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Alan W. Dowd is a Senior Fellow with the American Security Council Foundation, where he writes on the full range of topics relating to national defense, foreign policy and international security. Dowd’s commentaries and essays have appeared in Policy Review, Parameters, Military Officer, The American Legion Magazine, The Journal of Diplomacy and International Relations, The Claremont Review of Books, World Politics Review, The Wall Street Journal Europe, The Jerusalem Post, The Financial Times Deutschland, The Washington Times, The Baltimore Sun, The Washington Examiner, The Detroit News, The Sacramento Bee, The Vancouver Sun, The National Post, The Landing Zone, Current, The World & I, The American Enterprise, Fraser Forum, American Outlook, The American and the online editions of Weekly Standard, National Review and American Interest. Beyond his work in opinion journalism, Dowd has served as an adjunct professor and university lecturer; congressional aide; and administrator, researcher and writer at leading think tanks, including the Hudson Institute, Sagamore Institute and Fraser Institute. An award-winning writer, Dowd has been interviewed by Fox News Channel, Cox News Service, The Washington Times, The National Post, the Australian Broadcasting Corporation and numerous radio programs across North America. In addition, his work has been quoted by and/or reprinted in The Guardian, CBS News, BBC News and the Council on Foreign Relations. Dowd holds degrees from Butler University and Indiana University. Follow him at twitter.com/alanwdowd.

ASCF News

Scott Tilley is a Senior Fellow at the American Security Council Foundation, where he writes the “Technical Power” column, focusing on the societal and national security implications of advanced technology in cybersecurity, space, and foreign relations.

He is an emeritus professor at the Florida Institute of Technology. Previously, he was with the University of California, Riverside, Carnegie Mellon University’s Software Engineering Institute, and IBM. His research and teaching were in the areas of computer science, software & systems engineering, educational technology, the design of communication, and business information systems.

He is president and founder of the Center for Technology & Society, president and co-founder of Big Data Florida, past president of INCOSE Space Coast, and a Space Coast Writers’ Guild Fellow.

He has authored over 150 academic papers and has published 28 books (technical and non-technical), most recently Systems Analysis & Design (Cengage, 2020), SPACE (Anthology Alliance, 2019), and Technical Justice (CTS Press, 2019). He wrote the “Technology Today” column for FLORIDA TODAY from 2010 to 2018.

He is a popular public speaker, having delivered numerous keynote presentations and “Tech Talks” for a general audience. Recent examples include the role of big data in the space program, a four-part series on machine learning, and a four-part series on fake news.

He holds a Ph.D. in computer science from the University of Victoria (1995).

Contact him at stilley@cts.today.

China Says U.S. Blocked Joint U.N. Statement on Mideast

Monday, May 17, 2021

Categories: ASCF News Emerging Threats

Comments: 0

Palestinian civil defense workers searched for people in the rubble of a destroyed house after an Israeli airstrike in Gaza City on Sunday. PHOTO: HAITHAM IMAD/EPA/SHUTTERSTOCK

United Nations Security Council members condemned the violence in the Middle East during an emergency session Sunday but failed to agree on a unified position after China accused the U.S. of blocking a joint statement.

“Regrettably, simply because of the obstruction of one country, the Security Council hasn’t been able to speak with one voice,” Chinese Foreign Minister Wang Yi said during the virtual meeting. “We call upon the United States to shoulder its due responsibilities of taking a just position.”

The State Department didn’t respond to a request for comment. Secretary of State Antony Blinken, asked last week about reports that the U.S. had delayed a public Security Council meeting, said he wanted to “give some time for the diplomacy to have some effect and to see if, indeed, we get a real de-escalation.”

A conflict that began between Israeli police and Palestinians over evictions in Jerusalem has widened, with the Palestinian militant group Hamas firing rockets into Jerusalem and Israeli forces striking targets in Gaza. Since Monday, 192 people have been killed in Gaza, the Palestinian health ministry has said. In Israel, 11 Israelis have been killed, according to Israel’s emergency response service. Israeli troops, tanks and artillery have massed on the border with Gaza.

China holds the rotating presidency of the 15-member Security Council for the month of May, and Mr. Wang said that China, Norway and Tunisia would draft a proposed joint statement after Sunday’s meeting to circulate for approval by other members.

China and the U.S. are among five permanent members of the Security Council, and frequently clash during panel sessions over key international issues, reflecting rivalry on matters ranging from trade to security around the world.

U.N. Secretary-General António Guterres said during Sunday’s meeting that the world body was engaging both the Israelis and Palestinians in pursuit of a cease-fire.

“This latest round of violence only perpetuates the cycles of deaths, destruction and despair,” Mr. Guterres said. “The fighting risks dragging Israelis and Palestinians into a spiral of violence with devastating consequences for those communities and for the entire region.”

Tor Wennesland, the U.N. special coordinator for the Middle East peace process, appealed Sunday for a cease-fire. Citing official Israeli sources, he said that more than 2,900 rockets had been fired from Hamas, Palestinian Islamic Jihad and other militant groups and that there had been nearly 1,000 Israeli strikes. “We cannot allow the situation to slide further into chaos,” Mr. Wennesland said.

Gilad Erdan, Israel’s U.N. representative and ambassador to the U.S., blamed Hamas for the hostilities and said, “There is never an excuse to indiscriminately fire rockets at civilians.”

Israel has rejected calls for a cease-fire, while Hamas has sent mixed messages about its position.

Riyad al-Maliki, the foreign minister of the Palestinian National Authority, cited the deaths of several individual Palestinians and said that Israel was committing crimes against humanity. “Israel is unapologetic and relentless in pursuing its colonial policies,” he told the Security Council in the virtual session.

Linda Thomas-Greenfield, the U.S. ambassador to the U.N., left the question of a cease-fire largely up to the Israelis and Palestinians in her remarks to the Security Council.

“The United States has made clear that we are prepared to lend our support and good offices should the parties seek a cease-fire, because we believe Israelis and Palestinians equally have a right to live in safety and security,” she said.

Ms. Thomas-Greenfield’s remarks about a cease-fire and the failure of the Security Council to adopt a joint statement left some attendees of Sunday’s meeting frustrated.

“It is regrettable that the Security Council is failing to assume its role as one of the principal guarantors of international peace and security,” said Juan Ramón de la Fuente Ramírez, Mexico’s representative. “It is imperative for this Council to speak up with one voice to seek to bring an end to the violence of recent days.”

Source: https://www.wsj.com/articles/china-says-u-s-blocked-joint-u-n-statement-on-mideast-11621199977

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