Later this month, the Security Council will hold its annual vote about whether to extend the mandate of the United Nations International Force in Lebanon (UNIFIL) for another twelve months. With a yearly budget of over $500 million—of which the U.S. provides almost a third—UNIFIL’s job is to prevent another war between Israel and Hizballah. This is a mission it cannot accomplish, writes Tony Badran:

In the past few decades, the Jewish state has vastly expanded its diplomatic, economic, and sometimes military ties with South and East Asia, while doing its best to stay away from the conflicts that divide the countries in the region. Daniel Samet surveys the potential for these relationships, urging Jerusalem to avoid deepening cooperation with China and instead to focus on cultivating further its alliances-in-the-making with China’s competitors: