As US Shuns Iran in Fight Against ISIS, History Repeats
by Esfandyar Batmanghelidj Last week epitomized the highs and lows of hoping for an improvement in US-Iran relations. A BBC report on Sept. 5 that Iran’s Supreme Leader Ali Khamenei had approved...
View ArticleObama’s Anti-ISIS Strategy Hits Stumbling Blocks
by Wayne White As it attempts to hammer out a coalition to combat the Islamic State (IS, ISIL or ISIS), the Obama administration is encountering a variety of complications. More strident calls from...
View ArticleFighting ISIS and the Morning After
by Emile Nakhleh As the wobbly anti-ISIS coalition is being formed with American prodding, the Obama administration should take a strategic look at the future of the Arab world beyond the threat posed...
View ArticleSaudi Arabia: Champion of Human Rights?
by Thomas W. Lippman Imagine hearing news that North Korea was planning to organize an international conference on criminal justice reform, or being invited by Cuba to a conference promoting political...
View ArticleThe Anti-ISIS Campaign: Beware the Seeds of Escalation
by Paul Pillar The wisdom of any application of military force will involve much more than the goals initially laid out and the resources initially applied to achieve those goals. Those initial...
View ArticleSquaring the Circle of ISIS
via LobeLog by Bernard Chazelle In matters of battle, there are certain things we’ve come to expect. The pairwise nature of combat, for example. From the playing fields of Eton to the morne plaine of...
View ArticleWhat Next?
via LobeLog by Robert E. Hunter Since the United States invaded Afghanistan after September 11, 2001, and began an era of major military operations in Southwest Asia and the Middle East, “what next”...
View ArticleISIS and the Politics of Surprise
by Paul Pillar The recent burst of recriminations about what the U.S. intelligence community did or did not tell the president of the United States in advance about the rise of the extremist group...
View ArticleWhen Military Power is Not Enough
via Lobelog by Robert E. Hunter At West Point last May, President Obama said that “Just because we have the best hammer does not mean that every problem is a nail.” He continued “…US military action...
View ArticleUS Policy Towards Iran Played Big Role in Rise of Sunni Extremism
via Lobelog by Shireen T. Hunter Throughout the recent handwringing about how the US and other Western countries failed to foresee the emergence of ISIS, one factor has been totally ignored, either...
View Article
