This is an evil that cannot, contrary to what President Obama says, be contained. It must be defeated. And the only way to do that is to turn Sunni Arabs — its popular base — against it.
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Islamic State’s Achilles’ Heel: Its Sunni Identity
Posted November 23rd, 2015 at 3:00 pm (UTC-5)
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Turkey’s Erdogan: A Mixed Blessing?
Posted November 2nd, 2015 at 2:34 pm (UTC-5)
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Turkey is often viewed by the West as an island of stability in a sea of turmoil. For the United States, there is no question that President Recep Tayyip Erdogan is a leader it needs badly to help stave off more tumult, and maybe even deliver a decisive blow against the Islamic State. On Sunday, Erdogan’s ruling party regained its majority in parliamentary elections, sparked by a hung parliament in June’s general elections. Not content to give up 13 years of AKP rule, critics say Erdogan stoked a nationalistic atmosphere that led his party to victory. And there is ample evidence that Erdogan has become ever more repressive of Turkey’s democratic institutions. As one blog put it: “Dealing with Erdogan is now, for his Western partners, much like holding a wolf by the ears: risky, but the alternative seems much worse.”
Russia, Kurdish Aspirations and Brutal Enemy Call for Deft US Moves in Syria
Posted October 23rd, 2015 at 12:09 pm (UTC-5)
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Secretary of State John Kerry is meeting with his Russian counterpart Sergei Lavrov on Syria, a messy situation that has helped fuel the growth of the Isamic State – and appears to be creating a proxy war between the U.S. and Russia. The Obama administration is implementing its new “Syria First” policy, which relies on arming certain Kurdish factions to take the fight to the Islamic State coupled with U.S. air support. Add Russian President Vladimir Putin’s entry into the fray and his open support of Syria President Bashir al-Assad – who U.S. officials hold responsible for most of the misery – and the cocktail has become a lot more combustible. To make even modest progress, Syria requires the United States to avoid any number of policy and military landmines.
How Obama Can One-Up Putin in the Syria Crisis: Support an Independent Kurdistan
Posted October 1st, 2015 at 12:12 pm (UTC-5)
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If Obama wants to get ahead of ominous developments in Syria for once, he should consider throwing U.S. support behind an independent Kurdistan, one that is carved out from the decaying husks of Syria and Iraq.
ISIL Cannot be Defeated Without Concerted Turkish Involvement
Posted July 29th, 2015 at 11:02 am (UTC-5)
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Despite facing this extraordinary array of power, ISIL manages to hang on, and in some cases even expand. And no one can say with any confidence when or how it will be defeated. How can that possibly be?
Suspicions Surround Turkey’s Escalation Against Islamic State
Posted July 28th, 2015 at 3:20 pm (UTC-5)
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A day after reaching a deal with the United States to step up its military campaign against ISIS, Turkey pounded Kurdish and Islamic State targets. The move immediately prompted skepticism about Ankara’s true intention in signing the pact, which allows the US to use its bases in Turkey against ISIS in both Iraq and Syria. Critics of Prime Minister Erdogan say it’s all a ruse to conduct raids on Kurdish separatists, who observers agree are critical to ousting IS militants in the region. Obama pushed hard to get Turkish involvement, but it remains to be seen if the new cooperation will bear fruit over the long-term.
A Victory for Democracy in Turkey
Posted June 8th, 2015 at 1:04 pm (UTC-5)
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By Barbara Slavin His name was not on the ballot. But Sunday’s parliamentary elections in Turkey were all about President Recep Tayib Erdogan and the results revealed growing disenchantment with his authoritarian, divisive rule. Erdogan’s Justice and Development Party (AKP) lost its majority in parliament and with it, Erdogan’s bid to revise the constitution to […]
Bypass Iraqi Government
Posted May 21st, 2015 at 3:54 pm (UTC-5)
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The United States should move to directly support Sunni tribes against ISIS, outside of the Iraqi government if necessary, much as the U.S. did to support the Kurdish peshmerga last year.
The West’s Best Ally Against ISIS
The pesh merga fighters I command are not conscripts; they would rather die than surrender to the tyranny of the Islamic State. We are determined to liberate Kurdistan … We have yet more volunteers ready to join the fight against the Islamic State — if only we had the resources to train and equip them.