Israel's Future Wars: Universal Lessons of a Peculiar Case

The following paper examines Israel's views toward future armed conflicts. It discusses four main themes: Israel's traditional security doctrine since the days of its establishment; the emergence of new threats over the last decade and their future significance; Israel's evolving response; and the question of what, if any, relevance this has for the United States. The main argument of this paper is that, while one could conceive Israel's situation as a window to the future and benefit from studying various aspects of its force structure and employment, one should also be very cautious in making comparisons to Israel's unique situation and responses.