Author: Arie W. Kruglanski and Joel Singer

The Department of State hosted the Second Strategic Dialogue between the United States government and the Belarusian democratic movement in Vilnius, Lithuania on December 4. Co-chaired by U.S. Deputy Assistant Secretary for European and Eurasian Affairs Christopher W. Smith and the Belarusian democratic leader Sviatlana Tsikhanouskaya, the Strategic Dialogue convened representatives of multiple U.S. government agencies with a broad cross-section of Belarusian democratic actors and civil society representatives. During the Strategic Dialogue, the participants discussed the Lukashenka regime’s appalling human rights crackdown against Belarusians. The United States reiterated its call for the unconditional release of the estimated 1,300 political prisoners being…

SYNOPSIS A common criticism of Israel’s military campaign in Gaza is that Hamas is an idea, and because an idea cannot be defeated, it is futile to fight Hamas. Yet, it is possible to envisage, with a multi-national approach, an alternative way forward to the two-state solution deemed by fair-minded policy actors as a viable future for the Jewish and Palestinian nations. COMMENTARY Writing for The New York Times in 2010, Amos Oz, the celebrated Israeli author, made this point forcefully. He wrote: “Hamas is an idea, …No idea has ever been defeated by force — not by siege, not by bombardment, not…