Know thine enemy
The “great, proud people of Iran” are not among them
Empire of Japan
Regime Change Without Nation Building
America and Israel are at war with Iran, a fact that should be neither shocking nor surprising. Both countries have been targeted by the Islamic Republic since its inception in 1979. Both countries...
Op-eds
‘Axis of Aggressors’ Leaders Unite at Military Parade Showcasing Chinese Prowess
Defiant Against the West: Chinese President Xi Jinping stood shoulder-to-shoulder with Russian President Vladimir Putin and North Korean dictator Kim Jong Un at a military parade...
Flash Briefs
A major battle in The Long War
The roots of the current Middle East conflict trace back centuries
Op-eds
FSM breaks ground on China-led airport reconstruction project in Woleai
Federated States of Micronesia President Wesley Simina officiated the May 26 groundbreaking ceremony for the reconstruction of the Woleai airport runway. ...
Op-eds
Examining the Office of Insular Affairs’ Role in Fostering Prosperity in the Pacific Territories and Addressing External Threats to Peace and Security
Legislative Testimonies
War fatigue settles among Palestinians
For the first time, the majority of Gaza civilians—some 57%—now believe that the Oct. 7 atrocities were a mistake, a recent survey reveals.
Op-eds
America’s ‘self-defeat’ in Afghanistan
Three years after the U.S. withdrawal, lessons should have been learned
Op-eds
Biden’s substitute for victory
At best, it’s a frozen conflict
Op-eds
Replacing America
China’s Communists rulers intend to establish a new world order
Op-eds
The JoongAng-CSIS Forum 2024: Keynote Address by Matt Pottinger
Prime Minister Han [Duck-Soo]; Chairman Hong [Seok-Hyun]; President Hamre—thank you for your stimulating remarks this morning. And thank you for inviting me to be here today. We have a distinguished...
Remarks
War flashbacks in Guam as China projects power in the Pacific
Lourdes A. Leon Guerrero, the Governor of Guam, a US territory, is not just waiting for the rest of the US to come save them. In this interview conducted in July, she describes some of the initiatives she is hoping to get off the ground so Guam is better able to defend itself.
Op-eds
Good Luck With That Grand Strategy
Even the most comprehensive plans are bound to fail if leaders can’t build support for them.
Op-eds
U.S. fighting China on the wrong battlefield
While the U.S. has been focused on preparing for the kinetic warfare battlefield, China has been registering big wins on the political warfare battlefield. You can see it all over the Pacific Islands.
Op-eds
Preserving U.S. Interests in the Indo-Pacific
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Legislative Testimonies
Beijing’s Subversive Political Warfare in the Pacific—and the Need for Greater Engagement by the United States and Taiwan
Honduras has said it intends to shift diplomatic recognition from Taiwan to China. We know this story: with the exception of 2007, when St. Lucia switched from Beijing to Taipei, the trend has run in this...
Op-eds
Shaping the future of the world
Either we do it or our enemies do it
Op-eds
Rue Britannia? Russian, Iranian and Chinese imperialism is what should concern us
Russian, Iranian, and Chinese imperialism is what should concern us
Op-eds
China’s Agreement with Solomon Islands & Implications for Security in the Pacific
An Interview with Cleo Paskal
Op-eds
You Must Remember This
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| The Siege of Constantinople |
Mehmed the Conqueror – as he would be known from that day forward -- rode triumphantly into the city on a white horse. Soon, churches would be converted into mosques. Constantinople would become Istanbul.
“For the West this was a dark moment,” writes historian Efraim Karsh in his masterful book, Islamic Imperialism. “For Islam it was a cause for celebration. For nearly a millennium Constantinople had been the foremost barrier – physically and ideologically – to Islam’s sustained drive for world conquest and the object of desire of numerous Muslim rulers.”
Mehmed cast himself as not just as a master builder of the Ottoman Empire, but also as the caliph – the supreme spiritual and temporal ruler of all the world’s Muslims, chosen to “act as Allah’s Sword ‘blazing forth the way of Islam from the East to West.’” He would go on to conquer Greece, Serbia, the Balkans south of the Danube and the Crimean peninsula. His grandson and great grandson would extend the caliphate to include the Levant, Egypt, the Arabian Hijaz including the holy cities of Mecca and Medina, Iraq, North Africa, and most of Hungary.
The desire to conquer the world – or even just one’s neighbors -- is hardly an Islamic invention. Genghis Khan is not a name: It’s a title. It means “universal ruler.” The man history knows as Genghis Khan believed it was his divinely ordained mission to lead the Mongols to global domination.
And he loved his work. “Man's highest joy is victory: to conquer his enemies,” he said, “to pursue them; to deprive them of their possessions; to make their beloved weep; to ride on their horses; and to embrace their wives and daughters.”