In 1940, people in the United States felt that they were isolated from the war in Europe. This feeling of isolation soon faded. On December 17, 1941 the Japanese attacked the United States naval base Pearl Harbor. The United States was forced to join the war in full force. Young men just starting th...
ISRAELI DEFENSE FORCE I. Overview: As Kenneth Waltz put it, states operate in a "self-help" system in which threats to national security are omnipresent. Small states, in particular, have difficulties meeting challenges from powerful aggressors, since such states are by definition limited in their ability to build sizable and well-equipped military machines. A few small states reconcile themselves to "defensive nihilism," the abandonment of hope to establish an effective defense. A few others, such as Switzerland and Sweden, adopt postures of self-reliance, attempting to meet security ch...
