Case Study: Hamas’ October 7, 2023 Attack on Israel

Download PDF here

Hostile adversaries are exploiting the widening internal divisions within the United States. Those adversaries seek to overwhelm the U.S., and West at large, through a series of interrelated threats, supporting each other’s strategic efforts. This full spectrum warfare includes large scale conventional attacks for which the West is not militarily or psychologically prepared, and a variety of asymmetric capabilities, including cyberwarfare, political warfare, and subversion. The starkest example of such a nation under attack is Israel, and the parallels are instructive to understand what is happening here at home.

Lack of consensus about external enemies and polarizing political divisions make the United States an unreliable ally. Having unilaterally surrendered its power and prestige to a rising Communist China, Putin’s Russia and smaller, more creative and resourceful regional powers like Iran and Qatar, Washington can no longer command the world stage. The best thing for U.S. security is to free up allies to operate as they need to, which will prevent their conflicts from becoming a divisive issue domestically. If the U.S. attempts to centrally direct and control each of its allies in the conflict, it will be unable to keep up, it will intensify political polarization at home, embolden and strengthen foreign adversaries, and will make Americans more vulnerable to direct physical conflict.

While Russia, China, and Iran may all have unique imperial aims, they are united in their desire to eliminate the Western global order, which itself is also under attack from within.

Download PDF here

Israel_Hamas_2024_CSP