Louis René Beres
North Korea, Nuclear Diplomacy, and International Law
"Where will it end? When will it all be lulled back into sleep, and cease, the bloody hatreds, the destruction?"
-Aeschylus, presenting the conclusion of Agamemnon
If US President Donald Trump should sometime manage to re-start the...
Israel’s Nuclear Strategy: Enhancing Deterrence in the New Cold War (Part I)
"Oh ship of state, new waves push you out to sea...."
—Horace, Odes
By definition, as long as particular countries regard their nuclear status as an asset, every state that is a member of the so-called...
Essential Calculations of Rationality and Irrationality in US Nuclear Deterrence
"The rational is not thinkable without its other, the non-rational, and it never appears in reality without it. The only question is, in what form the other appears, how it remains in spite of...
Israel’s Nuclear and Conventional Deterrence
EXECUTIVE SUMMARY: In the years ahead, Israel could face the growing prospect of WMD terrorism – i.e. , attacks involving chemical, biological, or even nuclear weapons. In this connection, it is vital that Israeli...
Prospects For Israel’s Descent Into Regional Chaos And War: The Trump Effect
“Hereby it is manifest that during the time men live without a common power to keep them all in awe, they are in that condition which is called war and such a war as...
Where Will It End?
"Where will it end? When will it all be lulled back into sleep, and cease, the bloody hatred, the destruction?"
-Aeschylus (Oresteia), presenting the ending of Agamemnon
Currently, the Korean peninsula, Syria and the wider Middle East are...
“In PRAISE Of FOLLY”: The Trump Presidency In Wider Cultural Context
In 1509, Desiderius Erasmus, the famed Renaissance humanist, published In Praise of Folly. Here, the narrator, dressed as a court jester, argues that she is humankind’s greatest benefactor. Nursed, acknowledges Folly, by Drunkenness and...
International Law and WMD Attacks on Israel
In the years ahead, Israel could face the growing prospect of WMD terrorism, i.e., attacks involving chemical, biological, or even nuclear weapons. In this context, it is vital that Israeli officials do their utmost...
The US, Russia, and Syria – What to Worry About Next
“Where there were great military actions, there lies whitening now the jawbone of an ass.” – Saint-John Perse (French poet, 1887-1975)
More than likely, the recent allied strikes against Syrian chemical weapons-related targets are not the end of...
Allied Strikes in Syria, Russia, and International Law
Nullum crimen sine poena, "No crime without a punishment."
(Ancient principle of law reaffirmed at the Nuremberg Trials)
For the most part, a military response to the recent Syrian chemical attacks at Douma was obligatory under...