Navigating the tumultuous Mideast

http://www.israelhayom.com/site/newsletter_opinion.php?id=15187 ^ | David M. Weinberg

[zlando]

With the Mideast state structure is crumbling, Israel needs innovative strategic thinking about its diplomatic and defense policies.

How should Israel maneuver between America and Russia, or position itself between the competing Arab blocs? How does Israel maintain freedom of action, build alliances, and improve its qualitative edge?

There is a great deal of deliberation on these matters conducted behind closed doors in the national security establishment, to which the public is rarely exposed. It is only when key figures leave government service and begin to give fuller articulation of their views that a clear picture emerges.

The recent retirement from decades of government service by Col. (res.) Dr. Eran Lerman is just such an opportunity. One of the most respected intellectuals to emerge from IDF Military Intelligence’s research directorate, Lerman served for the past six years as deputy for foreign policy and international affairs at the National Security Council in the Prime Minister's Office.