Hamas hostage-taking is a standing threat to global security. If this crime is left unaddressed and its victims go without redress, international norms will be severely eroded, and the world risks witnessing a rise in hostage-taking and terrorist atrocities. Hamas’ atrocities on October 7, 2023 featured the largest international hostage-taking in modern history. Inhumane acts—including
When Vladimir Putin first embarked on the full-scale invasion of Ukraine, he sought to disguise the attack as an act of self-defense while claiming Russia had no interest in occupying Ukrainian territory. “We do not plan to impose ourselves on anyone,” he declared. With the invasion now fast approaching the two-year mark, the Russian dictator
On January 15, the Islamic Revolutionary Guards Corps (IRGC) claimed responsibility for missile attacks into Erbil, the capital of the Kurdistan region of Iraq, that killed four and may have wounded as many as seventeen. The attacks largely hit civilian areas, killing a well-known Kurdish real estate developer and four members of his family. According
US-based international press freedom NGO the Committee to Protect Journalists (CPJ) is calling for an investigation into a series of recent Russian air strikes in Ukraine that injured journalists covering the war. The missile attacks in late December targeted a number of hotels known for hosting visiting international correspondents and representatives of international aid organizations.
ORIGINAL SOURCE On January 18, an article written by Andrew Michta, Director and Senior Fellow in the Scowcroft Strategy Initiative, was featured in RealClearWorld discussing how the United States requires a new national security strategy to better address both the war in Ukraine and larger “period of protracted systemic instability worldwide.” Washington is in need
ORIGINAL SOURCE On January 14, Andrew Michta, Director and Senior Fellow of the Scowcroft Strategy Initiative, was published by Politico on why Congress’s failure to pass the Ukraine aid package in December 2023 demonstrates that the United States should develop a new national security strategy. He argues that “the U.S. and its allies should have
In mid-December, I received harrowing news: The mother and uncle of an active-duty Palestinian-American US Army soldier were trapped inside northern Gaza in a Hamas-controlled enclave behind the front lines of the group’s war with Israel. The soldier’s brother explained that the US military and Department of State told him that his mother was on
On December 29, 2023, South Africa brought a case against Israel at the International Court of Justice (ICJ) in The Hague over allegations of genocide against the Palestinian people. Hearings on South Africa’s request for provisional measures are being held on January 11 and 12. The Atlantic Council’s Lisandra Novo, who previously was a judicial
US President Joe Biden should be applauded for Thursday’s strikes against the Houthis. International trade is constrained by eight primary maritime chokepoints, hard realities imposed by immutable geography. The United States has long recognized a vital national security interest in ensuring freedom of navigation through each of them. This strike helped protect those interests. Half
