Louis René Beres
Israel’s plans to prevent Iranian nuclear power: Is there a Russian ‘fly in the...
For Israel, even after recent successes in complex self-defense operations, it is high time to forge a comprehensive “strategic dialectic." To be sure, Jerusalem’s most capable security planners are already “on the job,” but...
Israel, Iran and Nuclear Deterrence: What Happens “Where There Is No Common Power”
Abstract: Israel and Iran remain poised for a multi-level war. Such conflict could become nuclear even if Iran were to remain non-nuclear. This generally-overlooked observation owes to an inevitably ensuing competition in risk-taking. To wit,...
Death, time and immortality in the Middle East
potentially catastrophic war between Israel and Iran will have little to do with sovereignty, national security or self-determination. Though veiled from superficial assessments of politicians and pundits, true conflict causes will stem from primal jihadist...
Enhancing Strategic Deterrence: Israel, Iran, and Limited Nuclear War
For by Wise Counsel, Thou Shalt Make Thy War.”
Proverbs 24.6
For mostly good reason, policy discussions of Israel’s nuclear strategy and doctrine have been intentionally vague and without evident nuance. More specifically, there have been few open-literature...
Facing Iran and Its Proxies in the 11th Hour: Law-Based Options For Israel
The imperatives are plain. Whatever the trajectory of wars in the region, Israel has a law-based obligation to keep Iran non-nuclear. Immediately and incrementally, therefore, Jerusalem will need to ensure “escalation dominance” during periods of...
Israel vs. its mortal enemies: Deeper meanings of terror, violence against Jewish state –...
Iran, Hamas, Hezbollah, the Houthis, and other jihadist foes of Israel are ultimately more focused on transcendent goals than on tactical or strategic advantages. This focus is “power over death.” How ought Israeli military...
At the margins of regional conflict in the Middle East
Though Iran is not-yet-nuclear, an asymmetrical nuclear war with Israel is still possible. Even a conventional war in the region could elicit calibrated nuclear operations by Israel. Any such unprecedented war scenario is most...
True foundations of anti-Israel terrorism
Triggering Hezbollah pager explosions was likely a useful tactic against the terror organization, but not if the victims are subsequently declared “martyrs” by authoritative mullahs in Lebanon or Iran. This is because such declarations could immediately...
War with Iran: Nuclear dialectics of an expected conflict
On its face, the current strategic balance between Israel and Iran favors the Jewish state. In extremis, because it represents the only already nuclear adversary, Israel is in a dominant position to achieve “escalation...
The futility of Israeli concessions
Though there are many reasons why Israel’s enemies would never honor a cease fire agreement for Gaza, one reason is primal, overriding and immutable. Because Israel is a Jewish state, any concessionary commitments by...