Stephen D. Bryen

Stephen D. Bryen

Stephen D. Bryen is a former U.S. Defense Department deputy undersecretary.

His books, available on Amazon, include:

*East-West Trade and Technology Transfer: New Challenges for the United States (with Richard Perle and William Schneider)
* Essays in Technology, Security and Strategy, Vol 1 (with Shoshana Bryen and Rebecca Abrahams)
*Essays in Technology, Security and Strategy, Vol 2 (with Shoshana Bryen and Rebecca Abrahams)
*How Technology Security Supports Security Assistance
*Technology, Security, and National Power: Winners and Losers

U.S. Must Make Cyber-Security a Top Priority

Solarwinds, a network management software company, was recently discovered to have had malware inserted into its products. Its clients’ systems have been compromised for as long as nine months. Someone—possibly the Russians, possibly the Chinese—has been inside the U.S. Department of Defense, the Department of Homeland Security, the Treasury Department and major American industries. The list gets longer every day. [Shoshana Bryen and Stephen D. Bryen}

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International, Middle East, Shoshana Bryen, Stephen D. Bryen, USA

Houses of Worship Must Take Own Security Measures

On March 15, 2019, a terror attack at two mosques in Christchurch, New Zealand claimed 51 lives and wounded another 40 people. A NZ Royal Commission has now released a massive report on the attack, more than 800 pages, the most important point of which is that the terrorist was unknown to authorities until moments before he struck, but that somehow more and better intelligence would help prevent future attacks. In a striking omission, the report fails to consider the role of individual institutions in providing their own security measures—which, in this case, could have saved many lives, maybe all of them. [Shoshana Bryen and Stephen Bryen, The Epoch Times]

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International, Shoshana Bryen, Stephen D. Bryen

Hamas Has Smuggled Cruise Missiles Aimed at Israel

A war of words broke out in Israel’s Knesset (Parliament) between Avigdor Lieberman, who heads the Yisrael Beiteinu (“Israel Our Home”) party and MK Member Shlomo Karai, from the leading Likud (“Unity”) party. At issue was the alleged leak of security information on new weapons in the hands of Hamas, the militant Islamic Palestinian nationalist movement that has run the Gaza strip since 2007. Lieberman himself is a former Minister of Defense, Minister of Foreign Affairs, Infrastructure Minister and Deputy Prime Minister. Lieberman claimed that Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and Defense Minister (and deputy prime minister) Benny Gantz were covering up information about precision cruise missiles and cluster bombs being produced by Hamas. [Stephen D. Bryen]

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Middle East, Stephen D. Bryen

Anti-Semitism Then and Now

News relating to the Holocaust of 1938 to 1945 and to anti-Semitic, anti-Israel dangers of today are the focus of today’s news briefing.

Above, is a recent video interview conducted by Sandy Scheller of the South Bay Historical Society with Holocaust Survivor Rose Schindler of San Diego at the Chula Vista Public Library, which currently is hosting an exhibit on Holocaust survivors who moved to the South Bay region of San Diego County.  The video incorporates clips from previous video interviews with Schindler’s late husband, Max.  The stories of both Schindlers were told in their joint memoir, Two Who Survived. [Donald H. Harrison]

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Donald H. Harrison, International, Jewish History, Middle East, San Diego County, Stephen D. Bryen, USA

Leichtag Foundation urges Beirut relief donations

The Encinitas, California-based Leichtag Foundation expressed shock and sadness over the Aug. 4 explosion that destroyed most of the port of Beirut, Lebanon, killing more than 150 people and leaving thousands homeless. “Responding hospitals, already stretched thin due to COVID-19 are now at overcapacity,” reported Charlene Seidle and Sharyn Goodson, respectively the Foundation’s executive vice president and vice president for philanthropy and organizational development. [Our Shtetl San Diego County column by Donald H. Harrison]

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Donald H. Harrison, Ken Stone, Middle East, Music and Visual Arts, Stephen D. Bryen

Improvements, flaws in proposed Ethnic Studies Curriculum

StandWithUs, in conjunction with other Jewish groups, reports that the revised recommendations for an Ethnic Studies Model Curriculum (ESMC) improve upon the original version that was rejected by the State Board of Education but still has its flaws.  Enumerating, the pro-Israel group listed the perceived improvements and problems with the current version which, like its predecessor, will go before the State Board of Education for approval. [Our Shtetl San Diego County column by Donald H. Harrison]

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Bernhard H. Rosenberg-Rabbi, Shoshana Bryen, Stephen D. Bryen, USA

A security proposal for holy places

A new security approach is needed to protect holy places. Even before the COVID-19 epidemic and the lockdown that impacted businesses and organizations, especially churches, synagogues, mosques and temples, attacks on holy places were increasing. Now almost every day another religious site is invaded, trashed, burned or rabbis, priests, ministers, pastors and monks are assaulted, and in one case a Buddhist monk was killed praying in his temple by a gunshot in High Point, North Carolina. (Stephen D. Bryen, Ph.D)

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Books, Poetry & Short Stories, International, Jewish Religion, Stephen D. Bryen, USA

U.S. troop reduction aimed at Germany, not NATO

Germany has been a thorn in Washington’s side on many issues from its failure to spend 2% of its very healthy GDP on its own military defense to its trade with Iran — including, some suspect, under-the-table nuclear goods trade — and the promotion of a U.S.-independent European Army. [By Shoshana Bryen & Stephen Bryen]

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International, Shoshana Bryen, Stephen D. Bryen, USA

As Iranians riot, Iran stirs trouble elsewhere

There are protests and riots across Iran, brutally put down by Iranian security forces and Iran’s Revolutionary Guards Corp (IRGC); the government is charging families for the bullets used to kill their loved ones before releasing bodies to them. Inflation is rampant and economic growth is negative. Sanctions on Iranian oil shipments have led Iran to steal Iraqi oil, one cause of the anti-Iranian riots across Iraq. Yet, Iran continues to arm its proxies and allies with missiles that can strike Saudi Arabia, the Gulf States, Jordan and Israel. Ballistic missiles, cruise missiles and drones, controlled by Iran’s Quds Force, are being spread across the region. [Shoshana Bryen and Stephen D. Bryen]

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International, Middle East, Shoshana Bryen, Stephen D. Bryen, USA

Improved weapons could prompt full-scale Middle East war

Most worrisome to Israel’s military is that what happened in Saudi Arabia could happen to Israel. On the night of September 14, two oil installations in Saudi Arabia were attacked by a combination of cruise missiles and a new type of delta-winged UAV. Uzi Rubin, one of the world’s leading missile defense experts, pointed out that there were 25 air vehicles in all, 18 drones and seven jet-powered cruise missiles. Of the 18 drones, 17 hit their targets (94%), while of the cruise missiles, only four hit their targets (60%). [Stephen D. Bryen]

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Middle East, Stephen D. Bryen

Attack on Saudi fields most likely came from Iraq

It is growing more certain that the attacks on the Khurais oil field and the Abqaiq oil processing center in Saudi Arabia were launched from southern Iraq and not from Yemen by the Houthis. This was made clear by Secretary of State Mike Pompeo who said “There is no evidence the attacks came from Yemen.” While Pompeo put the blame squarely on Iran, he did not say where the attacks originated. Meanwhile the Saudi Arabian Air Force launched retaliatory attacks on Houthis military sites in Yemen.

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Middle East, Stephen D. Bryen

Chinese tech products threaten U.S. security

By Shoshana Bryen and Stephen Bryen WASHINGTON, D.C. — During the Cold War, the Soviet Union seriously outspent the United States on military equipment. The U.S. and its NATO allies worried that the Russians would have such overwhelming military power that, at any moment, Soviet and Warsaw Pact forces could flood Western Europe, starting with

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International, Shoshana Bryen, Stephen D. Bryen, USA