for Israel, but also for other...
Impediments to Reason: Israel’s Survival “In Time”
Whether its objective is war-winning, war-avoidance or counter-terrorism, Israel should assess primary survival options “in time.” More precisely, with conspicuous intent, the Jewish State’s pertinent policy makers will need to differentiate Israel’s specific ideas...
Israel and the Middle East: Could There Be a Regional Nuclear War?
Current synergies between Palestinian statehood and regional nuclear war remain generally ignored. Once formally established, a Palestinian state could significantly impact the Israel-Iran balance of power, and also lead to the acceleration of competitive...
Sovereignty and Immortality: Deciphering the Ultimate Promise of World Politics
Human beings rarely participate in world politics directly, but they do get involved as individual members of separate sovereign states. Normally, the expected costs and benefits of such indirect participation remain tangible expressions of...
Geometries of Chaos: America’s Future in World Politics
“Where does one go from a world of insanity? Somewhere on the other side of despair.” –T.S. Eliot, The Family Reunion (1939)
Normally, geometry and chaos are mutually exclusive. Still, when applied to complex considerations...
Israel’s wars against jihadi terrorists concern intersections between death and time.
In the final analysis, Israel’s wars against jihadi terrorists concern intersections between death and time. While these wars highlight sub-state adversaries, they also point toward existential conflicts with Iran. All such wars, whatever their...
Jihadist criminality and Israeli law-enforcement
Immediately following the fall of Bashar al-Assad’s regime in Syria, a reconfiguration of jihadi groups began to take shape. In ways not yet fully understood, this complex reconfiguration is being accelerated by Israel-Hamas hostage...
Targeting Jihadi Terrorists: Authoritative Legal Guidelines
“The safety of the people shall be the highest law.”
Cicero, The Laws
During the coming year, the United States, in occasional concert with Israel, must confront expanding terrorist threats. Topping pertinent concerns in Washington and Jerusalem...
The region’s true enemy is a sordid mix of criminal jihadist forces
‘A boy had been given money to buy things at the grocery store. On the way, he lost the money. Someone saw him looking for the money: “Did you lose it here?” the man...