Shoshana Bryen is senior director of the Jewish Policy Center in Washington D.C.
Her books, available on Amazon, include:
By Shoshana Bryen WASHINGTON, D.C. — History is back and so are the Russians. After an interregnum of twenty years, during which the communist Soviet Union was demolished and a crony capitalist, Russian kleptocracy turned inward to establish firm control of journalists (oh wait, that might have been the Obama Administration), civil society practitioners including […]
U.S. misunderstands Russian goals in Syria Read More »
Shoshana Bryen, USABy Shoshana Bryen WASHINGTON, D.C. — Russia’s President Vladimir Putin called Prime Minister Netanyahu during Mr. Netanyahu’s visit to China, surely a diplomatic oddity. (Chinese Premier Li Kegiang answers the hotline in Beijing and says, “Oh, sure. Hey, Bibi, it’s for you.”) President Obama called him there as well, making Netanyahu appear to be the
Anti-Israel violence is ongoing warfare, not ‘retaliation’ Read More »
Middle East, Shoshana BryenBy Shoshana Bryen WASHINGTON, D.C.–The announcement by Secretary of Defense Hagel that the United States will “rethink all options” including arming Syrian rebel groups, was carefully hedged. “It doesn’t mean… you will” (choose any particular path). The statement however moves the U.S. closer to picking sides in a war with no good options and no
Sunni-Shia clash in Syria part of their global war Read More »
Middle East, Shoshana BryenBy Shoshana Bryen WASHINGTON, D.C. — As a U.S. senator, Chuck Hagel went to great lengths to assure people he was not the “Senator from Israel,” and he seemed surprised when people objected to his remark, “The political reality is … that the Jewish lobby intimidates a lot of people up here.” It was never
Did Secretary Hagel have an Israel epiphany? Read More »
Middle East, Shoshana BryenBy Shoshana Bryen WASHINGTON, D.C — The discovery that Tamerlan and Dzhokhar Tsarnaev lived in the United States for a decade produced a spate of theorizing over “homegrown” terrorism and terrorists. Baseball, Google and iPhones are homegrown. There is nothing “homegrown” about Islamic terrorism, which is taught, bought and paid for by international sponsors, primarily
Boston terrorism not ‘homegrown’ Read More »
Shoshana Bryen, USABy Shoshana Bryen WASHINGTON, D.C. — Almost lost in the terrible events in Boston is the Obama administration’s dire warning last week that the window for diplomatic success in the Middle East is closing — not on Iran’s quest for nuclear capability; not on the Syrian war; not on sectarian violence in Iraq; not on
Enough with the ‘window of opportunity’ rhetoric Read More »
Middle East, Shoshana BryenBy Shoshana Bryen WASHINGTON, D.C. — The Tarnaev brothers were cruelly successful, but they are far from the only terrorists over the past decade with big ideas about carnage in America. There is a temptation with each act of terror to see it as isolated, connected to the mental state of the actor, but not
Boston terrorism part of a larger pattern Read More »
Shoshana Bryen, USABy Shoshana Bryen WASHINGTON, D.C. — If countries were people and Israel was an American, it would begin to collect Social Security in nine months. It would be eligible for a reverse mortgage and only a few years from mandatory withdrawals from its 401k. We’d be talking retirement and watching the grass and the grandchildren
Israel at 65; young, not at all retiring Read More »
Middle East, Shoshana BryenBy Shoshana Bryen WASHINGTON, D.C. –A maxim in the United States Army is, “Don’t tell a soldier to do something; tell him what you want done.” President Roosevelt didn’t tell General Eisenhower to cross the English Channel; he told him to obtain the unconditional surrender of Nazi Germany. A counterexample can be found in the
U.S. policy in Syria totally confused Read More »
Middle East, Shoshana BryenBy Shoshana Bryen WASHINGTON, D.C– Palestinian Authority leader Mahmoud Abbas has agreed to “suspend unilateral action” against Israel for some indefinite period of time. It is, his spokesman says, to “give a sufficient chance for [US Secretary of State John] Kerry’s efforts to succeed.” By this, Abbas apparently means he will not make any additional
Abbas stirring up hate to stay in power Read More »
Middle East, Shoshana BryenBy Shoshana Bryen WASHINGTON, D.C. — President Obama’s visit to Israel, and particularly his speech to 500 university students, was a winner at many levels including one he probably had not even considered. In how many countries can the President of the United States call forth the passions of the local people and have confidence
President Obama’s call for peaceful protest in Israel Read More »
Middle East, Shoshana BryenBy Shoshana Bryen WASHINGTON, D.C. — President Obama has had an opportunity during his visit to see some of Israel’s pioneering technology. The list (with thanks to Tom Gross) includes energy alternatives; search and rescue technology; a bionic exoskeleton that allows paraplegics to walk; and a “third eye” camera that helps prevent automobile collisions. If
The President and Israel’s scientific accomplishments Read More »
Science, Medicine, & Education, Shoshana BryenBy Shoshana Bryen WASHINGTON, D.C. — Israel has a government, Mr. President. That’s something to remember when you arrive there next week. Israel has a government, elected by its people in a free, fair, open and democratic election. Multiple parties representing widely divergent points of view met a wildly diverse electorate through free media and
President Obama and the new Israeli government Read More »
Middle East, Shoshana BryenBy Shoshana Bryen WASHINGTON, D.C. — Training Syrian rebels to conquer the Golan Heights and shoot down Israeli aircraft? No, they don’t say it quite like that. But after years of hypocrisy, the Obama administration has admitted that while it declined to arm Syrian rebels directly for fear that weapons would end up in the
Is U.S. aiding Syrian rebel plans to fight Israel? Read More »
Middle East, Shoshana Bryen