Chuck Freilich
Senior Fellow, International Security Program
Contact:
Telephone: 617-495-8898
Fax: 617-496-0606
Email: chuck_freilich@harvard.edu
AP Photo
Summer 2010
"Armageddon and the Threat of Nuclear Terrorism"
Journal Article, InFocus, issue 2, volume IV
By Chuck Freilich, Senior Fellow, International Security Program
"Nuclear terrorism poses a unique threat not only because of the magnitude of the destruction, but because those most likely to perpetrate an attack may be fundamentally nihilistic and therefore undeterrable — prepared to pay any cost in loss of life in pursuit of their objectives. As millennial movements for whom the crippling and even destruction of the U.S. and Israel are sacred missions, a nuclear terrorist attack where even a devastating response is assumed may be a worthy means of ushering in a messianic era."
AP Photo
June 15, 2010
"Prime Minister Ibib"
Op-Ed, The Jerusalem Post
By Chuck Freilich, Senior Fellow, International Security Program
"Bibi rightly takes an uncompromising position regarding security. Ibib grossly mishandled the Gaza flotilla fiasco, enraged international opinion, led to an end to the Egyptian embargo of Gaza and now to a partial termination of Israel's. Justified as the embargo may have been, it failed to achieve its objectives and should have been lifted long ago simply for reasons of cost effectiveness. Now we are being forced to do so under international pressure. Bibi wanted to isolate Hamas; Ibib succeeded in isolating Israel. Hamas, Iran and Recep Tayyip Erdogan's Turkey came out the victors."
AP Photo
May 6, 2010
"Missiles, Missiles Everywhere"
Op-Ed, BitterLemons-International.org -- Middle East Roundtable, issue 8, volume 11
By Chuck Freilich, Senior Fellow, International Security Program
"Far more worrying than the missiles themselves is the expression of Syrian intent, whether calculated or not. Provision of the missiles, the above notwithstanding, is clearly a provocative act, one that Syria knows will be of deep concern to Israel, especially coming on top of both its and Iran's already massive supply of weapons. Lebanon is a tinderbox as is and Syria is stoking the fire."
AP Photo
April 28, 2010
"Israel Must Prepare for Nuclear Terror Threat"
Op-Ed, Haaretz
By Chuck Freilich, Senior Fellow, International Security Program
"Nuclear terrorism is one of the gravest threats to the world's security — so says United States President Barack Obama, who recently convened an international conference on the issue. In Israel, sunk in its own troubles, nuclear terrorism has elicited little interest until now. Beyond the dimensions of the threat, nuclear terrorism poses two unique problems in terms of deterrence. One is that the elements liable to employ nuclear terrorism are nihilist in nature — they are prepared to pay any price for Israel's destruction and are therefore not given to deterrence. The other is the absence of an "address" for purposes of deterrence and retaliation."
AP Photo
Spring 2010
"Decision Time in Jerusalem"
Journal Article, Journal of International Security Affairs, volume 18
By Chuck Freilich, Senior Fellow, International Security Program
In Israel, it has become commonplace—indeed, almost axiomatic—to speak of the Iranian nuclear program as an existential threat. Senior decision-makers and defense officials have repeated this warning so often that the words "existential" and "Iran" have become almost synonymous in Israeli discourse. Foreign media, meanwhile, repeatedly speculate on the prospects of an Israeli attack on Iran, and some have speculated that 2010 may be the "year of decision."
AP Photo
April 2010
The Armageddon Scenario: Israel and the Threat of Nuclear Terrorism
Report
By Chuck Freilich, Senior Fellow, International Security Program
The following study focuses on the threat of nuclear terrorism facing Israel. It begins with an overview of the nature of the threat, before turning to the potential perpetrators of nuclear terrorism against Israel, possible delivery mechanisms and targets, and the specific scenarios under which the threat to Israel might materialize. The study then presents possible policy options for Israel to deal with the threat, both unilaterally and in conjunction with the United States.
AP Photo
April 8, 2010
"The Armageddon Scenario: Israel and the Threat of Nuclear Terrorism"
Paper
By Chuck Freilich, Senior Fellow, International Security Program
"...[G]lobal American efforts to minimize the threat of nuclear terrorism might be of significant indirect benefit for Israel. These efforts include, inter alia: heightened diplomacy to make better international use of existing diplomatic tools and to adopt new ones; intensified pressure on states to deny terrorists assistance and sanctuary; improvements in control over nuclear facilities, stockpiles and personnel; strengthening the NPT; heightened international cooperation regarding border security, export controls, intelligence sharing, and interdiction; and a variety of covert operations."
December 21, 2009
"Playing with Fire"
Op-Ed, BitterLemons.org--Palestinian-Israeli Crossfire
By Chuck Freilich, Senior Fellow, International Security Program
Both Israel and the Palestinians constantly vie for US support and are willing at times to make concessions to it that they are unwilling to make to each other. Under presidents Clinton and Bush, US-Israeli coordination on the peace process was great and carefully nurtured by both sides. Under the Obama administration, neither Israel nor the Palestinians appear well coordinated with Washington. In risking American ire, both Netanyahu and the Palestinians are "playing with fire".
AP Photo
October 12, 2009
"AIPAC, J Street, or JDate?"
Op-Ed, The Jerusalem Post
By Chuck Freilich, Senior Fellow, International Security Program
"Those Jewish Americans, who share a deep concern for Israel's trials and travails, have the right, even the duty, to express their criticism within the Jewish community, the public at large, pretty much anywhere — except before the administration and Congress. There, we have to present one voice — not "pro" every Israeli policy, but united, unswerving support for Israel and a strong US-Israel relationship."
AP Photo
July 13, 2009
"Hoping the Next 100 Days Go Better"
Op-Ed, The Jerusalem Post
By Chuck Freilich, Senior Fellow, International Security Program
"...[I]t was clear from day one that Obama intended to reach out to the Arab world and attempt a breakthrough toward peace. Netanyahu, who professes to 'understand American,' should have done everything in his power to align himself with the new administration's agenda. Instead, his obstinacy led to a glaring crack in relations with the US, a cardinal pillar of Israeli national security, and exposed an unprecedented degree of mutual alienation."
