TV7 Powers in Play – Do Superpowers have Super Presidents?
The United States 2024 presidential and congressional campaign is already underway 18 months before constituents are due to cast their ballots. Both incumbent President Joe Biden and his predecessor Donald Trump will compete as leaders of their parties, Democratic and Republican, respectively.
While no candidates are running against Biden, Trump faces multiple contenders and has vowed to remain in the race despite many legal problems.
What impact will a repeat of the 2020 elections have on global affairs?
Aside from rhetoric, how varied is current White House foreign policy and national security agenda from that of the preceding administration? Have the two Chief Executives been equally observant of public and congressional opinion?
The US is the world’s sole Superpower for now, although China is closing the gap, whereas Russia is in possession with a huge nuclear arsenal. Are Presidents Xi Jinping and Vladimir Putin relatively more powerful than either Biden, and Trump aspires to be again?
Panel:
- Host: Amir Oren, TV7 Editor at Large, Host of TV7 Watchmen Talk.
- Col. (Res.) Reuven Ben-Shalom, TV7 Powers-in-Play Panelist, Cross-Cultural Strategist and Associate at ICT, Reichman University.
- Amb. Danny Ayalon, Co-host TV7 Middle East Review, NYU Lecturer, former Israeli Deputy Foreign Minister and Ambassador to the US.
- Brig. Gen. (Res.) Doron Gavish, Former Air Defense Chief, Israel Air Force.
You are welcome to join our audience and watch all of our programs - free of charge!
This program will focus on the geostrategic interplay between great powers on the world stage. Our team of experts will offer their thoughts and analysis on how these events will shape the near and long term future of our planet and specifically what it will all mean for Israel.
Mr. Amir Oren – Host of TV7 Powers-in-Play & Watchmen Talk
Panelists:
Col. (Ret.) Dr. Eran Lerman, Co-host TV7 Middle East Review, Powers-in-Play Panelist, JISS VP and Editor in Chief of the Jerusalem Strategic Tribune
Col. (Res.) Reuven Ben-Shalom, TV7 Powers-in-Play Panelist, Cross-Cultural Strategist and Associate at ICT, Reichman University
Col. (Res.) Miri Eisin, TV7 Powers-in-Play Panelist, Israeli Public Diplomacy, Security, Intelligence Expert at ICT, the Reichman University
Amb. Danny Ayalon, Co-host TV7 Middle East Review, Powers-in-Play Panelist, Former Israeli Ambassador to the U.S. and DMoFA; Lecturer at NYU
TV7 Powers in Play - Israel’s Geo-Strategic Situation, April 2025
On the eve of Israel’s 77th Independence Day, the Global and Regional landscape is partly hidden under cloudy skies. The American dominance in the Middle East seems to be limited mostly by decisions made in Washington according to priorities as seen by the Trump administration. There are obviously Chinese, Russian and on a smaller scale…
TV7 Powers in Play - Discovering a new America, March 2025
With the Trump Administration in its second month in office, its basic approach to global issues becomes apparent, especially following the heated give-and-take with Zelensky. What are the implications for Israel and the Middle East, with Gaza, Lebanon, Syria and Iran’s Nuclear quest all on the agenda? Is there a pattern regarding the various powetr…
TV7 Powers in Play - Where is Syria headed - and who is heading it?
Two months after the Assad Regime collapsed and rebels led by Ahmed al-Sharaa installed themselves in Damascus, the character of the new Syrian Regime is not yet clear. Although its jihadi terrorist origins are undeniable - due to its evolving make-up, and perhaps some wishful thinking - Arab and Western governments tend to give it…
TV7 Powers in Play - Israel’s geo-strategic challenges and opportunities for 2025
As Israel assesses the next 51 weeks or so remaining in the new year, it must take account of global and regional powers whose policies and actions are only to a limited extent amenable to Israeli influence. What will the Trump administration do in the world and as part of it in the Middle East?…
TV7 Powers in Play - Is Deterrence Dead? November 2024
The concept of deterrence has been central to international relations and the game of nations. Powers with expansionist or militant aspirations hold back for fear of unleashing a rival’s might. Lately, though, from Ukraine to the Middle East, and with growing concern over China’s designs on Taiwan’s, it seems that deterrence has lost its strength,…
TV7 Powers in Play - Is there really an anti-Western bloc? October 2024
In late October Vladimir Putin hosted the leaders of almost 20 nations in Kazan, in a show of solidarity in a non-Western cause, the so-called Brics conference. This group is loosely defined by what it is not - American, European, Japanese - but there is no real common denominator between China and India, or Egypt…
TV7 Powers in Play - Is it the person or the Power? September 2024
Medium-class nations such as Italy, Japan and the United Kingdom have undergone a series of Prime Ministers in recent years without a discernible change in their influence or orientation, but Russia under Putin is obviously behaving in a different fashion then with another captain at its helm, Xi is not simply another Chinese leader in…
TV7 Powers in Play - Continuity or Change, August 2024
Now that Trump and Harris have entered the final stretch in the election campaign for the Presidency of the world’s leading power, how should other nations, especially in the Middle East and most especially Israel, prepare for the transition from Biden to either candidate, in the various dimensions of Party, Platform, Problems, Priorities, People (in…
TV7 Powers in Play - Whatever Happened to World Institutions?
All within one week in May, Israel has absorbed a one-two punch by the International Courts headquartered in the Hague, the ICC and the ICJ. UN bodies, from the General Assembly to UNRWA, including the WHO and UNICEF, are notoriously anti-Israel, and there is a limit to what the United States government is willing or…
Despite the “central” in CENTCOM’s name, American foreign policy was fixated on other regions - the Atlantic and the Pacific, the Soviet Union and Communist China - until it was dragged into the Middle East by Arabian Gulf wars. In recent years, successive administrations talked of “pivoting” elsewhere, and Ukraine and Taiwan seemingly bolster this…
TV7 Powers in Play - NATO at 75 : Insights for the US, Europe, Israel and Mideast - March 1st, 2024
Support @tv7israelnews - https://tv7israelnews.com/donate/ Listen to TV7 Israel News latest War updates also on our podcast https://podcasters.spotify.com/pod/show/tv7-israel-news You are welcome to join our audience and watch all of our programs - free of charge! TV7 Israel News: https://www.tv7israelnews.com/vod/series/563/ Jerusalem Studio: https://www.tv7israelnews.com/vod/series/18738/ TV7 Israel News Editor’s Note: https://www.tv7israelnews.com/vod/series/76269/ TV7 Europa Stands: https://www.tv7israelnews.com/vod/series/82926/ TV7 Powers in Play:…
TV7 Powers in Play - Biden Vs. Trump, America Vs. China-Russia-Iran. January 2024
With a Biden-Trump rematch looming on the horizon as the most probable – though hardly plausible – scenariofor the US Election come the end of this year, how is the expectation of a second and last term for either candidate going to shape decisions in foreign capitals in the coming months, with respect to Israel-Gaza-Lebanon,…
TV7 Powers in Play – Year-end review and prospects for 2024, December 2023
As 2023 leaves the calendar and ushers in 2024, we consider the shifts in relative standings among global and some regional powers (Turkey, Egypt, Saudi Arabia, Iran) powers taking part in the Mideast game of nation. Was this the year of an American comeback? Where have the Russians gone, with their regional focus moving from…
TV7 Powers in Play – Global and regional powers in the Israel-Hamas War. November 2023
Some two months after Hamas surprised Israel, perpetrated the worst atrocity in its history and drew the IDF into a war in Gaza, World and Mideastern powers are still jockeying for positions vis-a-vis the combatants and the regional order once the hostilities are over. The United States, with its diplomatic activity and deterrent power, took…
TV7 Powers in Play – Is the world spiraling into a WWIII? - Oct. 27 2023
Gaza and beyond - what are global powers doing in the crisis generated by the Hamas horrific Negev massacre. With the United States leading the Western effort to help Israel’s defensive moves while restraining its offensive ones, and with Russia enjoining the attention being focused away from Ukraine and China leading the anti-American axis, what…
TV7 Powers in Play - The Yom Kippur War - 50 Years On
After one third of Israel’s years so far, the Yom Kippur War engulfed it in the worst crisis of all. Even today, that war’s generation recalls it, indeed lives it, as the most searing experience of its life. A lot has happened globally, regionally and localy in the last 50 years, but some features seem…
TV7 Powers in Play – Back to Basics - Food, Energy, Climate
Typically nations fight over territory, ideology or resources; however, what about the basic building blocks of human existence – individually or in communities – such as reliable food and energy supplies and shelter from extreme climate? Recently, all of these have come into question. Rising summer temperatures, wildfires, floods, hurricanes and earthquakes - the whole…
Have the Americans really left the Middle East? - TV7 Powers in Play
Over the last decade or so, throughout the successive Administrations of Obama, Trump and now Biden, a common theme shared by these very different Presidents has been the move away from the Middle East and the change in the military presence and posture in this region. For a while, it seemed to be implemented on…
TV7 Powers in Play – Ukraine’s “Israel Model," Non-NATO Assurances?
One motive of Russian President Vladimir Putin for his invasion of Ukraine has been Kiev’s wish to join NATO and place itself under its collective security umbrella. In a race of who would preempt whom, Putin beat Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy only to be bogged down in a war of attrition. The problem now is…
TV7 Powers in Play – Do Superpowers have Super Presidents?
The United States 2024 presidential and congressional campaign is already underway 18 months before constituents are due to cast their ballots. Both incumbent President Joe Biden and his predecessor Donald Trump will compete as leaders of their parties, Democratic and Republican, respectively. While no candidates are running against Biden, Trump faces multiple contenders and has…
TV7 Powers in Play – The changing power map around Israel, 75 years On
Israel next week celebrates its 75th anniversary birthday as a Jewish State - independent of the British Mandate that preceded it, and in spite of hostile efforts to eradicate it. In 1948, Great Britain was the dominant great power in the region, with France competing with it and the Soviet Union looking for openings. The…
TV7 Powers in Play – China, Saudi, Iran deal: a crisis or opportunity for Israel?
This episode focuses on Israel’s internal tug-of-war and the Saudi-Iranian thaw as perceived by leading world powers. Other topics for discussion include US policy toward Israel as Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu confronts Palestinian terrorism as well as domestic anti-government protests, China’s success in mediating détente between Iran and Saudi Arabia, and Russian military deals with…
TV7 Powers in Play – Ukraine: Russia’s roulette or routine?
As Russia’s war in Ukraine enters its 11th month with no real prospect of ending this winter, the issue seems one of perspective: the gloomiest predictions of conflict spreading into other European nations and drawing NATO into actual fighting. International assistance in equipment and training were proven wrong, or at least premature; while hopes for…
TV7 Powers in Play – Realignment or Routine, the Future of the Russia-Ukraine War
As Russia’s war in Ukraine enters its 11th month with no real prospect of ending during this winter, the issue seems one of perspective: the gloomiest predictions of conflict spreading into other European nations and drawing NATO into actual fighting - rather than assistance in equipment and training were proven wrong, or at least premature.…
TV7 Powers in Play –Views on Iran-Israel, Intake from US Gen. (Ret.) Frank McKenzie
When he celebrated his birthday Saturday 20 November, having turned 80, the oldest American President ever had a lot to look forward to, as his party, running on his platform and record - and although “all politics is local” - kept control of the Senate. But Joe Biden has three strong rivals, equal to him…
After almost two years in office, the Biden administration published its authoritative guidance to officers and officials in a pair of documents last month. The first, entitled “National Security Strategy,” was issued by the President himself. Derived from it was the second one, “National Defense Strategy,” signed by Secretary of Defense Lloyd Austin. Both documents…
TV7 Powers in Play - UN: Important or impotent, ritual or realpolitik?
The old Frank Sinatra song Autumn in New York brings the promise of new love - which may often be mingled with pain. Autumn in New York is the annual ritual of the United Nations General Assembly session with heads of states and governments and foreign ministers descending upon the glass house in Manhattan for…
Decision making in global affairs: When a Putin, a Xi or an Erdogan finishes his deliberations and decides on a policy move, it is executed with success dependent on the amount of friction with other world actors. But when a Biden wants something done, or not (as was the case with the Pelosi trip to…
While the United States has always seen itself as both a Pacific and Atlantic power, when it had to set a priority it chose the defeat of Germany over Japan in spite of the attack at Pearl Harbor rather than the Manhattan Piers. This perspective seems to be changing despite attention on Europe and Russia…
TV7 Powers in Play - Have Russia and Iran killed the NPT?
The Nuclear Non-Proliferation Treaty is one of the most remarkable achievements of the post-World War II era. Some 98% of the world’s nations agreed to either give up their sovereign rights to acquire nuclear weapons - or if they already had them, to gradually get rid of their arsenals. The few holdouts deserve special treatment…
NATO’s need for agreement across the board is now being challenged by Turkey’s conditions for admitting Finland and Sweden into the alliance. Regardless of the merits of Turkey’s case, the issue at stake is the ability of a holdout, last man standing, to torpedo a plan all others wish to advance, or conversely exact a…
TV7 Powers in Play-Finland after Russia’s threat regarding NATO membership - deterred or determined?
Is the North Atlantic Treaty Organization a stabilizing force in European affairs, or a trigger for the Russian preemptive aggression? When the leaders of the 30-member meet late June in Madrid, they will consider how the alliance protects its current membership and encourages expansion. Russia is vehemently opposed to any of its neighbors coming under…
TV7 Powers in Play - Resistance, assistance and persistence
As Russia’s war on Ukraine enters its third month with no end in sight, Kyiv knows full well that no power will join its active defense against the forces of Russian President Vladimir Putin. Ukraine will fight alone, with the most it can expect from the outside is material assistance of weapons, ammunition, equipment. This…
TV7 Powers in Play - Nuclear-Armed Russia Vs. Weaker Ukraine, Lessons for Other Nations
Can the international system function when two Superpowers are in direct conflict just short of an actual collision? The Russia-Ukraine war has for the first time since the rise of the Berlin Wall in 1961 ignited greater friction between Moscow and Washington than the Cuban Missile Crisis, Vietnam War or clashing interests in the Levant.…
Powers in Play - Does War Have a Future? Early Lessons of The Ukraine Crisis
With the Russia-Ukraine crisis overtaking all other international phenomena, the issues discussed in this episode include: diplomacy, deterrence, intelligence use by policymakers, sanctions, nationalism and breakaway states, United Nations institutions (Security Council and General Assembly), NATO, nuclear weapons, navigation by smaller countries between big powers, military aid without intervention, and above all - the legitimacy…
When Xi Jinping met Vladimir Putin ‘love was in the air,’ or at least mutual interests. Joe Biden’s evident traits are of course somewhat different than Donald Trump’s. Erdogan rubs some of his counterparts the wrong way. Merkel is out - what now? And so on, the old question in a new setting: how does…
TV7 Powers in Play - Does the World have a tri-polar condition?
“The arc of the moral universe is long,” Martin Luther King Jr. once said. The political universe may not be very moral, but it, too, has an ARC - the American-Russian-Chinese domination of world affairs. In this episode, we will explore the relationship between the three components of this ARC, which with the tensions within…
Is winter coming to international relations? Is the world on the verge of Cold War II, with China playing the part of the old Soviet Union, this time with Russia in a supporting role? Or are the omens of doom and gloom being overplayed? A lively Powers in Play discussion with new guest Ambassador Alon…
TV7 Powers in Play - Problems and Priorities: Analyzing Great Power Competition
There are several hotspots in most regions at any given time, but not all of them threaten to get out of hand and erupt into world-class crises. What are the most urgent friction points, should immediacy take precedence over importance and are there powers-led mechanisms in place to take care of them? Panel: - Host:…
TV7 Powers in Play - Telescope and Microscope - Analyzing Great Power Competition
The inaugural episode of TV7’s new monthly program Powers in Play explores the panelists’ objective to examine global affairs by telescope while simultaneously analyzing the Middle East through a microscope. As 2021 draws to a close, which powers are opposed and which are aligned? Should only national actors or also international, multi-national and sub-national be…
