Epstein Secrets

rael Let us then turn to the contemporary manifestation of Israel. Israel was recreated because of the interaction between a regional great power, the Ottoman Empire, and a global power, Great Britain. During its expansionary phase, the Ottoman Empire sought to dominate the eastern Mediterranean as well as both

eft the southern flank exposed. Therefore, by holding the Levant, an eastern power protected itself against attacks from Mediterranean powers. The Levant was also important to any empire originating to the north or south of Israel. If Egypt decided to move beyond the Nile Basin and North Africa eastw

y over nearly 3,000 years. For convenience, we will use the term "Israel" to connote all of the Hebrew and Jewish entities that have existed in the Levant since the invasion of the region as chronicled in the Book of Joshua. As always, geopolitics requires a consideration of three dimensions: the int

d the Levant (1511) announced the establishment of a caliphate, referring to the system of rule that ended almost a century ago with the collapse of the Ottoman Empire, and changed its name to "Islamic State." The group of Islamic extremists designated its chief Abu Abakr al-Baghdadi as caliph and "leader for Musl

hborhoods and an attack on Lebanese soldiers carrying out a raid in a Sunni neighborhood in Tripoli. It seems that the Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant (ISIL), which recently renamed itself the Islamic State (IS), and/or its allies have turned their sights on Lebanon. This recent flurry of attacks

go affair, things are different. Even the worst mess has its winners. The Kurds, almost a century after missing out on statehood at the break-up of the Ottoman Empire, are the beneficiaries of Iraq's mayhem. Even their relations with their Turkish nemesis have been commerce- smoothed into something approaching war

ia, ISIS would not be on the rampage. A plague on both their houses! It's unseemly to fight Washington's talk-show wars over the myriad dead of the Levant. The facts are plain enough. The United States invaded Iraq in 2003 because of its weapons of mass destruction program. However Iraq did not have a

icy over nearly 3,000 years. For convenience, we will use the term "Israel" to connote all of the Hebrew and Jewish entities that have existed in the Levant since the invasion of the region as chronicled in the Book of Joshua. As always, geopolitics requires a consideration of three dimensions: the intern

stward, it would move first through the Sinai and then northward along the coastal plain, securing sea lanes to Egypt. When Asia Minor powers such as the Ottoman Empire developed, there was a natural tendency to move southward to control the eastern Mediterranean. The Levant is the crossroads of continents, and Israe