Professor Louis Rene Beres - Archives 2001

Professor Louis Rene Beres
March 1, 2001

For Israel's survival, the implications (of terror) are profound. Convinced that particular forms of violence against Jews and the Jewish State will lead to martyrdom, the agents and expressions of certain Islamic cultures cannot be deterred by ordinary threats of reprisal and harm. This means that effective measures additional to deterrence are now indispensable to Israel's security.

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Louis Rene Beres - Professor of International Law
February 22, 2001

For the moment, no single Arab/Islamic adversary of Israel would appear to be irrational. That is, no such adversary would appear to be ready to launch a major first-strike against Israel with weapons of mass destruction - in the future, possibly even nuclear weapons - in the expectation that it would elicit a devastating reprisal. Of course, miscalculations and errors in information could still lead a perfectly rational enemy state to strike first, but this decision would not be the product of irrationality.

What is true today, however, may not be true for the indefinite future. Certain enemy states, Iraq and Iran come immediately to mind, could ultimately decide that "excising the Jewish cancer" from the Middle East would be worth the costs, however massive.

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Louis Rene Beres - Professor of International Law
January 15, 2001

As a disciplined field of inquiry, Israeli strategic studies are in very poor condition. Yet, Israel's incessant and expanding security problems cannot be improved without a a high level of strategic theory. Israel's rescue absolutely depends upon such theory. What needs to be done?

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