Editor-in-chief: David Suissa
March 23, 2022
The fact that longstanding tensions between the US and Russia have never boiled into direct military conflict can be attributed to mutual deterrence between the two nuclear powers. Is the war in Ukraine a sign that America’s deterrence is gone?
The White House has consistently broadcast what it won’t do, removing a crucial component of deterrence: the ability to amplify risk through ambiguity.
… policymakers should explore innovative ways to carry out deterrence to test the Kremlin’s pain threshold differently — sometimes called ‘grey zone deterrence’ or ‘deterrence outside the box’.
Putin is getting much of what he wants from NATO for free. He threatens, he blusters, he used the word “nuclear,” and the West wilts. This is the very paradigm of effective deterrence.
On Tuesday, four Israelis lost their lives in a tragic terror attack in the city of Beer Sheva. The attacker, a Bedouin citizen of Israel, rammed his car into individuals and also attacked with a knife before being shot and killed by an armed Israeli citizen. More at Times of Israel.
Tuesday’s murderer [.] was an Israeli citizen, a Bedouin from the town of Hura. Tuesday’s attack comes against a background of severe nationalist radicalization among the Negev Bedouin. This was reflected in serious acts of violence during last May’s war with Gaza.
Al-Qi’an was imprisoned from 2016-2019 for supporting ISIS, though during his sentencing he expressed remorse over his support for the terror group. Hamas praised the March 22 terror attack, but did not claim responsibility for it.
Past experience has taught us that terrorist organizations will now try to encourage copycat attacks. As always, most of the activity will take place on social media, which gives the young people most of their inspiration. The goal now facing the Shin Bet security agency will be to track pro-terror activity…
Many of the West’s sanctions against Russia have been targeted towards the so-called oligarch class, some of whom have Israeli citizenship. More at AP.
Israel [.] grants an exemption from reporting to the tax authorities on foreign income for 10 years after immigrating to Israel. All this has laid the ground for a situation in which Israel could well become the place of refuge for the “dirty money fueling Putin’s war…”
[Israel] is in danger of becoming a safe haven for Russia and its oligarchs to bypass sanctions. Israel should join its allies in sanctioning Moscow and undermine Russia’s war machine.
…the government plans to limit the amount of time private planes and yachts are allowed to stay at Israeli airports and docks to just 48 hours. The move comes as a flurry of rented private jets departing Russian cities and bound for Tel Aviv raised speculation that Moscow’s well-heeled elite are fleeing for Mediterranean shores.
Here are three takes on day 2 of SCOTUS nominee Judge Ketanji Brown Jackson’s confirmation hearing:
…it was heartening to hear Judge Jackson affirm the promise of America. Too many on the left seem to think the U.S. is structurally, irredeemably flawed.
On the second day of her confirmation hearings for a seat on the U.S. Supreme Court Judge Ketanji Brown Jackson revealed her greatest strength and greatest weakness: She is simply not a purely political animal and she never quite learned how to talk like one.
She also defended her record as a public defender for Guantanamo Bay detainees, noting that public defenders “don’t get to pick their clients.” Jackson added “we’re entitled to be treated fairly. That’s what makes our system the best in the world. That’s what makes us exemplary.”
News of a new Omicron subvariant (BA.2) have some health officials warning Americans that another surge is on the horizon.
Collectively, we have more immunity, and more treatments, than ever before. At the same time, we’re more fatigued about the state of the pandemic and arguably less prepared for a wave
BA.2 is making up an increasing proportion of new cases, and is extending the Omicron surge. At the same time, countries in Europe are lifting Covid-19 restrictions, including mask mandates and indoor capacity limits…
Fauci said [.] the new omicron strain is about 50 to 60 percent more transmissible than the first omicron strain, adding that it could take over as the dominant strain in the U.S.
However, he noted that the strain does not appear to cause more severe illness or evade immune responses from vaccination or prior infection.
Washington Post author Christine Emba (below) thinks that the sexual revolution has been problematic—especially for women. Is it time to embrace a more reserved sexuality?
In our post-sexual-revolution culture, there seems to be wide agreement among young adults that sex is good and the more of it we have, the better… But the outcome is a world in which young people are both liberated and miserable.
“Rethinking Sex” speaks the language of both radical feminism and traditional Christian ethics… It would be easy enough to pick out the passages where Emba’s judgmentalism gets the better of her…
… while anything short of the full embrace of “uncritical sex-positivity” is likely to ruffle some readers’ feathers, Emba told me she’s “not trying to sculpt anyone” with her thesis: “I think we’re all just trying to figure it out.”