World Politics News   Articles for World Politics Course

Israel has launched three military actions against the Gaza Strip in the last six years:  Operation Cast Lead, Operation Pillar of Defense, and Operation Protective Edge.  The New York Times has published a fascinating graphic that identifies certain patterns that were common to all three of these actions.  The graphic casts light on the types of actions by the outside world that seemed to have good effects and negligible effects.  The graphic is definitely worth close analysis.

The Times of Israel is reporting that US-Israel relations have been negatively affected by the recent Israeli actions in the Gaza.  Upon learning that arms were transferred to Israel without the knowledge of the White House or State Department, the Obama Administration halted the transfer of additional weaponry to Israel, following the lead of Great Britain which has halted delivery of some weapons as well.  The report states that the Obama Administration regards the Netanyahu government as “reckless” and “unreliable.”  Israel still has very strong backing in Congress, so it is not clear how damaging this rupture might be.

The Russian humanitarian aid convoy has begun to follow a path that would suggest that the aid would be given directly to the rebel separatists instead of to the Kyiv government (the convot has moved south from Voronezh, and not west toward Kursk).  The Russians claim that the humanitarian aid would be delivered under the auspices of the International Red Cross, but the Red Cross insists that it has not approved a mission to give aid to anyone except the Ukrainian government in Kyiv (the agreement was for the aid to be shipped to Kharkiv).  If the aid goes to the separatists directly, then the act would be viewed as an attempt by Russia to prop up a rebel government by the West.

No one knows what the West would do if that were to happen.  But the US is sending 600 soldiers from the 1st Cavalry Division to Poland and the Baltic states, as well as M-1 Abrams tanks, infantry fighting vehicles, and armored personnel carriers.The deployment of the US soldiers is no accident, but one should remember that Kaliningrad, a non-contiguous part of Russia, is to the north of Poland and west of the Baltic States.  The geopolitics of the deployment is both risky and provocative.