Do Fences Make Good Neighbours? An Analysis of Israel's Security Policy Choices
Is Israeli security best assured by strategic contraction or expansion? Does Israel's decision to build a security fence and the nation's security policies of contracting, rather than expanding, mark a major strategic shift in policy to make Israel more secure in the long run? Or should more attention be focused on the 2006 invasion of Lebanon as signalling a return to the older security policies based on expansion of the country's security sphere, placing Israel more in context with the American-led war on terrorism, with an emphasis on pre-emption to eliminate short-run terrorist threats? This article analyses Israel's recent security policy choices, especially the decision to erect the wall separating Israelis from Palestinians, combined with the unilateral withdrawal from Gaza in August 2005, followed by the decision to return to Gaza and invade Lebanon in July 2006. Did these events represent the failure of Israeli security initiatives of the early 2000s and a return to old security dynamics of expansion vs. contraction?
This War Really Matters: Inside the Fight for Defense Dollars
Drawing on nearly 40 years of news writing focused on military issues, George C. Wilson takes the reader through a fascinating, but little understood, process: how the Pentagon and Congress spend $500,000 a minute on guns and soldiers. Interweaving personal stories and insights from the major players throughout a fast-paced narrative, Wilson provides an inside look at how the 105th Congress and the Pentagon battled for a 250 billion dollar defense budget. Wilson demystifies the 'realpolitik' among the individual armed forces and highly partisan members of Congress, as well as civilian and military leaders, thus giving a sense of the trade-offs involved on all sides. It provides exclusive interviews with major players including Secretary of Defense William S. Cohen, Rep. David R. Obey, and Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, General Hugh H. Shelton relate their distinctive perspectives on how Congress allocates and the Pentagon spends defense dollars. Wilson takes a look ahead with a critical eye to the wars of the next century and asks tough questions: Are we ready for future wars or are we still preparing for the last war, the Cold War? Does the Pentagon need more money? Or can it really do its job with less?
Israeli Responses to the Threat of Chemical Warfare
For the six weeks of the 1991 Gulf War, Israel was faced with the possibility of attack by Iraqi chemical weapons. In response, and in contrast to their behavior over the previous 44 years, the Israelis took a defensive approach, and Israel became the first country since World War II to provide its entire population with gas masks and protection kits. In addition, Israel also engaged in active defense measures by deploying Patriot missiles. The defensive response to the Iraqi chemical threat raises a number of questions about military doctrine and the sociopolitical implications of the policy. This article describes and analyzes the perceived threat in Israel; the policy debate that was sparked by the threat of chemical attack and available responses to it; the impact of "the policy of restraint" and the absence of retaliation on Israeli military doctrine and decision-making in the area of deterrence; the interaction between Israel and the United States over this issue; and the impact on Israeli-U.S. strategic links and Israeli security policy. The policies adopted by Israel, and the debate that accompanied them during and after the war, will have a significant impact on both Israeli policy and the Middle East for many years.