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Obama on Paris Attacks, U.S. Strategy vs. IS and Syrian Refugees

Posted November 16th, 2015 at 4:57 pm (UTC-4)
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President Obama defended U.S. strategy against the so-called Islamic State at a news conference following the G20 summit in Antalya, Turkey.

A Multinational, Multidimensional Strategy Against the Islamic State

Posted November 16th, 2015 at 12:51 pm (UTC-4)
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By Barbara Slavin Among the most unhelpful suggestions in the aftermath of the terrorist attacks in Paris was Republican Mike Huckabee’s proposal that President Barack Obama cancel the recently signed nuclear agreement with Iran. Huckabee’s reasoning: “Radical Islamists, whether Sunni or Shia, are a clear and present danger to civilization.” Never mind that Iran is […]

After Paris, a Global Resolve to Dispel Islamic State’s Darkness

Posted November 16th, 2015 at 11:07 am (UTC-4)
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It is easy to agree on the darkness of the militant ideology that drives IS, and to try to protect against its reach … But it also requires hard work to agree on the light that should replace that darkness and to end the IS threat for good – with something sustainably good.

Kerry: “We are on the right track” in Syria

Posted November 13th, 2015 at 5:33 pm (UTC-4)
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Secretary of State John Kerry gave an impassioned defense of the Obama administration’s strategy regarding Syria and the fight against the Islamic State. Kerry made his remarks at the United States Institute for Peace on November 11, 2015.

Going After ‘Jihadi John’

Posted November 13th, 2015 at 3:47 pm (UTC-4)
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News that a U.S. airstrike may have killed the most recognizable, if covered, face of the Islamic State in the heart of its stronghold in Syria says it all: the Obama administration, with the help of select Kurdish fighters, is taking the fight to ISIS, right in its own backyard. After months of withering criticism, the president announced last month that he was sending 50 military advisers to the region to bolster its air campaign. According to Secretary of State John Kerry more than 8,000 airstrikes have been carried out at IS targets over the past year, and it’s paying off. The Islamic State has been forced from 20 to 25% of territory it controlled a year ago, Kerry said. If the death of Mohammed Emwazi, the British knife-wielding masked man who has starred in IS videos of beheadings is confirmed, it will go a long way towards convincing the world that the United States isn’t prevaricating about Syria anymore.

To Combat the Lure of ISIL, the Muslim World Needs Its Own Peace Corps

Posted October 23rd, 2015 at 4:13 pm (UTC-4)
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Societies have long recognized that young people need ways to focus their idealism and energy, as well satisfy their hunger for new experiences, and to travel. If the Muslim world can harness all those youthful impulses for the greater good of their communities, it would help undermine the attraction of extremist groups like ISIS.

Syrian Refugees as Trojan Horse for Islamic State?

Posted September 17th, 2015 at 1:17 pm (UTC-4)
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Germany may understand best the need to welcome these fleeing Muslims. It realizes that it made a mistake decades ago in not integrating Turkish immigrant workers into German society. In a similar way, terrorist experts know that the best way to deradicalize a jihadi is to first establish a relationship, embracing them rather fearing them.

Saudi-Iran Talks Key to Resolving Middle East Wars

Posted September 16th, 2015 at 4:32 pm (UTC-4)
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By Barbara Slavin As desperate migrants from wars in Syria, Iraq and elsewhere in the Middle East keep pouring onto the European continent, it is hard to imagine diplomatic solutions that can diminish this massive exodus anytime soon. But if the wars are ever to end, one prerequisite is a willingness on the part of […]

Triangulation: Russia, Syria and the United States

Posted September 14th, 2015 at 1:16 pm (UTC-4)
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President Obama said Friday there will be a “long discussion” involving Russia’s move to provide military assistance to Syrian president Bashar al-Assad. While the assistance may seem modest — 200 naval infantrymen, modular housing for 1,500 troops, howitzers, a short-range guided-missile controller and a dozen armored vehicles according to the Pentagon — it’s seen as another audacious gesture by Russian president Vladimir Putin. There is concern that Putin is creating facts on the ground similar to the situation in Ukraine with Washington unable, or unwilling, to confront Moscow. And there are those who suggest Russia should take note of history and its unsuccessful invovlement in Afghanistan? There are plenty of suggestions for all sides on how to stop the war in Syria.

Defeat Islamic State with Culture War

Posted September 2nd, 2015 at 8:29 am (UTC-4)
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The United States should instead focus on identifying reliable, local counter-narrators and amplify their voices across different platforms. Members of local communities, viewed as more trustworthy and culturally aware, have a vital role to play in developing counter-narratives to ISIS that resonate within the communities that are being targeted by the extremist group.

It’s Not Too Late to Save Iraq and Syria

Posted August 26th, 2015 at 12:25 pm (UTC-4)
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To enable military success against the Islamic State, we must first have in place a political strategy to mobilize significant Sunni Arab opposition to this terrorist group, both within Syria and Iraq and in the broader region. The biggest impediment to such a strategy is the administration’s ill-considered and unreciprocated outreach to Iran.

Time is Running Out to Defeat ISIS

Posted August 21st, 2015 at 1:07 pm (UTC-4)
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While the United States can’t fight the ideological battle directly, by using military and diplomatic means it can buy the time necessary for regional leaders to marshal a response and launch a more effective ideological counterattack. If this doesn’t occur, it is possible that the ideological damage inflicted by ISIS could become permanent

Making A State By Iron and Blood

Posted August 20th, 2015 at 10:34 am (UTC-4)
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As everyone from Mao to Kissinger is said to have said, insurgents don’t need to “win” in order to succeed; they just need to not lose. Stick around long enough … eventually your opponents will tire of fighting, and they’ll either give up and leave, or give up and negotiate.

For the U.S., the Choice Between Saudi Arabia and Iran Should be an Easy One

Posted July 14th, 2015 at 2:59 pm (UTC-4)
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The turmoil in the Middle East in recent years has forced many nations to reevaluate their relations with the countries of the region. It is only natural that the U.S. would do so as well. However, and despite their ideological and sometimes political differences, the U.S. and Saudi Arabia have managed to sustain what has been a mutually beneficial relationship.

The Islamic State’s Je Ne Sais Quoi

Posted June 18th, 2015 at 11:25 am (UTC-4)
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The problem with much of the earlier outreach in the Middle East and Muslim world is that it’s hard to persuade folks by just changing the wrapping paper on the box if the contents of that box, in this case U.S. policies that alienate Arabs and Muslims, remain essentially the same.

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