Egypt has up security along its shared northern border with the Gaza Strip following Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s February 9 announcement of a planned ground offensive in Rafah, south of the enclave, “to eliminate Hamas’ last remaining strongholds.” The impending crisis has left Egyptian President Abdel Fattah el-Sisi with little options—as internal pressures continue
Oleksandr Syrsky does not have the luxury of easing into his new job. As Russia’s full-scale invasion of Ukraine approaches the two-year mark, Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy recently tapped Syrsky as Ukraine’s new commander-in-chief in the biggest shakeup of Ukraine’s military leadership since the start of the war. As Ukraine’s top general, Syrsky must now
War once again looms between Israel and Lebanese Hezbollah. After the last conflict between the two adversaries, the United Nations Security Council (UNSC) adopted Resolution 1701, which installed figurative guardrails to prevent renewed war. It demanded that Lebanon—which promised to send fifteen thousand of its soldiers to its frontier with Israel—control its territory and disarm
Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy has announced the removal of Ukraine’s top general, Valery Zaluzhny, in the biggest shakeup of the country’s military leadership since the start of Russia’s full-scale invasion almost two years ago. In a statement confirming the move, Zelenskyy said he had decided to “renew the leadership” of the Ukrainian military as he
As the Red Sea crisis prompted by the Gaza War enters its fourth month with no sign of a breakthrough, Egypt—which relies on Suez Canal revenues as one of its primary sources of foreign currency—has been hit hard. Attacks on ships in the Red Sea by Iran-backed Houthis in Yemen have caused major shipping companies
Are we at the end of an eighty-year period of US global leadership? The United States emerged as a global leader—no, the key global actor—when President Franklin Delano Roosevelt overcame a long tradition of US isolationism by moving forward with the Lend-Lease program that provided essential aid to keep the United Kingdom in the war
ORIGINAL SOURCE On February 5, Markus Garlauskas’ remarks from a recent public event at the Korea Society were quoted by the Daily Beast. The article, examining rising fears of North Korean aggression, referenced his recent comments that the focus should not be on full-scale war, but “in that space between provocation of war.” Staff Markus
Prepare for round two. On Sunday, John Kirby, a spokesperson for the National Security Council, said that US strikes over the weekend in Iraq and Syria were “just the first round” in response to the January 28 killing of three US servicemembers in a drone attack in Jordan. He spoke after B-1 bombers and other US forces
ORIGINAL SOURCE On February 2, IPSI nonresident senior fellow Sara Bjerg Moller was mentioned in a recent Foreign Policy article by Matthew Kroenig and the Stimson Center’s Emma Ashford. The article, on whether the US can deter or compel Iran, referenced Moller’s claim that “if you have to carry through on your coercive threat deterrence
If the [US] response is too weak, Iran will essentially conclude that it got away with this attack and that it can continue to attack US forces and bases in the region, so it needs to be strong enough that Iran decides that this isn’t worth it. Matthew Kroenig
