Tag: middle east

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The following quote comes from Jonathan Sacerdoti’s Israel’s triumphant response to 7 October, published in The Spectator on October 7, 2024:

Much of the concern surrounding Israel’s actions in the last year was not genuine, but a veiled excuse to criticise the state for defending itself. Critics lamented that Israel might sacrifice global goodwill in its pursuit of victory, but these criticisms are superficial and often placate those who have long sought to undermine Israel’s legitimacy. The notion that Israel should refrain from defending itself to preserve its reputation overlooks a critical reality: a nation’s first responsibility is its own survival, not global approval.

I could not have said it better myself. The essay, which discusses Israel’s national interest and the importance of deterrence in the specific context of surving in the Middle East (and especially as surving as a Jewish state in the Middle East) is worth reading in full.

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Sometimes good articles have silly headlines. One such example is a September 25, 2024 piece on Long War Journal titled The Houthis have challenged the Rules-Based International System and must be defeated. I agree that the Houthis, an Islamist Iranian proxy currently in control of much of Yemen, must be defeated. But I do not think they must be defeated because they are challenging some abstract rules-based international system. My concerns are more prudential. They should be defeated because they are currently using Iranian missiles to do remarkable damage to international shipping, occasionally firing them at Israel, and have within the last few years hit Saudi Arabian oil facilities. As a general matter, defeating violent Islamist Iranian proxies is a good thing without appealing to end of history speak. Of course, the article itself largely agrees, notwithstanding the vague headline.