her agent Michael Eisenstadt confirmed to USA TODAY in a May 2 statement Kent Perkins expressed to me that she was making people laugh just a few days ago," Eisenstadt wrote A great person who was considered a family member." due to complications from Alzheimer's disease a neurodegenerative condition from which she suffered for 10 years Part of an all-star ensemble on a show that claimed a definitive role in the cultural zeitgeist, Buzzi appeared on "Laugh-In" from 1968 to 1973 earning a Golden Globe for best supporting actress in a series or motion picture made for television as well as several Emmy nominations in the process replete with flower-power aesthetics and a raunchy sensibility showed off Buzzi's knack for physical comedy above the neck her characters often contorting their faces for the sake of caricature Starting work as an entertainer right out of high school Buzzi got her start with a guest spot on "The Gary Moore Show," later becoming a regular on "The Entertainers," a CBS variety show Her variety series chops grew with a stint on "The Steve Allen Comedy Hour," helping her to land the "Laugh-In" gig and cementing her performance niche as a brilliant character actress with a knack for timing time spent as a regular on "Sesame Street" and a smattering of off-Broadway productions In a post made shortly before the announcement of her death wrote on her Facebook page: "She wants you to know she probably had more fun doing those shows than you had watching them." policymakers will need to consider how to define a successful strike and whether a strategy of prevention can be sustained Iran’s nuclear program is one of the most pressing foreign policy challenges facing the Trump administration While the president has expressed his preference for a diplomatic solution to the crisis many Israeli officials believe that Iran’s current weakness provides a unique opportunity to destroy or at least set back its nuclear program through a military strike. Should a negotiated deal prove elusive policymakers will need to weigh the pros and cons of military action and answer several questions including: How does one define a successful strike What challenges need to be addressed in planning a campaign to destroy or degrade Iran’s nuclear weapons program How sustainable is a strategy of prevention And how might Iran respond to such a campaign?  military expert Michael Eisenstadt explains that a preventive attack likely won’t be a one-off but rather the opening round of a lengthy campaign employing military strikes could presage either a more stable order for the region or a new danger­ous phase in one of its most volatile conflicts The Washington Institute seeks to advance a balanced and realistic understanding of American interests in the Middle East and to promote the policies that secure them The Institute is a 501(c)3 organization; all donations are tax-deductible and Evgenia Anastasakos will become the Chicago Maroon’s 2025–26 editor-in-chief They will succeed co-Editors-in-Chief Eva McCord and Kayla Rubenstein along with Managing Editor Anushree Vashist and Deputy Managing Editor Zachary Leiter ran on a platform of developing different forms of coverage incorporating more multimedia in reporting building relationships with University and South Side communities and decreasing turnaround time for new articles the Maroon elected third-year Haebin Jung to serve as chief production officer who held the position for the past two academic years Jung plans to explore new layouts and formats for print increase communication with other sections Second-year Crystal Li and third-year Chichi Wang will serve as co-chief financial officers replacing Kaelyn Hindshaw and Arjun Mazumdar Li and Wang plan to reassess the Maroon’s print strategy establish an endowment to provide a financial safety net for the paper Leiter advised the upcoming slate to “be hard on yourselves and it is all of your commitment to continue striving and improving that has carried me through this past year.” she joined the Maroon in her second year after transferring from Middlebury College Li emphasized the strong community she found in the Maroon after transferring to the University “[I found] a group of people at the Maroon who believed in me and pushed me to challenge myself and grow,” Li said I knew UChicago was the right place for me and a large part of that was due to the community I had found at the Maroon.” She has also served on the Maroon’s Editorial Board Eisenstadt referenced her time reporting on the encampment during her speech noting how she “watched [her] fellow Maroon reporters rise to the occasion of covering a news event with national and international implications and reporting in this public service capacity.” “It felt like the journalists around me had a sense of duty to contribute to this coverage but because of an obligation to provide transparent reporting to the general student body That sense of obligation is what led me to contribute to the Maroon.” Eisenstadt’s view of the Maroon is of a paper that “strives to speak to people who hold different beliefs or perspectives even and especially when those people do not want to directly encounter each other we can write with clarity about the nuances of an issue This simple act of communication is the best tool that I know of for humanizing people and it is why I believe that journalism is a service for the public.” “I hope to continue to make this a welcoming place for students to learn about journalism and to feel like they’re making an impact,” Anastasakos said “Serving you all as your managing editor is an exciting and I want you all to know that my main goal is to help you produce work that you’re proud of here at the Maroon.” Your support will ensure that we can continue producing powerful and accessible reporting that serves the University of Chicago and Hyde Park communities Would love to see more articles published more often and maybe an effort to highlight the newest stories on the landing page Written by  John R. Vile speaks in Boston about a board he created showing items women used to self-abort before it became legal Baird's arrest for giving spermicidal foam to an unmarried 19-year-old coed at a Boston University speech set up a constitutional challenge (Eisenstadt v gave a speech on contraception at Boston University in which he had advocated changes in state laws related to birth control He was arrested for giving contraceptive foam which did not apparently require a prescription At issue was a Massachusetts law that made it a felony to give away an article for prevention of contraception except by a physician or pharmacist to a married person much as it had done by allowing Griswold to represent the interest of married couples in Griswold decided that Baird had standing to challenge a law on behalf of unmarried individuals.  who had written the majority opinion in Griswold authored a concurring opinion in Eisenstadt arguing that the case could more easily be decided on the basis of the First Amendment as applied to the states via the 14th Amendment than on the basis of the equal protection clause.  He further thought that allowing attendees to examine birth control products was part of the presentation Douglas observed that “However noxious Baird’s ideas might have been to the authorities fully to comprehend their scope and portent and to weight them against the tenets of the ‘conventional wisdom,’ may not be abridged.”   Douglas further cited John Milton’s words his Areopagitica: “Give me the liberty to know and to argue freely according to conscience Distinguishing this case from the decision regarding draft card burning in United States v. O’Brien (1968), Douglas argued that making the vaginal foam available was a protected form of symbolic speech He observed that “Handing out the article was not even a suggestion that the lady use it At most it suggested that she become familiar with the product line.” Justices Byron White and Harry Blackmun wrote additional concurring opinions and Chief Justice Warren Burger issued a dissenting opinion.  Vile is a political science professor and dean of the Honors College at Middle Tennessee State University Explore The First Amendment Encyclopedia Nearly 1,700 articles on First Amendments topics The Free Speech Center operates with your generosity! Please donate now! nonprofit public policy center dedicated to building understanding of the five freedoms of the First Amendment through education Subscribe to our newsletter for latest news '#' : location.hash;window._cf_chl_opt.cOgUQuery = location.search === '' && location.href.slice(0 location.href.length - window._cf_chl_opt.cOgUHash.length).indexOf('?') !== -1 '?' : location.search;if (window.history && window.history.replaceState) {var ogU = location.pathname + window._cf_chl_opt.cOgUQuery + window._cf_chl_opt.cOgUHash;history.replaceState(null "\/jewish-pride-and-activism-in-the-face-of-rising-antisemitism\/?__cf_chl_rt_tk=xMfzDivZ0odTKKuPPOAf1CBGk0N_Md5cA31rsqIYUlU-1746492523-1.0.1.1-BaCEKCAUsq9ZQUHXlowrTvPd.AKGWovrnCAXAuOOals" + window._cf_chl_opt.cOgUHash);cpo.onload = function() {history.replaceState(null ogU);}}document.getElementsByTagName('head')[0].appendChild(cpo);}()); Richard Eisenstadt took the helm of Altimmune’s financial operations in 2021 Clinical-stage biopharma Altimmune announced Wednesday morning that its CFO Richard Eisenstadt passed away unexpectedly on Monday.  The company didn’t specify the cause of death in a press release announcing the news.  Eisenstadt’s duties will be carried out by Altimmune’s finance and accounting team The company noted that it has begun a search for his permanent replacement.  “We are all shocked and saddened by Rich’s passing I extend our heartfelt condolences to his family during this difficult time,” Altimmune CEO Vipin K “Rich was not only a brilliant and dedicated leader but a close friend who brought a sense of wit and joy to our workplace that will be dearly missed by all who had the privilege of working with him along with his immeasurable contributions to our Company will continue to inspire us.” Eisenstadt’s career lasted more than three decades including more than 20 years in the pharma and life sciences sector After working in the emerging technology industry for 11 years he served as director of finance at Cogent Neuroscience for two years He then served as CFO of Tranzyme Pharma for nearly a decade He then took on the role of CFO at Tranzyme where he played a key role in its $48 million initial public offering in 2011 He also helped finance the company through late-stage clinical development whilst negotiating several licensing agreements where he raised over $340 million in private and public equity as well as debt financing.  He joined Altimmune at the end of 2021 when he succeeded Will Brown who left to pursue other career opportunities Eisenstadt expressed his excitement to join Altimmune and build off of the company’s accomplishments He also cited the opportunities to grow and improve Altimune’s clinical pipeline with the upcoming data readouts Eisenstadt received an MBA from James Madison University and a BA in Economics from the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill Join us for the fifth annual Pinnacle Awards program, which celebrates the medical marketing industry’s most venerable marketers, strategists and creators. Get to know each of these companies by learning about their culture How artificial intelligence can deliver more meaningful business outcomes for marketers advertisers can achieve big lifts in awareness and sales of their medications among all demographics In a world where healthcare is moving fast HCG is spearheading the charge to turn scientific potential into real-world impact Register for free and enjoy unlimited access to: Only subscribers can update their account from this page take part in and create new Island history at M.V “I could never in a hundred summers get tired of this.” –Susan Branch What memories will we make and keep forevermore All of us at the Martha’s Vineyard Museum hope you will make time for a visit — or 10 — to your community museum there’s entertaining our “Energizer Bunny” kids inside the Clifford exhibit with its indoor slide or “Hands on History,” which has loads of interactive ways of learning through fun and then there are the outdoor scavenger hunts you can always come for the spectacular view Visiting Martha’s Vineyard Museum measures up to all of those things Think outside of previous experiences or notions of what a museum offers and stoke your imagination and sense of place I was speaking with MVM research librarian Bow Van Riper and chief curator Bonnie Stacy this week about how we are feeling the energy of summer ramping up Bow gave me some historical perspective on how the “season” has evolved From the end of the Civil War to the end of World War II tourist season on the Vineyard lasted only 10 weeks (the other 42 weeks it was a quiet The birth of the Striped Bass and Bluefish Derby in 1946 helped to create a fall “shoulder season” that lasted into mid-October the last week in June began the annual opening salvo to the beginning of summer — when pleasure boats were launched sheets were pulled off furniture in summer houses and wrinkles were shaken out of bathing suits The museum has an example of a very early bathing dress on view in our “One Island We have an exhibition opening tonight at 5:30 pm titled “Eisenstaedt’s Martha’s Vineyard,” which will be up through August 25 Eisenstaedt is one of the most respected photojournalists of the 20th century from a sailor kissing a nurse in Times Square to portraits of kings His long career with Life magazine took him all over the world but he’d always return to the Island he cherished each summer for more than 50 years to bask in its beauty and capture all of it on film This exhibition shares the story of Eisenstaedt’s Martha’s Vineyard through his own words along (of course) with photographs and objects in the museum’s collection Another stunning and important story being told inside the Grain Family Gallery is “Sailing to Freedom: The Maritime Dimensions of the Underground Railroad,” which you can experience through Sept and will be back in September to repeat the talk for anyone who could not attend We also hope you will come for the programming we have lined up We have a six-week speaker series at our Cooke House property in Edgartown on Mondays at 4 pm called “Tales of Edgartown.” Oral history curator Linsey Lee will bring us “Vineyard Voices Tell Their Stories” on Monday Highlights include Olive Tomlinson’s harrowing account during the “Green Book” era Henry Smith’s stories of active eel fisheries on the Island and Loïs Mailou Jones discussing her journey as an African American artist From tales of early radio’s impact to the inception of Camp Jabberwocky these stories offer a window into the heart and soul of our Island community is “Small Businesses in a Seasonal Economy with India Rose.” You will hear about the intricacies of operating small businesses in a seasonal economy She will tell us about creating the Martha’s Vineyard Black-Owned Business Directory and the significant role it plays in supporting local businesses Rose will dive into the challenges specific to seasonal operations and the critical pivots necessary for sustainability This talk is a must-attend for anyone interested in the dynamics of small business and economic diversity on the Island Make this summer on the Vineyard another unforgettable one Visit mvmuseum.org for more information about upcoming exhibitions and events The museum is open Tuesday through Sunday year-round Admission is free to members; admission for nonmembers is $18 for adults The MV Times comment policy requires first and last name for all comments The decision would require tradeoffs affecting the security and military credibility of Tehran's nascent arsenal Four decades after launching a nuclear weapons program—at a moment when the regime’s conventional deterrence has been weakened by Israeli blows to its proxies, air defenses and missile production capabilities—Iran may finally be on the verge of building a bomb Such a decision would require tradeoffs that could affect the security Iran would thus be compelled to assess related priorities when deciding whether to “go small” with a minimum deterrent force “go big” with an arsenal befitting a regime with grandiose ambitions military analyst Michael Eisenstadt examines Iran’s nuclear choices regarding weapons and strategy, and their implications for the region if the Islamic Republic does get the bomb He then offers recommendations for how the United States and its allies could shape the regime’s nuclear decisionmaking in order to bolster deterrence and regional stability Download a PDF of this study. Wrentham and Bellingham died peacefully at his home with his family by his side on October 1 2024.He was the beloved husband of Susan(Bisaga) for 53 years He is survived by his two children daughter Jennifer Atwell of Norwood Ma. her two children Connor Prendergast and Henry Atwell and son Philip Rosenkaimer his wife Jessica and their two daughters Eva and Colette of East Greenwich He was loved and nurtured by them and his mother’s family “IM HEEDE” Halver GermanyHe came to the US in 1963 after receiving his Doctorate at the university of Cologne Germany years earlier he entered his Anesthesia training at Boston City Hospital as well as earning a fellowship in Clinical Research at the MGH A 31-year assistant chief of Anesthesia position followed at the VA Hospital West Roxbury during which he earned many awards for clinical excellence.Sigurd lived a full successful life in which his unending knowledge generosity and joy of every day earned him love and admiration from the many lives he touched.A memorial gathering of family and friends will be held on Saturday Nov 2nd from 2-5 pm at the Boylston Schul-Verein Refreshments will be served.In lieu of flowers donations may be made in his memory to the Dana Farber Cancer Institute at 20 Prospect Street Milford 01757 where the devoted staff cared for Sigurd for over 5 years.Arrangements are under the care of the Ginley Crowley Funeral Home of Bellingham sadly passed away unexpectedly on October 2 he was the beloved son of May Eisenstadt of Bellingham and Thomas Duffy of Attleboro John was a resident of Bellingham for the past 2 years He grew up in Medway and graduated from Medway High School in 2015 John worked as a cook for Sodexo dining services at Dean College in Franklin for the past year he is survived by his brother Brian Duffy of Bellingham Relatives and friends are invited to attend calling hours on Thursday, October 10 from 4 - 7 p.m. in the Ginley Crowley Funeral Home, 3 Barber St. in Medway ginleyfuneralhomes.com Richard Nephew is the Bernstein Adjunct Fellow at the Washington Institute for Near East Policy He has spent much of his career in the U.S Coordinator on Global Anti-Corruption at the Department of State Washington Institute experts discuss what challenges must be addressed in negotiating a new nuclear deal or planning a military campaign to degrade or destroy the program The following is a rapporteur’s summary of their remarks The Trump administration’s first few weeks in office have already seen significant developments in U.S including an executive order reconstituting the “maximum pressure” campaign public statements indicating both preparedness to use military force and a desire to negotiate and an exchange of letters between President Trump and Supreme Leader Ali Khamenei Washington believes Tehran has suffered substantial setbacks during the war in Gaza; indeed the regime may be more exposed than ever due to the collapse of its regional threat network and successive rounds of military strikes on Iranian soil which damaged its strategic air defenses and other vital assets and Israeli officials conclude that the clock is now ticking on wider military action against Iran the 2015 Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action (JCPOA) imposed constraints on Iran’s nuclear program in return for some sanctions relief Since President Trump’s 2018 withdrawal from that agreement Tehran has continued gradually advancing the program and is now much closer to crossing the nuclear weapons threshold The good news is that Iran is still allowing officials from the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) to access the program giving the international community some ability to identify if and when the regime jumps to producing 90 percent uranium (i.e. The bad news is that Iran is now so close to breakout that the margins for responding to such a decision and preventing actual weaponization are exceedingly thin nothing is keeping Iran from moving materials to secret locations for further enrichment in part because Tehran has been less transparent about the number of centrifuges it has produced since 2021.  The maximum pressure campaign that President Trump launched during his first term was continued by his successor (though enforcement was less strict under the Biden administration) Washington should be realistic in its expectations about what that policy can achieve—“max pressure” has now been in place longer than the JCPOA itself and sanctions alone clearly cannot stop Iran from developing nuclear weapons The regime has become accustomed to this type of pressure so the only way to appreciably increase it is through measures such as pressuring China to stop buying Iranian oil or even forcibly interdicting Iranian oil shipments Both options would carry significant risk of escalation now that Iran is so close to breakout though they might also bring Tehran back to the table a negotiated agreement remains the most durable path to halting Iran’s nuclear ambitions Although the regime’s technical progress since 2018 has mooted many of the JCPOA’s most valuable elements (e.g. constraints on nuclear R&D and centrifuge site construction) less comprehensive deal would still have value Iran would no doubt insist on significant sanctions relief leaving Washington and its allies with two options: limited relief of the type agreed to in the JCPOA primarily affecting foreign business activity with Iran; or more comprehensive relief Whether such relief is reasonable to offer will depend squarely on what degree of nuclear and regional concessions the United States is able to extract One idea floated by Michael Singh—renewable five-year deals—could be attractive to Tehran.  the parties have some time to work on these issues and explore a new deal it is important to remember that action and inaction both come with risks and the available options for dealing with Iran’s nuclear program will only shrink over time The goal of a preventive strike would be to maximize damage to the nuclear program and buy time to revive nuclear diplomacy and create regional arrangements to contain a diminished Iran Yet Tehran would almost certainly try to reconstitute the program using whatever fissile material so prevention would likely not be a one-off event it would likely be the opening round of a prolonged campaign to prevent Iran from rebuilding using covert action and follow-on strikes And if Tehran became worried that subsequent attacks might include military it could decide to slow-roll its rebuilding efforts a preventive strike would also need to create an environment conducive to follow-on attacks A successful first strike would make it easier to garner domestic and foreign support for subsequent action if deemed necessary Avoiding escalation would likewise facilitate follow-on efforts—though Tehran’s ability to cause geopolitical disruptions has been greatly reduced by the evisceration of Hezbollah the existence of robust regional air and missile defenses and the damage done to Iran’s missile production capability during Israel’s October 2024 attack a strike on Iran’s enrichment facilities (which are mainly underground) would likely be contained avoiding the kind of humanitarian disaster that an attack on a functioning nuclear reactor might have the intelligence architecture and geopolitical environment that make follow-on attacks possible might have to be sustained for years to come Beyond conventional penetrator munitions for use against deeply buried targets Israel has likely developed highly classified capabilities for this mission and has apparently used some of them during covert actions in recent years Just as Israel’s pager attacks against Hezbollah last September confounded expectations of what a war between the two sides would look like it is a fool’s errand to try surmising how Israel might attack Iran’s nuclear program intelligence support and assistance in fending off Iranian retaliation and Israeli military capabilities to bear would no doubt be more effective Negative Iranian sentiment toward the regime has reached unprecedented levels While the Iranian people previously blamed the West for sanctions and economic isolation pre-2015 they currently blame Tehran for their problems This rising anti-regime sentiment also appears to correlate with dwindling public support for the nuclear program which likely materialized after the 2017-18 protests and came to a head during the 2022 “Woman Many Iranians also oppose reaching a new U.S.-Iran nuclear deal because they view it as throwing a lifeline to a regime they no longer want some have defiantly advocated going all the way with the nuclear program noting that the United States withdrew from the JCPOA and reimposed sanctions despite Tehran not violating the deal at the time are hoping for a new deal to provide a reprieve from the “resistance economy”—a term that Supreme Leader Khamenei coined to glorify Iran’s circumvention of sanctions by making its economy less dependent on international trade the economic situation on the ground has been deteriorating twenty-one of Iran’s thirty-one provinces experienced power outages and the price of potatoes skyrocketed 217 percent.  Freedom” uprising was unable to enact meaningful change the recent fall of Syria’s Assad regime has renewed hope among those Iranians who dream of witnessing the fall of the Islamic Republic in their lifetime The clerical establishment’s inability to address systemic mismanagement and repression suggests that renewed anti-regime protests are on the horizon Tehran will likely respond to this sentiment by doubling down on its oppression who have long borne the brunt of such policies.  The Policy Forum series is made possible through the generosity of the Florence and Robert Kaufman Family Despite questions about the utility of its huge missile arsenal—whose importance has only increased since the collapse of the “axis of resistance”—Iran will likely double down on this capability to ensure the viability of its military strategy Iran launched an estimated 200 ballistic missiles: 20 apparently failed after launch; more than 30 hit Israel causing some damage to Nevatim Air Base and several residential areas; and an unknown number were destroyed en route One Palestinian in the West Bank was killed by missile debris and an Israeli died of a heart attack as a result of the strike the results of both attacks were relatively meager compared to the resources expended The maritime pillar of the triad is a double-edged sword that can only be used in extremis. Closing the Strait of Hormuz would alienate China (the region’s top oil customer), undermine efforts to drive a wedge between Saudi Arabia and the United States, and cripple Iran’s already strained economy as nearly all of its imports and oil exports pass through the strait.  Iran’s arsenal of ballistic missiles—which were estimated to number more than 3,000 prior to this year’s strikes—can be put into action within hours of receiving an order and strike targets over great distances If fired in numbers sufficient to penetrate enemy defenses they could also have a much greater physical and moral effect than would terrorist attacks But the April and October attacks have now raised questions about the usefulness of this pillar as well Despite Tehran’s changing regional fortunes, its strategy will likely be defined by significant continuity, as inertia and constraints imposed by its force structure preclude dramatic departures from its current approach. As analyst Erik Olson has written Iran’s large investment in ballistic missiles creates path dependencies that will be difficult to overcome The regime is therefore likely to double down on missiles seeking ways to enable them to penetrate enemy air and missile defenses and achieve greater accuracy.  Iran’s missiles already incorporate design features that may have been intended to counter enemy defenses the April and October attacks demonstrate a trend toward continual technical and tactical innovation that will require constant innovation in response.  Iran will work to further enhance the effectiveness of its ballistic missile force by various means improved penetration aids and countermeasures Greater accuracy. With this capability, missiles that get through enemy defenses would be more likely to hit their intended target. Although the accuracy of Iran’s missiles has improved greatly in recent years, they have not achieved their claimed capacity to hit within tens of meters of their target at longer ranges Iran could achieve greater accuracy by supplementing the inertial navigation systems of its missiles with inputs from other sources Dual guidance systems are already in use elsewhere—for instance Trident II (D5) submarine-launched ballistic missile uses inertial navigation with a stellar reference system.  Multiple independently targetable reentry vehicles (MIRVs) Using a single missile to deliver several munitions against different aim points would greatly complicate the task of defending against Iranian attacks Although Tehran has not yet developed a MIRVed warhead Russia’s new Oreshnik intermediate-range ballistic missile has showcased this capability in Ukraine and will likely inspire similar efforts by Iran The need to develop further counters to Israeli and U.S missile defenses means that Tehran may have to retrofit modifications to its missiles to ensure their effectiveness Some of these modifications may require design compromises that could affect the performance of its RVs some kinds of penetration aids may require a degree of insight into Israeli and U.S defenses that Iran does not currently possess—although it undoubtedly learned important lessons from recent experience Iran’s efforts to restore the viability of its ballistic missile force will likely create new challenges for the United States and its allies, requiring a more integrated, risk-acceptant, and proactive approach to countering these missiles. This will become even more important if Iran acquires nuclear weapons and other members of the emerging U.S.-led Middle East air and missile defense partnership will need to: By bolstering the effectiveness of their missile defense efforts through these and other means the United States and its allies can undermine the central pillar of Iran’s military strategy enhance their ability to counter Tehran’s most likely means of delivering a prospective nuclear weapon and devalue the regime’s massive investment of resources in missiles Michael Eisenstadt is the Kahn Senior Fellow and director of the Military and Security Studies Program at The Washington Institute Farzin Nadimi is a senior fellow at the Institute Although recent military setbacks have fueled Iranian talk about a possible nuclear breakout and utility of weaponization may give the United States leverage to ensure that Tehran continues to hedge the regime adopted a more risk-acceptant approach toward Israel believing that the Jewish state was increasingly vulnerable due to the Gaza war The regime was also convinced that it needed to respond firmly to various Israeli actions including targeted strikes on senior Iranian and proxy figures in Damascus Iran launched major missile strikes against Israel on April 13 and October 1 These actions may herald a more risk-acceptant approach toward the development of nuclear weapons as well unless the United States and its partners adopt a more assertive approach in the coming months Tehran halted most of its clandestine nuclear weapons work in 2003 after the program was exposed by an opposition group It subsequently adopted a hedging strategy to preserve a nuclear option because the risks and costs of going for the bomb—diplomatic isolation and perhaps a regional nuclear proliferation cascade—were deemed unacceptable Tehran’s proliferation calculus has always considered a broad range of factors and hedging offered many of the benefits of getting the bomb without the attendant risks and costs while Supreme Leader Ali Khamenei would likely support such efforts if Iran does not have to pay too high a price the threat of military action is higher than ever before Israeli aircraft overflew Iran with impunity on October 26 knowing exactly where to strike to maximize damage to the regime’s ballistic missile production capabilities during an operation conducted in full coordination with the United States Israeli intelligence has repeatedly penetrated Iran’s most sensitive activities Tehran could reasonably conclude that if it attempted a nuclear breakout now and the lame-duck Biden administration might support This applies a fortiori to the incoming Trump administration Iran may need weeks or months to manufacture a viable nuclear weapon potentially giving its enemies time to act The recent use of B-2 bombers to hit buried Houthi drone and missile storage facilities in Yemen indicates that the United States might use this asset against Iran if a strike against its nuclear program is deemed necessary The B-2 is the only aircraft cleared to drop the 30,000-pound GBU-57 Massive Ordnance Penetrator the only conventional munition capable of reaching Iran’s underground enrichment facility at Fordow there is no evidence that he sees nuclear weapons as key to the Islamic Republic’s survival; if he did he almost certainly would not have agreed to pause or dismantle the nuclear program on several occasions to avoid diplomatic isolation or obtain sanctions relief Iran has been unable to protect its most prominent nuclear scientists from Israeli hit squads its most important nuclear facilities from Israeli saboteurs or its nuclear archives from theft by Israeli agents Until the regime solves this problem—and recent events provide no confidence on that score—it might not want to produce nuclear weapons that could be vulnerable to sabotage or diversion by foreign agents or domestic terrorists the most important reason for Tehran to avoid a breakout may be its conventional military vulnerability It thus faces a conundrum: although nuclear weapons could help redress this shortcoming the worst time to go for the bomb is when its ability to deter or respond to a strike against the program is diminished With the tentative adoption of a more risk-acceptant approach toward Israel Washington must therefore do everything it can to prevent this approach from becoming the new normal and induce Tehran to keep hedging Although a hedging Iran is an undesirable outcome It is also preferable to a major preventive strike on Iran’s nuclear sites which would likely buy just a year or two of respite before the program is reconstituted and has to be struck again Just as “mowing the grass” ultimately failed in Gaza And a preventive strike could convince Tehran that building a bomb is imperative Iran might further ramp up production of advanced centrifuges and fissile material to create additional leverage over Washington or to enable a more rapid breakout if tensions escalate further It might even view the period before Inauguration Day as a window of opportunity to take the first steps toward a breakout so that it can deal with the new administration from a position of strength Such moves could include hiding fissile material at unsafeguarded sites or clandestine enrichment facilities Given Tehran’s longstanding concerns about the potential risks and costs of going for the bomb even relatively small policy adjustments that play on Khamenei’s traditional risk aversion and paranoia may dissuade the regime from attempting a breakout. Such fears have undoubtedly been reinforced by Israel’s recent elimination of Hezbollah’s senior leadership to prevent Tehran’s more risk-acceptant approach from becoming the new normal Washington should encourage Israel to answer any future attacks with calibrated counterstrikes that further degrade Iran’s conventional military capabilities while the threat of action against nuclear and regime leadership targets deters a breakout the United States and its allies can quell the conventional threat and perhaps pave the way for a comprehensive deal with Iran after the Trump administration takes office in January Michael Eisenstadt is the Kahn Fellow and director of the Military and Security Studies Program at The Washington Institute. This PolicyWatch draws from his forthcoming study If Iran Gets the Bomb: Weapons, Force Posture, Strategy, as well as his previous study Iran’s Nuclear Hedging Strategy: Shaping the Islamic Republic’s Proliferation Calculus We use some essential cookies to make this website work We’d like to set additional cookies to understand how you use GOV.UK remember your settings and improve government services We also use cookies set by other sites to help us deliver content from their services You have accepted additional cookies. You can change your cookie settings at any time You have rejected additional cookies. You can change your cookie settings at any time Freedom of Information releases and corporate reports Experts from across the public and private sector have been appointed to the DHSC board to drive forward health and social care reform plans Naomi Eisenstadt CB and Phil Jordan’s wealth of experience and expertise across the political divide and both the public and private sector will be vital in supporting the government’s key missions to drive down waiting lists and reform the NHS as part of the 10 Year Health Plan shifting the focus from hospital to community Baroness Cavendish is best known for her time as head of the Number 10 Policy Unit under Prime Minister David Cameron Ms Eisenstadt was the first Director of Sure Start widely regarded as one of the most important policy initiatives in recent history while Mr Jordan has held a long and distinguished career in the private sector They will join Lead Non-Executive Director Alan Milburn former Health Secretary under Tony Blair’s government It comes as part of the government’s call for the best and brightest to join its mission to fix the broken NHS and reflects DHSC’s commitment to drawing on diverse skills and perspectives to ensure it is fit for the future Secretary of State for Health and Social Care I am drawing on people of different political persuasions The NHS is one of the biggest organisations in the world and building a national care service is a generational ambition We should be competing with global businesses to recruit the best and the brightest to our cause Their combined expertise in social policy and technology deep understanding of healthcare and commitment to pragmatism over ideology will be invaluable as we fix our broken NHS If there are other people out there with the skills experience and drive to transform the treatment and care of millions of people then we want your help building our 10 Year Health Plan Naomi and Phil will provide independent oversight constructive challenge and strategic advice to the department Their expertise will help shape DHSC’s mission to ensure the best possible health and care outcomes for everyone across England The NHS is broken and through the Plan for Change, it is the mission of this government to fix it and make the health service fit for the future. As part of this national mission, experts are being brought in to help develop policy, and NHS staff and patients have been invited to share their experience and ideas to change the NHS on the Change NHS website Former head of the Number 10 Policy Unit under Prime Minister David Cameron Baroness Cavendish brings a wealth of experience across public policy and will draw on her expertise in social care while working at DHSC The vocal advocate for health and social care reform has led significant reviews that have shaped social care policy and practice the Cavendish Review (2013) examined the training and development of health and social care support workers The review highlighted the need for improved standards of training greater recognition for care workers and more robust safeguards for those in vulnerable situations Her recommendations continue to influence workforce development across the sector Naomi Eisenstadt CB has a distinguished career in public policy and social welfare including serving as the first director of the Sure Start Unit where she spearheaded transformative early years programmes aimed at reducing inequality and will bring her expertise on health inequalities to DHSC The scheme is one of the most successful social policy interventions in the past 30 years demonstrating the importance of early intervention and prevention - one of the 3 big shifts this government is committed to in our 10 Year Plan for Health Currently serving as chair of the NHS Northamptonshire Integrated Care Board Naomi’s extensive experience and commitment to improving outcomes for vulnerable communities make her an invaluable addition to the department Phil Jordan will focus on data and digital capability at DHSC drawing on his impressive background having led major initiatives across both the public and private sector With a proven track record in strategic leadership including as Chief Information Officer at Sainsbury’s Phil has been instrumental in driving innovation and efficiency in complex organisations His expertise will support the department’s ongoing efforts to modernise healthcare delivery and enhance digital infrastructure as part of the vital shift from analogue to digital equipping the health service with the cutting-edge technology it needs to tackle waiting lists improve patient experience and speed up diagnosis These appointments are made in accordance with the Cabinet Office Code of Governance for Public Appointments The regulation of public appointments against the requirements of this code is carried out by the Commissioner for Public Appointments In line with the Governance Code on Public Appointments political activity is not a bar to appointment but political activity during the last 5 years should be declared Camilla Cavendish and Phil Jordan have not declared any political activity Naomi Eisenstadt is a member of the Labour Party Government non-executives provide advice and bring an external perspective to the business of government departments by sitting on departmental boards See DHSC public appointments: 2024 to 2025 for further information NHS England is currently advertising non-executive vacancies. See: non-executive opportunities in the NHS: public appointments for further information Don’t include personal or financial information like your National Insurance number or credit card details etc.venues 8 Fenchurch Street - 15 May 2025 Austrian railway operator ÖBB has introduced a new night train service from Vienna to the city of Eisenstadt I accept the Terms and Conditions and Privacy Policy departing Vienna Central Station at 23:18 and stopping in at Neusiedl am See (23:58) before arriving in Eisenstadt at 00:27 departing Eisenstadt at 04:30 and arriving at Vienna Central Station at 05:42 ÖBB regional manager of passenger transport said the operator is “continuing its strategy of expanding public transport as the backbone of sustainable mobility” “The introduction of this train will create an attractive and environmentally friendly travel alternative at night," he added ÖBB this week also submitted plans to the Austrian government to build an airport rail link connecting Vienna Airport to Burgenland and eastern Lower Austria The proposed ‘high-performance route’ will make it possible to travel directly from Burgenland to Vienna Airport and on to Vienna Mitte “without changing trains” and will also reduce short-haul flights “in the future” The plans will now undergo an environmental impact assessment preliminary work will begin in 2027 with the project due for completion in 2034 As business travel accelerates, Cathay Pacific remains a leader, delivering seamless, end-to-end... KEEP READING with Virgin Atlantic and Delta Air Lines... KEEP READING United Airlines is the largest airline in the world by available seat miles, offering flights to more... KEEP READING Please select what you would like included for printing: Copy the text below and then paste that into your favorite email application allowed him to stay up some evenings to watch "Nightline," ABC's late-night news program featuring anchor Ted Koppel "She would do that when there was a topic on the show she wanted to discuss with me at breakfast," said Todd and a professor of political science at American University in Washington was a professor of mechanical engineering at the He said his mother used to take part in Santa Barbara Vietnam War protests with so after a discussion with my dad it was decided I could not be Undated photo of Mel and Pauline Eisenstadt who served in both the New Mexico House and Senate "My mother was just a very public-spirited person The meaning of her life was trying to solve problems in the community and advocating for others who could not help themselves." the first woman to serve in both the New Mexico House and the New Mexico Senate Conflicting dates on documents make the year of her birth uncertain attorney and municipal judge for the Village of Corrales in "She was a Democrat with a capital 'D'," said Albuquerque's Dede Feldman who served with Eisenstadt in the New Mexico "She was steadfast in her values - freedom Beach tomboyPauline Eisenstadt grew up in Miami Beach "Stories I heard from her mother and her sister is that she was a tomboy who played with everybody on the beach in "She and her friends would sneak into beach hotels and play in the hotel pools until someone Then they would go out on the beach and ride bikes." "A Woman in Both Houses" (University of New Mexico Press) of education in social sciences from the University of Florida in 1960 and married Mel in a ceremony at the Eden Roc Then both she and Mel went to graduate school at the University of Arizona where Pauline got a master's degree in social After a few years in Santa Barbara and three in Puerto Rico to New Mexico in 1973 so Mel could attend law school at the University of New Mexico Eisenstadt got involved in politics before winning elected office she helped start a consumer group called Energy Consumers of New Mexico to combat the rising cost of heating oil for low-income people businesses who depended on natural gas for their livelihoods The organization lobbied the legislature to put a cap on natural gas prices said his mother's work in energy and her concern about pollution and climate change influenced his He did graduate work in forestry and works for South Pole implements comprehensive emission-reduction projects Eisenstadt went to China to promote New Mexico businesses when Keith was 15 "She came back and spoke of all the pollution there at that time and riled me up to try to do something about it," he said met Pauline and Mel at a Corrales rally protesting a major shopping but it was before Eisenstadt's first try for elective office Pauline Eisenstadt asked Jolene and Wayne to coordinate her campaign something they eventually would do every time today?' 'How many calls did you make?' 'We need to do some walking.' She knew what she wanted." Einsenstadt enlisted her sons in that campaign "I believe it was the summer after my junior year in high school," Todd said I would ring the doorbell and start talking." She lost that run in the Democratic primary But redistricting to reflect the growing population of Rio Rancho resulted in a Eisenstadt ran for and won the seat in House District 44 She was a member of the New Mexico House from 1985-92 She served in the New Mexico Senate from 1997-2000 Eisenstadt was co-sponsor of legislation that created the Paseo del Norte bridge and worked to create the Petroglyph especially for American Indian communities Jolene Maes said Eisenstadt helped push through legislation that laid the foundation for New Mexico's Children and Families Department and focused on Corrales needs such as a senior center and a fire station "She was very supportive of issues we were having in Corrales in those days," Maes said Maes said Eisenstadt held her own in the male-dominated House and Senate "She fought those boys in the Legislature," she said She was dedicated to her principles." who served five terms as chair of the Sandoval County Democratic Party and I was working hard to get more women in the Legislature," Elliston said a trailblazer in both houses during a time when it was real hard to be a trailblazing woman "She was a model for how to be a woman legislator." Working rooms Feldman and Pauline were both rookies in the New Mexico Senate in 1997 suite in the Roundhouse with several other new senators "(Pauline) was very much the mother figure in guiding me in this new adventure I was on and that she had more "She was protective and gave me a lot of advice She sponsored a lot of good government reform "She had a great sense of humor and of perseverance." Eisenstadt found solace in painting in watercolor and oils "They were almost all landscapes and wildlife," Keith said "I don't actually remember her painting anything that was not Todd said his mother continued to work rooms at The Neighborhood She never really stopped being the concerned public servant "She was a local politician that tried to solve problems across the aisle without the polarization that exists in our political "She put a lot of energy out there." Neighborhood in Rio Rancho Life Plan Community Enter your phone number above to have directions sent via text This site is protected by reCAPTCHA and the Google Privacy Policy and Terms of Service apply Service map data © OpenStreetMap contributors Pennsylvanian to Evelyn and Lester Eisenstadt as the youngest brother to Elyana He graduated from Central High School (Class of 238) He passed away suddenly at home on October 24 David was a person of exceptional talents; he had incredible analytical skills and knew every dog in his neighborhood - all had a natural affinity towards him David had a ribald sense of humor that he employed constantly and sometimes inappropriately He could be incredibly thoughtful and generous in the gift of time to those he loved David was devoted to the care of his mother and made her happiness and well-being the focus of his life Tehran’s willingness to pause aspects of its nuclear program may offer opportunities to stoke regime concerns about the potential costs of moving forward Since halting its crash nuclear weapons program in 2003 the Islamic Republic has pursued a cautious hedging strategy that has enabled it to become an advanced nuclear threshold state while also avoiding a military confrontation with the United States and Israel Yet Iran’s willingness to pause aspects of its nuclear program in order to ease pressure—and in turn to pursue more urgent objectives—may help Washington constrain Tehran’s nuclear ambitions by amplifying its concerns about the potential risks and costs of proliferating military analyst Michael Eisenstadt surveys the evolution of Iran’s nuclear hedging strategy and suggests ways for the United States to shape the regime’s proliferation calculus with the goal of preventing an Iranian breakout and a nuclearized Middle East MENUMENUUNDERGRADUATESALUMNIFUTURE BROTHERSPARENTS Brother Scott Eisenstadt (Florida Atlantic) is working to connect college athletes with brand deals and more in the new NIL (Name Brother Eisenstadt became obsessed with sports from an early age “I’ve been loyal to Maryland basketball ever since (their championship run in 2002) It’s rewarding now because I’m working closely with players on the basketball team.” After enrolling at Florida Atlantic University “One of the guys who recruited me to AEPi is still one of my best friends to this day He lives here in Boca and we’re constantly hanging out.” Brother Eisenstadt would go on to serve his AEPi chapter as rush chair “The biggest takeaway (from AEPi) would be how to work with people There’s a lot of factors in communicating with people Understanding that people may have competing interests was apparent early on; which wasn’t something I really had to deal with before college.” That became helpful later in his career while working with athletes athletes couldn’t profit off of their name whereas universities could sell jerseys with their names and numbers on it and make lots of money Brother Eisenstadt became very interested in NIL when it became legal for college athletes “It’s not too often where a new market or a new vertical gets started When marijuana started becoming legal in Colorado and California a lot of companies built around that industry and suddenly there were a string of new young millionaires I looked at this as an opportunity to join a new rush and a new industry as my ticket to hopefully start a successful business.” He jumped at the opportunity to build relationships with athletes and help strategize ways to get them brand opportunities and negotiate those contracts primarily in college football and men’s basketball Brother Eisenstadt tries to build relationships with local businesses in the surrounding areas of the campuses that his athletes attend “I was at an event not too long ago in Los Angeles because I have a player who is on the UCLA basketball team I’ll go to events in Boca because I have players on the football and basketball teams at FAU I’m trying to leverage local companies and cultivate relationships with them (the brands) and turn that into marketing opportunities.” Sometimes like for a social media post and others take many months to go through “I try to go the extra mile and make sure that my guys have a lot of opportunities One of Brother Eisenstadt’s athletes right now is Nick Boyd the point guard for Florida Atlantic University “They had an incredible run and I got to see some of the March Madness action in-person which was incredible.” Boyd has deals with everything from a local cookie company to an apparel deal with Adidas for March Madness He made a huge bet on FAU to win the whole tournament when they got to the Final Four because they were the biggest underdog He gave everyone on the team a lump sum of money.” There are tons of exciting public NIL deals going on that don’t even get publicity The athletes love getting a gift card or a free meal – as well as the attention – but it can also be intimidating These deals can be intimidating and overwhelming for athletes with many things being thrown their way “I have a conversation with all of my clients before I decide whether to sign them or not We talk about rules and responsibilities.” He checks to make sure there is nothing questionable about the athlete and he has a conversation with the athlete about the circumstances surrounding the mistake “I have had to let go of clients in the past just because of the way they were carrying themselves whether it’s being disrespectful or not doing the things that role models should be doing.” He makes sure that his athletes are respectful about the opportunities they have in front of them Brother Eisenstadt considers himself a manager rather than an agent because his work goes beyond just getting brand deals for athletes many of whom are guys with extreme athletic ability but didn’t start off with means and need guidance or mentorship These deals are huge for the athletes because their time has been consumed with sports throughout high school and now in college Brother Eisenstadt not only helps them negotiate deals with companies but also helps with big life choices such as buying a first car “I’ll –  for free – go and take a look and make sure that they’re not getting a bad deal I try to go the extra mile for them.” Always communicating he’ll hop on the phone at any time to help them Another way Brother Eisenstadt is passionate about the athletic space is with his podcast He created the podcast to talk about who the athletes are “It’s nice to have a platform to be able to share a little bit about who they are This helps humanize these athletes and they can share a little bit about their lives.” The podcast is also an opportunity for brand deals The athlete might say that they enjoy anime and get a deal with Pokemon or say they like bowling and get a deal with a bowling alley “The more that you know about these guys the more opportunities there are for them.” He even runs this podcast with an audio engineer in New York City Brother Eisenstadt was also the best man at Brother Schiff’s wedding Brother Eisenstadt’s goal is to represent someone who wins a national title He’s planning to target athletes from elite college football and basketball teams “I’d like to help a few of my players make it to the next level and reach their professional goals but also being able to understand how to market themselves.” He wants to help them bring in top tier endorsement deals while they’re at the next level “I see the possibilities and it’s very exciting so I really hope that these guys stay healthy and they keep doing the right things It’s really motivating to see how hard they work Brother Eisenstadt’s advice to Brothers trying to get into the industry is to stay honest there’s all sorts of stuff that has happened over the last 10 years that’s really scary if you’re gonna get into this game you’re playing with things that really affect people’s lives I need to make sure that I’m doing the right thing and I’m being honest I’m not taking any chances and these guys appreciate it If someone else wanted to get into this industry I would say make sure that you stay honest I know it’s very generic but it resonates with me the most.” An in-depth look at how the Islamic Republic manages escalation in the gray zone between war and peace leverages asymmetries to achieve disproportionate effects and employs its hybrid force structure for maximum effect The targeted killing of IRGC Qods Force commander Qasem Soleimani marked the dramatic culmination of several months of U.S It has raised the urgent question of how Tehran will respond the Islamic Republic has distinguished itself as perhaps the foremost practitioner of “gray zone” activities and for nearly four decades the United States has struggled to respond effectively to this asymmetric way of war it is more important than ever for Washington to understand Tehran’s strategy and devise its own gray zone strategy to counter it military analyst Michael Eisenstadt details how the Islamic Republic operates in the gray zone between war and peace to manage escalation all of which entail a heightened potential for escalation But an alternative approach—one focused on unacknowledged activities and discreet messaging—could more effectively deter Iran while reducing the risk of further escalation and broader conflict In June-July 2020, the author revisited the subject of deterring Iran in the gray zone via a new Powerpoint presentation and an episode of Middle East PolicyCast. Access the presentation and podcast here.  In April 2021, the author wrote the follow-up Policy Note "Deterring Iran in the Gray Zone: Insights from Four Decades of Conflict," which assessed Tehran’s efforts to counter the U.S “maximum pressure” policy and offered a primer on deterring gray zone actors Michael Eisenstadt is the Kahn Fellow and director of the Military and Security Studies Program at The Washington Institute he served for twenty-six years as an officer in the U.S He has also served in a civilian capacity on the Multinational Force–Iraq/U.S Embassy Baghdad Joint Campaign Plan Assessment Team and as an advisor to the congressionally mandated Iraq Study Group the Multinational Corps–Iraq Information Operations Task Force and the State Department’s Future of Iraq defense policy working group Jason Diamond credits Christian Science Monitor’s Hilary DeVries for inventing the term “Literary Brat Pack.” But Wikipedia and other sources ascribe its origins to the Village Voice And my own 1987 journal contains an account of a certain Christmas party at which a drunken freelance journalist ranted to me that the tag had been stolen from him And not just the label but also the zeal to condemn the so-called group of young 1980s writers Google “Literary Brat Pack” and the paradox is evident the press tossed me in with the established “brats”: Jay McInerney publishers had realized that readers were interested in what young people were up to and what they had to say about it Editor Gary Fisketjon had recently launched the carefully selected and gorgeously designed trade paperback series New York City was temporarily back in the black following the fiscal crisis of the 70s and affordable rents brought lots of artists and immigrants But the streets were dirty and full of dealers hawking “Tiger Tiger,” Life and Death,” “Works!” Prostitutes walked not only in Times Square but along Broadway on the Upper West Side Add to this a growing AIDS epidemic and the advocacy it inspired and the mood was a strange mix of excess (The From Rockaway paperback originally came with a promotional beach bag and sunglasses!) affordable means of film and music production or round-the-clock news competition for an audience was relatively nil I’ve always been enthralled with the lore of writer circles—Bloomsbury To be a part of such a salon has long been a fantasy But otherwise we were strangers or (after a few photo shoots) superficial acquaintances Even the parallels so widely noted in our work were based on little more than circumstance—people roughly the same age writing about roughly the same era Bright Lights Big City is narrated in second person singular and focuses on a literary striver in a Manhattan party scene Slaves of New York is a collection of witty satirical short stories set in the art world From Rockaway is a portrait of lifeguards in Queens “They’re all very different writers,” said Adam Moss then deputy editor at Esquire in an otherwise scathing LA Times take down “The only thing they have in common is… to have written first books that caught the public imagination at a time when publishers… were very eager to give young people a chance.” the literary and gossip media insisted their Franken-group existed They added more writers that I’d never met or barely knew Meg Wolitzer.) They feted and flattered their creation “A crazy kind of whiplash” is how I described it in my aforementioned journal I wake to find that the Village Voice has collaged a picture of my head into a baby carriage The next brings an invitation to speak at Yale I get a bunch of nice reviews but mostly at the expense of my peers I get hate mail with graphs meant to “illustrate scientifically” how my book causes cancer I’m at an event signing books right next to Raymond Carver I’m in Vanity Fair but it’s a hideous caricature of my face beside the words: “The stream of consciousness in these novels snakes along the gutters strictly urine.” And this is a mere sampling taken from a two-and-a-half week span So why the continued interest in disparaging us “…their work hasn’t held up,” Rob Spillman writes in Salon (1997) “it’s simply not very complex or deep.” “Slightly appealing forgettable,” Michael Bourne writes in the Millions (2015) “Eisenstadt wrote a second novel [Kiss Out] and hasn’t been heard from since,” snarks Andrew Madigan (Book Witty The Literary Brat Pack had even made it into academic criticism: “These writers return from within post-modernism to Modernism…” (Handbook for the Twentieth and Twenty First Centuries Few artists deemed so minor have received so much attention “I think it mostly has to do with the fact that we’re young and certain people don’t like the idea that we’re getting books published…” I am quoted saying in a 1987 article by Elizabeth Wurtzel for the Harvard Crimson “I sometimes wonder if I were middle-aged what the reviews would be like… But I guess I wouldn’t have written a book like this if I were middle-aged.” I am middle-aged and From Rockaway has just been re-issued along with my new loosely related novel I will likely not be profiled in People Magazine or asked to model a $4,000 leather cape that my hair is too big for my face (though a reporter did recently note that the bright color is “calmer” now) The churn of social media will ensure that any mention of Swell will be quickly disseminated and as quickly buried Rockaway is no longer a little-known backwater but a happening destination the really burning interview question is still and always about the Literary Brat Pack I understood I had stumbled into extraordinary luck after all is this (and I don’t need to consult my journal to recall the many kindnesses): Bret’s fierce generosity in putting my work forward and always sharing his success with his friends (dinner for 15 on a regular basis!); Joe McGinniss taking the time to work with me on the novel long after I’d graduated; Richard Ford (the one and only moment we met) saying he saw Bret and me on the Today Show and admired how we didn’t take the bait how we refused to attack one another… we can finally read their work in a different light,” concludes Jason Diamond Jill Eisenstadt’s latest novel, Swell Created by Grove Atlantic and Electric Literature Masthead About Sign Up For Our Newsletters How to Pitch Lit Hub Privacy Policy Support Lit Hub - Become A Member Lit Hub has always brought you the best of the book world for free—no paywall you'll keep independent book coverage alive and thriving um selbst mit eigenen Inhalten beizutragen The United States has repeatedly failed to understand the unique requirements of gray zone deterrence strategy would not only facilitate more successful diplomacy with Tehran but also enhance efforts to counter other actors such as China and Russia The early months of the Biden administration have seen renewed hopes for nuclear diplomacy counterbalanced by renewed Iranian proxy attacks against U.S So begins the latest chapter in a four-decade relationship characterized by largely unsuccessful U.S attempts to deter Iran’s gray zone activities—despite vast American military advantages the United States has repeatedly failed to understand the often unique requirements of gray zone deterrence calls for Washington to draw the right lessons from the past and adopt its own gray zone deterrence strategy to meet the challenges posed by the Islamic Republic In this Policy Note, building on his January 2020 publication Operating in the Gray Zone: Countering Iran’s Asymmetric Way of War military expert Michael Eisenstadt offers a primer on gray zone deterrence incorporating insights from past decades as well as Tehran’s recent efforts to counter the Trump administration’s “maximum pressure” policy He argues that such a strategy will not only facilitate more successful diplomacy with Tehran but also enhance efforts to counter other gray zone actors such as China and Russia Thanks for visiting The use of software that blocks ads hinders our ability to serve you the content you came here to enjoy We ask that you consider turning off your ad blocker so we can deliver you the best experience possible while you are here Part of a series: Transition 2021 or see Part 1: The Coming Iran Nuclear Talks: Openings and Obstacles Part of a series: Asset Test Areas for especially timely U.S.-Israel cooperation include climate resilience as well as longstanding work in the military and security arenas In the fifth in a series of TRANSITION 2021 memos examining the Middle East and North Africa Michael Eisenstadt and David Pollock assess the multifaceted strengths of the U.S.-Israel partnership and its prospects for growth under the Biden administration Areas for especially timely cooperation include climate resilience Israel’s recent normalization deals with several Arab states only further widen the horizon “Israel is a world-class innovator in technologies that will be critical to meeting future challenges and energy solutions; and high-tech medicine,” explain the authors “All these areas are supportive of America’s foreign policy priorities.” Click here for a version of this paper that includes appendices and endnotes. TRANSITION 2021 memos by Washington Institute experts will address the broad array of issues facing the Biden-Harris administration in the Middle East such as the region’s strategic position in the context of Great Power competition and how to most effectively elevate human rights and democracy in Middle East policy from Arab-Israel peace diplomacy to Red Sea security to challenges and opportunities in northwest Africa this series of memos will present a comprehensive approach for advancing U.S interests in security and peace in this vital but volatile region This project was supported by the Irwin Levy Family Program on the U.S.-Israel Strategic Partnership; the Bernstein and Kahn families patrons of the authors’ fellowships; and other donors to the Institute’s Transition 2021 series.  The Sure Start programme was set up with the aim of giving young children the best possible start in life narrowing gaps in outcomes for disadvantaged children First announced by the New Labour government in 1998 it has evolved regularly over the past two decades Recent evaluations have found early versions of Sure Start delivered positive impacts for children – supporting improved educational attainment So what lessons does Sure Start hold for long-term policymaking How can national policymakers drive long-term change in social outcomes and where should any new government be looking if they want to improve children’s lives and health today?  To discuss, our Chief Executive Jennifer Dixon is joined by: This episode was recorded shortly before the Prime Minister announced a General Election will be held on 4 July.  IFS (2021). The health impacts of Sure Start.  IFS (2024). The short- and medium-term impacts of Sure Start on educational outcomes.  Eisenstadt (2022). Sure Start Review, The Therapeutic Journal.  The Health Foundation (2024). Sure Start shows that to improve health, governments must keep the faith (blog) Molloy & Asmussen (2021). Worth the wait: new evaluation data shows positive impacts of Family Nurse Partnership, EIF/WWCSC Hadley et al (2016). Implementing the UK's teenage pregnancy strategy for England. Reproductive Health.  Long-term mission led policymaking is in the air the national programme set up 25 years ago and still running with core services And the positive impacts accrue to health and education of young people So what lessons are there for a new government committed to long-term policymaking I'm delighted to welcome Dr Naomi Eisenstadt Naomi was the first Director of Sure Start in 1999 who is the Deputy Chief Executive of the What Works Centre for Children and Families could you just outline a bit about Sure Start as a programme what it was and how it changed over 25 years Sure Start was announced in Parliament in July 1998 and started as a programme in early 1999 The New Labour government had a manifesto commitment to a national childcare strategy and free nursery education for all 4-year-olds but they were also interested in child poverty The New Labour government also had something called a Modernising Agenda which was joined up government and evidence-based policy and user-led not provider-led policy which I think goes to the heart of what some of the real tensions are in a programme that's meant to be evidence-based a few streets around 400 to 800 children under 4 with a local board that was set up to include parents local services And to deliver outcomes that would make children from poorer families school ready to narrow the gap between children from poor families and the rest So that was a very explicit decision not to target by family trying to catch the most disadvantaged children and families It was targeted initially in the poorest areas of England and it was different for Scotland And in going to the poorest areas of England we reckoned that we would get half of the 20% poorest children in England because a lot of poor kids didn't live in poor areas After 2 years it expanded from 250 programmes to 500 local programmes and that would get us the half of the children in the 30% lowest incomes And it was narrowing the gap between poor kids and the rest Sure Start was immensely popular and it became so popular that every MP wanted one in their constituency So we went from 500 local programmes in a matter of 3 or 4 years to 3,500 Sure Start centres But the big problem is that there wasn't the same funding across they maintained the most intensive funding in the original poor area centres and then spread the others more thinly When it moved from Labour to the Coalition government they spread it thinly across and that made a massive difference to impact Were they the same thing or did they take on a different quality as they expanded to 3,500 A centre was not really different from a local programme because most of the local programmes operated out of buildings So it was just felt that it was easier the public to understand the language of centre than local programmes The big difference happened as the Coalition matured and moved into a majority Conservative government The commitment to integrated and the commitment to open to everybody in the area changed from what was an open access targeted by area to a social work in localities and became very much targeted towards families with particular disadvantages or particular difficulties all the kinds of things that made it incredibly user-friendly were hollowed out it was some services on Tuesdays and some other services on Fridays So the families who most needed an open access easy and non-stigmatising service lost that You had to figure out what was on offer when and where to go And the kinds of services that the users said they wanted at least initially When you open a programme that is based on what families say they want they don't ask for evidence-based parenting programmes they ask for all sorts of things that have virtually no evidence base at all And what the best Sure Start programmes did is provide people with what they asked for to get trust and then move on to more evidence-based interventions like parenting programmes a lot of them offered particular play space for disabled children So it was a real mix and that mix of what families wanted versus what evidence says helps them And the idea that you could work on what people thought would make their lives better along with what professionals knew made things better for children Just because they like it doesn't mean it helps their kids I'd be very interested in your perspective I think there was something about the magnitude of the initiative and the ambition that was really important The aim of giving children the best possible start in life with a focus on disadvantage areas and narrowing gaps in children's development that we know open up along income lines in the evolution of early years support and really put family support on the map in the UK And I think the level of ambition of that time still stands out even today when we look back over the last 20 or 30 years this is one of the biggest moments I think And also the focus on actively integrating health services I think the strategy was very strong and very sensible where some of this might have fallen down is that there was a very strong emphasis particularly in the early stages of letting local communities design the services that they want The language of the time was letting thousands of flowers bloom And I think we know how we see this all of the time in the work we do at foundations where we look at what works for children and families Is that what people like is not enough to always the approaches that make the most difference particularly in terms of shifting some of those very tricky outcomes for disadvantaged children And so the latest stages of Sure Start where there was a bit more central prescription did try to get clearer about what the consistent offer should be I think the problem was that point and that coincided with significant reductions of the amount of funding available and there just wasn't the resource for the sort of suite of evidence-based interventions that we know makes a real difference So was the core offer more focused because of the money or was it a different kind of philosophy to how to run long-term programmes So the core offer started to move as we began to learn what was working and what wasn't And the best example I always give of this is the national evaluation of Sure Start The first evaluation they did on impact showed that the children of teen parents were doing less well in Sure Start areas than in non-Sure Start areas And what was good about the programme is that the evaluation design was such that every 2 years we could take stock and see if it was working or if it wasn't And therefore we could redesign based on that and did assertive outreach for teen mothers the next evaluation showed there was no difference between teen mothers and the rest and all we're getting improvements in parenting So I think that Donna's right in terms of the movement between completely open-ended into a more focused approach And the IFS in their report on educational outcomes makes a real point about the big differences was once local government took over the requirement for parental involvement went At the same time funding was cut and therefore results diminished So the results they get are only from the first 500 that were very well funded and had a tremendous amount of parental involvement learning what aspects were the most important thing and what worked and what didn't So there was a sweet spot of the learning and then the money started flowing away So it sounds as though from the very beginning there was a sort of enlightened approach to evaluation And do you think that that kind of flexibility of evaluation is critical in such a long-term programme that would inevitably evolve I think it's absolutely critical and it was very very contagious at the time in terms of who got the evaluation the design of it involving people like senior academics one of the big arguments was in the design that we had of letting local determination on what was on offer it meant that you couldn't do a randomised control trial And when I wrote in my book ‘and a few weeds grew…’ and I was advised to take that out but naturally that was going to happen and that you'd learn from them I think the key to my dilemma of Sure Start is that everything it's told us now that it really really did work for children from very low-income families The IFS tells us this definitely worked for non-white children I do not believe we would be having this discussion because if it had just stayed with those 500 programmes in poor areas it would've been cut immediately and nobody would've noticed The ones I've read particularly focus on health and education And on the health side there seemed to be an increase in hospitalisations actually in the very early years but a decrease in teenagers later on of injuries And the educational impact seemed to be higher again about 10 years after the programme had finished Is that your understanding that the bigger impact seemed to happen later rather than earlier it's only in the first year that you have hospitalisations and that was I think via more services available and more families were seen But the changes in terms of health and in education started around eight or nine And there was some very interesting changes that one would not have expected What's so striking about the IFS research is that that sort of long-term follow-up per evaluation is just something we so rarely see in this country And I think that's just highlights how valuable it is We do have a tendency just to look at short-term effects from many of our government interventions and flagship programme and we just don't stay the course And it just might be we are missing all of these longer-term outcomes that we so desperately need to know about And I think one of the really interesting dilemmas about the Sure Start years was the time lag in the evaluation results and the data inevitably against the fact that there was such interest such need for information in order to make policy decisions And the two things were inevitably slightly out of sync And I think some decisions would've been made when we just didn't have the information about what was being achieved by the programme And this links into the point about looking ahead and I think just the more we can do to get that long-term tracking and evaluation about some of the key flagship programme in the new government Because in a sense you've got this large programme in operation and you need to iterate as you go along to help the programme evolve But at the same time you've got to put and train this longer term which is the type that IFS did to look at some sort of metrics if you like So it's a question of double running I guess and there's a number of examples along these lines from the last decade or so The other standard one we often talk about the foundations is the evaluation of family nurse partnership Obviously very well-evidenced intensive home visiting programme The original waves of evaluation were disappointing we got the data on the impact it made on school readiness for disadvantaged children And it remains now one of the best evidence programmes we have in terms of reducing income-related attainment gaps But we didn't stay the course and I think there were lessons from that So just going back to the Sure Start original vision when it was set up but was it really sort of heralded as this is a long-term programme for the zero to fives Norman Glass certainly intended it to be a permanent strategy The notion that it would be forever is very very difficult to figure that out in terms of what does that mean because everybody had a different view about what Sure Start was anyway So I think there's something about a branded programme that makes it impossible to be forever because it becomes so politically aligned The thing that I'm most proud of in terms of Sure Start is that there was a magic about the people who used it absolutely loved it And I don't think we can underestimate particularly in early years how important it is And it's the same thing actually with nurse family that the people who get it absolutely love it and enjoy the support And the culture of it is working with and not for or to So there were things about the culture of it that were enormously important to its popularity And I run into people all the time now who used it when their children were smaller And I've run into a few adults who were babies in Sure Start So people's affection for it has not diminished if you badged something big like Sure Start it's inevitable that it's going to change over time whether it's because of a new government wanting to change the wording or whether it's a new minister who wants to have a different emphasis So how best to maintain a consistent strategy even if the names and the exact blend of initiatives change underneath that bonnet I think you've got to focus on the core components or elements that really matter and we know are most likely to sort of do the heavy lifting in terms of making children's outcomes better And it's important just to focus on what really matters at the heart of some of these initiatives I would argue that's about carefully targeted high-quality support thinking about sufficient long-term evaluation recognising that the value of evidence-based interventions and that the resource needs to be in place to make those interventions widely available And a lot of the other things that sit around this And so not getting swayed by the swings and roundabouts of particular language conventions of in a flavour of the month in terms of policies and so on and just focusing on the stuff that we know makes a difference And was that the philosophy underpinning the setting up of the What Works Centres Because in a sense you could say that you are the repository of evidence in this area 10 years ago when What Works movement was sort of set up at the heart of government it was felt that there needed to be centres which could develop and maintain repositories of evidence about what makes a difference in terms of whichever particular outcome area or policy area it might be And make that accessible to either policy makers nationally who are making decisions about new initiatives and policy and so on or those locally who are designing and commissioning services we have an online guidebook which has something like 130 different programme and interventions which have been shown through rigorous high-quality evidence to change a range of children's outcomes I think the most important thing isn't the what works the most important thing is is their agreement on what you're trying to achieve because [inaudible 00:19:02] immediately assumption of what we're trying to achieve is narrowing the gap in outcomes for children The example I want to give on that is the current government's childcare strategy which is a strategy about women's labour market participation very clear not to allow policy makers to try to double up or triple up what the aims are because sometimes they're in conflict And I think this one is particularly in conflict The other point I would make is that in terms of the Sure Start story at the same time there were much more generous benefits there was much more cash transfers and income strategies And the balance in terms of interventions as opposed to just less poor is completely wrong So I do think if the problem is the social class gradient on outcomes and poor kids do worse Couldn't agree more with Naomi on outcomes It's very interesting one of the things that we see in a lot of our work with those who are often developing and designing services is just that lack of clarity about what they're trying to achieve and for whom And without that we just get into quite sort of woolly fuzzy intervention design and just impossible to show results We have to just think ahead as we go forward as well as thinking about high quality evidence-based support for children and families We have to also think about reducing economic stress We know that that significantly affects parents' ability to provide the consistent nurturing environment that their children need And I think it just feels like only to focus on interventions without tackling child poverty is like trying to operate with one hand tied behind our backs So it would be great to see a sort of multi-strand focus as we move forward which is trying to tackle both of those things simultaneously you've got a tight objective to say climate is an example in front of us Was there any talk on the early years side of having some kind of independent audit of an annual report on the state of children early years that was independently written a bit like the carbon audit is done these days by the Climate Change Committee I remember the New Labour government had a kind of how did we do annual report There is annual reports on children's readiness for school through the early years' foundation stage and on the differences in different groups I just think that the energies have to be about that dual how do services work together to improve the circumstances for children and families they tend to be quite narrow and they don't get this broader service integration or service contribution thing So I suppose the pig doesn't get better by weighing it and it's so obvious some of the things that we have to do and some of the things I think that we've got wrong And I suppose that's one of the things I grieve about Sure Start is that I want to learn from what we did wrong Let's just turn back then to the national arrangement for this policy As you pointed out in your IFS lecture presentation it was Tessa Jowell and Yvette Cooper at the DH But their own departmental committees weren't there that were feeding into this sort of assessment Clearly that's important to have cross-departmental working in this kind of area But how well did it work and were there any particular mechanisms that any new government should be knowing about to make this work more effectively in future There was a ministerial committee that was represented by six different government departments But the main departments that were interested was DWP and Health and Education and quite early on health handed over to DWP And the other big mistake we made at the time which I think we're still suffering from and maybe Donna has a view about this as well I think was a mistake to take children's social care out of the Department of Health and move it to DfE And we did it because we were creating a children's department we went back to a department for education And I think it significantly weakened the voice of children in the Department of Health So I think that no matter how you structure government responsibilities you need to make sure that you manage and risk assess the new joins and we didn't do that So I think the health involvement weakened over time what are your observations about how this could work better in future So we definitely need a new national vision for early years children and families support with the right mechanisms I think nationally and at local level to drive the direction that we want to see I would say nationally I was a civil servant for many years and worked with various combinations of central units and task forces and various other structures I think the crucial things are you need some sort of central vehicle with the right departments round the table with a clear mandate And whoever is chairing or convening that forum needs to have the authority and direct mandate from number 10 and the Prime Minister to get White Hall working in the way that you might want to actually I was thinking about this the other day remembering also another big last Labour government flagship policy which again had a central cross-government programme There was a ministerial task force in White Hall but then with clear joined up action at local level through regional and local service coordinators And so the direction that was set centrally then flowed through those individuals and structures of local level And there's just something about how it's all very well to set the vision in White Hall that really matters And we have to do that and assemble the funding and all the rest of it in the direction But making sure there is the proper funding incentives and levers to drive the change that we want to see locally And how did that work when we know how local authorities vary enormously in capability and funding and mission and interest in this area how tight-loose was the national local balance and how tight-loose would it need to be in future So the difficulty was that initially these 500 local programme were run from White Hall which meant that the local committees had an enormous amount of power and did great stuff And the IFS report shows how the early ones they did the best stuff The reason that we had to hand over to local government was that we had set up this structure called Every Child Matters That I think was one of the most important things that Labour did for children I thought the work that was done by Tom Jeffrey and Alvia Finchley and Anne Weissach was absolutely brilliant it was a structural system in terms of having one director of children's services in every local authority who would be responsible for all the children in that area And you couldn't then have that director of children's services responsible for all the children in a local government area except the three Sure Start local programmes You were sort of creating a different kind of fractured service while we were trying to integrate services for children local government was incredibly different from each other in their approaches to the parental involvement role of local programmes And that's when we started to lose what was that magic about local participation So the principle of why we handed over to local government was completely right your experience of this and how to hang on to these core objectives at the same time as handing down to local government I think there has to be central clarity about what types of support or models are likely to make the most difference And I think we don't always have that in some of the policies we have in this space at the moment Our argument would be there's often a significant gap between what we know works from high quality studies and what gets commissioned and delivered locally And we need to be using those things shown to make a difference and not reinventing wheels And there's sometimes a tendency in White Hall to launch innovation rounds or calling for bids from local authorities and their partners without any sort of clarity about what it is that we want to see So I think you need some sort of central menu clearly setting out the types of support that should be available It's not just enough though to produce guidance from local authorities just producing guidance doesn't shift what happens locally So that's got to be backed by the right sort of incentives and use of levers in the system So ring-fence funding that gets specific models delivered I'm not saying that's the only way of doing it We saw just another example again from the Labour years evidence-based parenting models things like Triple P and incredible years went from being available in a small handful of pilots to being available in every top tier local authority over a four or five year period as a result of funding earmarked for those models with very strict conditions The other thing I think we need to think about is the inspection and obviously the influence inspectors such as Ofsted can have in how they review but I think we need to take a really careful look at what it is we want to do and what architecture we want to put around this the core of interventions that we know are most effective are much more widely available I saw something the other day now there's less than 25% of children and young people who could benefit from that type of support actually receive it And so we've gone backward from having it widely available to now just in a minority of areas what would you be advising if you were approached by the new government who wanted to design something which was for the long term and perhaps in this area but maybe even perhaps not So sort of generic advice based on your experience here I don't disagree with any of the things you've just said What you think is important in terms of clarity is focus for whom because Sure Start was very much about the 20% or 30% It wasn't about complex families with complex difficulties It was the families who basically because of low income had difficulties in providing for their children in the way that we think is the best way to provide for children so that they succeed at school very complex families and that won't shift in child outcomes We need to first of all work out what it's we want to achieve and I do think we need a focus on earlier intervention for families as part of that I think the original objectives of Sure Start remain as necessary today a new focus on providing support for families that we know can mitigate the impact of poverty and disadvantaged particularly on those crucial educational and other outcome areas I think there's something about as part of that what works evidence of the type we provide won't tell you everything about what to do but it is really important in terms of the things we know are likely to make the most difference I'd like us to make sure we're using that at the core of whatever it is we develop here I think we can't just focus on the near term I think one reflection I have from the last two decades of policy initiatives is that we do have the right ambitions and we do try to do the right things but just how we go about it sometimes is insufficient or we lose our way mid-course And I think the new government provides an opportunity to get this right and would like to see a renewed focus on reducing those gaps in outcomes for disadvantaged children A big thank you to Naomi Eisenstadt and Donna Malloy for their first-hand insights And next month we'll be looking in-depth at what the public really think about the NHS and the pathway for its reform many thanks to the team for help producing this podcast that's Leo and Sean at the Health Foundation and Paddy and team at Malt Subscribe to our podcast on your preferred platform to receive future episodes when they’re released Sure Start shows that long-term investment in systems approaches to improving health pays off What's happened to our economy and what does it mean for our health Receive the latest news and updatesfrom the Health Foundation REITs invest in the majority of real estate property types Nareit’s REIT Directory provides a comprehensive list of REIT and publicly traded real estate companies that are members of Nareit The directory can be sorted and filtered by sector CEM Benchmarking’s 2024 study also reveals allocations and risk-adjusted performance of 12 asset classes over 25-year period Partnerships are occurring across a range of REIT property sectors is the REIT industry’s largest annual gathering of executives REIT industry by ensuring its members’ best interests are promoted by providing unparalleled advocacy continuing education and networking.  Widespread pet ownership and advances in veterinary medicine have translated into increased spending on veterinary care While this demand has drawn institutional investment into veterinary practices ownership of the underlying real estate has generated less attention—and created an opportunity for Terravet REIT Inc then president of Community Veterinary Partners led an acquisition that paved the way for the formation of Terravet The purchase of a building leased to Community Veterinary Partners the corporate owner and operator of veterinary practices got him thinking about the real estate opportunity arising from the growing mismatch between the ownership of veterinary practices and veterinary real estate “What occurred to me at the time was that there was an awful lot of high quality niche medical real estate that had mostly been developed by veterinarians and was still owned by doctors even though practices were increasingly being purchased and operated by institutionally backed capital,” Eisenstadt says he oversaw the sale of a majority stake in Community Veterinary Partners to a private equity firm and turned his full attention to the real estate opportunity that he saw as a result of more than a decade of consolidation in the field of veterinary care Eisenstadt’s Terravet Real Estate Solutions launched its first institutional fund to acquire veterinary real estate raising $80 million from investors that included The Pritzker Organization the firm launched its second institutional fund for the same purpose it partnered with a group of entrepreneurial veterinarians to form Terravet REIT in an UPREIT exchange transaction Terravet owns approximately 200 properties in more than 35 states freestanding buildings leased on a long term basis to corporate owners and operators of veterinary practices Terravet REIT is majority owned by veterinarians as of May veterinary practices were usually owned by individual doctors operating out of buildings they had purchased or developed was one of the first big consolidators of veterinary practices By the time the firm was acquired by Mars Inc it owned nearly 800 animal hospitals in the United States and Canada operating under the name VCA Animal Hospitals is part of the Mars Petcare portfolio of brands Private equity investors have also become major players in the pet-care business They began investing in veterinary practices in the late 1990s and early 2000s backing entrepreneurial veterinarians who wanted to buy or start new practices they had little appetite for acquiring the properties where care is delivered leaving thousands of clinic and hospital buildings in the hands of individual doctors this opportunity wouldn’t really have existed,” says Eisenstadt a lawyer by training and self-described pet lover “You could have bought veterinary practice buildings but the tenant would not have had the creditworthiness of a corporate entity.” “What makes this opportunity interesting from a REIT perspective,” he adds “is that you go from mom-and-pop credit to corporate credit as this evolution happens in multi-site health care broadly and veterinary medicine specifically.” What attracted Mars and other deep-pocketed investors to the pet care business has grown meaningfully over the last two decades pushing up spending on veterinary services which represented a slight decrease from the prior year making them the most widely owned type of pet furry friends can come with a hefty price tag Spending on veterinary services (about $37 billion in 2023) has grown at a compound annual rate of about 9% over the past five years It’s projected to grow at a roughly 7% compound annual rate over the next five years Demographic and societal trends have contributed to the growth in pet ownership many newly-married millennials and Gen Zers are adopting cats or dogs long before they take the plunge into parenthood “You see more people getting married later in life and having a dog as a young married couple You also see a lot of empty nesters who will get a dog when the kids go off to college,” Eisenstadt says including pharmacology and diagnostic solutions and a greater emphasis on preventative care have also contributed to the growth in services spending Eisenstadt estimates that there are roughly 20,000 veterinary practices in the U.S. and that the number of actual clinic and hospital buildings that would appeal to institutional buyers is about half that number Growing demand for higher-quality buildings is expanding the universe of investment opportunities Terravet has purchased and renovated existing veterinary buildings to accommodate start-up practices or established local practices that outgrew their previous locations the company is developing new buildings to replace aging facilities on the same site “There is regular development of new general practice buildings and specialty and emergency hospitals,” Eisenstadt says “Long gone are the days when younger veterinarians want to work in a converted house increasingly want facilities where good health care can be delivered in true medical facilities.” Terravet isn’t hitching its star only to veterinary real estate institutional investors are increasingly acquiring practices in other highly specialized areas of health care As corporate ownership in such sectors grows Terravet is eying new opportunities to acquire the underlying real estate with a continued focus on single-tenant net lease properties Terravet already owns a small number of ambulatory surgery centers specializing in ophthalmology and plans to expand its holdings in that property type The centers are leased to corporate operators of ophthalmology practices in certain cases the very same institutional investors that own veterinary groups “The same approach we’ve taken to sourcing acquisitions and building our portfolio in veterinary and now ophthalmology we think will exist in fertility or orthopedics and possibly in dermatology and pediatric dentistry,” Eisenstadt says which includes assets held by its REIT and second institutional fund Eisenstadt anticipates being able to scale those holdings to more than $1 billion over the next several years depending on interest rates and other factors “If you look at other sectors where there are public REITs where institutional and public REIT investors hadn’t found those niches Most of the real estate was not sitting in scaled portfolios,” Eisenstadt says “We think we’re an early mover in what I would call single-tenant net lease niche medical and veterinary,” he adds are companies that own or finance income-producing real estate across a range of property sectors These real estate companies have to meet a number of requirements to qualify as REITs and they offer a number of benefits to investors REITs historically have delivered competitive total returns steady dividend income and long-term capital appreciation Their comparatively low correlation with other assets also makes them an excellent portfolio diversifier that can help reduce overall portfolio risk and increase returns These are the characteristics of real estate investment Nareit serves as the worldwide representative voice for REITs and real estate companies with an interest in U.S Nareit’s members are REITs and other real estate companies throughout the world that own as well as those firms and individuals who advise the National Association of Real Estate Investment Trusts®, is the worldwide representative voice for REITs and publicly traded real estate companies with an interest in U.S Nareit's members are REITs and other businesses throughout the world that own National Association of Real Estate Investment Trusts® and Nareit® are registered trademarks of the National Association of Real Estate Investment Trusts (Nareit) Michael Eisenstadt examines the parallels between the development of Iran's chemical warfare program during the war with Iraq and its nuclear program today This website is using a security service to protect itself from online attacks The action you just performed triggered the security solution There are several actions that could trigger this block including submitting a certain word or phrase You can email the site owner to let them know you were blocked Please include what you were doing when this page came up and the Cloudflare Ray ID found at the bottom of this page Iran's missile force could double or triple in size by the time the major limits imposed by the nuclear deal are supposed to be lifted so any attempts to improve on the JCPOA should address Iran's missile program as well the United States will need to reassess how it deters adversaries and conducts security force assistance in the region while becoming more proficient in gray zone operations and information activities Addressing cultural factors and trends such as climate change will require solutions outside the traditional national security toolkit In the ninth in a series of TRANSITION 2021 memos Michael Eisenstadt describes how even with a reduced military footprint the United States can secure its interests in the Middle East while better positioning itself on the global stage the Biden administration has declared that it will right-size the U.S military presence in the Middle East and end America’s involvement in the region’s costly “forever wars” in order to focus on Great Power competition To meet future security challenges in the Middle East the United States will need to rethink how it deters adversaries and conducts security force assistance to address the structural and cultural factors that produce regional instability along with destabilizing trends such as climate change the United States must look outside the traditional national security toolkit “is to develop new strategies and operational approaches that employ the military and other instruments of national power in different and more effective ways as the attention of policymakers and U.S force deployments increasingly shift to the Indo-Pacific region and elsewhere.” TRANSITION 2021 memos by Washington Institute experts address the broad array of issues facing the Biden-Harris administration in the Middle East This project was supported by the Kahn family—patrons of the author’s fellowship—and other donors to the Institute’s Transition 2021 series America’s failure to operate effectively in the gray zone against a third-tier power like Iran raises questions about its ability to counter much more potent actors like Russia and China Since the creation of the Islamic Republic in 1979 Iran has distinguished itself (along with Russia and China) as one of the world’s foremost “gray zone” actors the United States has struggled to respond effectively to this asymmetric “way of war.” Washington has often treated Tehran with caution and granted it significant leeway in the conduct of its gray zone activities due to fears that U.S pushback would lead to “all-out” war—fears that the Islamic Republic actively encourages the very purpose of this modus operandi is to enable Iran to pursue its interests and advance its anti-status quo agenda while avoiding escalation that could lead to a wider conflict Because of the potentially high costs of war—especially in a proliferated world—gray zone conflicts are likely to become increasingly common in the years to come it is more important than ever for the United States to understand the logic underpinning these types of activities To read the full study, download the PDF above or visit the NDU website Part of a series: Risks and Opportunities in the Post-April 13 Middle East or see Part 1: The Palestinian Arena in the Shadow of the Iran-Israel Crisis Experience shows that a balanced strategy blending deterrence by denial and deterrence by punishment can more effectively contain Iran state-on-state attack against Israel on April 13 increased the risk of overt conventional conflict in the Middle East employing hundreds of one-way attack drones Equally significant was the U.S.-organized effort to defeat Iran’s attack working with Israel as well as European and Arab allies to integrate capabilities and defend the region’s airspace the April 19 Israeli response targeted air defenses protecting Iran’s nuclear program deep inside the country without damage to civilian infrastructure or civilian casualties And while the April 2024 escalation cycle appears closed the region has now crossed the threshold for state-on-state attacks with Israel and Iran both displaying potent capabilities and resolve The following article is part of a new series that aims to shed light on the opportunities and risks of the post-April 13 strategic environment (Denial works by convincing the adversary that it will be thwarted punishment by convincing the adversary that it will incur unacceptable costs.) The United States has increasingly relied on deterrence by denial in recent years to counter Iran’s destabilizing regional activities It has bolstered regional air and missile defenses and stood up maritime task forces to persuade Tehran that its attacks will be disrupted and its goals frustrated it has generally eschewed military activities that could impose costs on Iran but which might be perceived as escalatory is at greater risk due to its proximity to Iran and it therefore prefers to include in the mix deterrence by punishment in order to disrupt Iranian activities and impose costs Despite Washington’s preference for deterrence by denial vis-a-vis Iran America’s own experience shows that a balanced strategy that blends both denial and punishment—to thwart Iranian activities and hold at risk or destroy assets that it values—is a more effective way to deter and contain the Islamic Republic The United States has more than forty years of experience trying to deter Iran and disrupt its destabilizing regional activities highlighting the limitations of deterrence by denial In 2019, during the Trump administration, pro-Iran militias attacked U.S. troops in Iraq around twenty-five times without provoking a U.S. military response. Attacks became more frequent and intense until they killed a U.S military contractor in late December of that year Thus began a chain of events that culminated in the U.S drone strike that killed IRGC Qods Force commander Qasem Soleimani in January 2020 Retaliation—in the form of an Iranian missile strike on U.S troops at al-Asad Air Base in Iraq and a series of rocket attacks by pro-Iran proxies—was followed by several months of relative quiet This echoes the U.S. experience in Iraq from 2003-11, when the IRGC-QF armed, trained, and financed Iraqi militias and insurgents that killed more than 600 U.S. troops Washington sought to disrupt Tehran’s efforts while avoiding escalation and coalition forces regularly interdicted Iranian arms shipments and eventually detained several senior Qods Force operatives The United States also quietly threatened to respond militarily to proxy attacks on the U.S embassy in Baghdad in April 2008 and against U.S bases in Iraq in June 2011 (the latter actions killed fifteen U.S attacks stopped after the United States issued stern warnings efforts failed to halt proxy attacks entirely the threatened use of force (when deemed credible) had a salutary American intervention thus deterred direct attacks on reflagged tankers forced Iran to rely on less effective tactics and—in tandem with a series of devastating Iraqi victories on land—helped end the war attempts to deter by denial have often yielded to deterrence by punishment as restraint frequently emboldened Tehran; by practicing both denial and punishment Washington might more effectively deter and contain Iran And while the fear of escalation is understandable The United States and Israel have sparred with Iran for decades without sparking an “all-out regional war,” and recent exchanges indicate that all parties remain interested in avoiding a broader conflict Tehran is a determined adversary that relentlessly tests limits and works to erode or circumvent adversary red lines Though it may back down when dealt with firmly it often seeks alternative means to achieve its goals will oblige Iran to act less often and less effectively Deterrence strategies that rely solely on denial enable Tehran’s traditionally cautious leadership to better calibrate risks and calculate costs and to wager only those assets it considers expendable or cyber operations) could limit the potential for escalation Michael Eisenstadt is the Kahn Senior Fellow at The Washington Institute and director of its Military and Security Studies Program