Latest Articles

Why targeting Syria's chemical weapons is not enough to stop rising civilian death toll

April 15, 2018  •  Fox News

By firing 105 missiles at Syrian chemical weapons targets before dawn Saturday, the U.S., Britain and France sent a clear message to dictator Bashar Assad: they will not tolerate his regime's use of toxic gas and other weapons of mass destruction against his own citizens.

But it seems the tripartite alliance is prepared allow Assad to keep killing Syrians on massive scale using conventional weapons. The death toll in Syria after seven years of war is more than 500,000 – and rising. The fact that these deaths did not involve chemical weapons makes them no less tragic for their victims and surviving loved ones.

Continue to the full article  |  More articles

How Putin's Folly Could Lead to a Middle East War

April 9, 2018  •  Politico

Donald Trump needs to stop prevaricating over Syria and take advantage of Russian President Vladimir Putin's Syria failures.

Putin, who unexpectedly thrust Russia into the Syria civil war in September 2015, initially claimed he was there on a counterterrorism mission to fight the Islamic State. Fast-forward 2½ years, and Putin is now in the unlikely position of trying to contain the outbreak of what could be the ugliest Middle East war of the 21st century between Iran and Israel.

Continue to the full article  |  More articles

In the Aftermath of an Assassination Attempt Against the Palestinian Prime Minister, Conspiracy Theories Abound

March 16, 2018  •  Tablet Magazine

Palestinian Authority Prime Minister Rami Hamdallah emerged visibly shaken but unscathed after an assassination attempt on Tuesday in the Gaza Strip. The soft-spoken former academic arrived in Gaza to open a sewage plant and attend some political meeting. He had barely crossed into Northern Gaza when his convoy, which included Palestinian Intelligence Chief Majid Farraj, was rocked by two 33-pound bombs. Seven security guards were wounded and three cars were damaged in the attack.

Continue to the full article  |  More articles

Australia must not be duped into softening its stance on Iran

March 1, 2018  •  The Australian

China and North Korea topped the list of mutual security concerns last week when Malcolm Turnbull met US President Donald Trump in Washington.

The meetings were widely viewed as positive and productive.

But while Asian security policies appear to be aligned, the question of Iran lingers.

Before the Trump presidency, Canberra's Iran policy was in line with the Obama administration's rosy outlook on the 2015 Iran nuclear deal, the Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action.

The Trump administration is significantly less sanguine about the deal, which soon will relax restrictions on arms purchases, missile testing and, with the looming expiration of key restrictions, eventually Iran's nuclear ambitions as well.

Continue to the full article  |  More articles

The Iran-Israel War Flares Up

February 12, 2018  •  Wall Street Journal

The conflict between Israel and Iran may be heating up after a half-decade simmer. On Friday night Iran dispatched a drone from Syria that penetrated Israeli airspace in the Golan Heights. Israel destroyed it with an Apache helicopter. Then on Saturday Israel sent eight F-16s across the border to strike the airfield in the Homs governorate, called the T-4 base, where the drone originated, as well as a handful of other Iranian targets. Although the mission was a success, one F-16 was shot down by Syrian antiaircraft fire—though the pilot made it back to Israel, where he and his navigator ejected successfully.

Continue to the full article  |  More articles

Books by Jonathan Schanzer