JINSA Report Authored by Policy Director James Colbert in Cutting Edge News, 11/20/11
Shared Security, Greater Stability–The U.S., Israel, and The QME
by James Colbert, November 20th 2011
Shared Security, Greater Stability–The U.S., Israel, and The QME
by James Colbert, November 20th 2011
While the Obama administration has pursued Middle East policies that could be characterized as being sometimes indifferent to Israel’s precarious security situation, relations between our Department of Defense and the Israel Defense Forces are as good today, if not better, than they have ever been. Both countries reap the benefits that flow from their strategic cooperation and the provision of advanced U.S. defense systems. Above all, they significantly contribute to Israeli deterrence which leads directly to greater regional stability.
Such stability allows Israel to prosper despite its neighbors’ hostility. That Israel is the only true, pluralistic democracy in the critical arc from Egypt eastward through the Gulf States and north through Syria and Iran is a fact that should not be lost on those who favor dealing with “dictators who can deliver.”
Earlier this month, Andrew J. Shapiro, the State Department’s Assistant Secretary for Political-Military Affairs, spoke in Washington about Israel’s Qualitative Military Edge (QME) and the initiatives to strengthen it. The QME, a fundamental goal of U.S. foreign policy, aims to ensure Israel’s ability to overcome credible military threats from any individual state, coalition of states, or non-state actor, while sustaining minimal damage and casualties.
Click here to read the full JINSA Report in Cutting Edge News