Washington Must Tell Saudi Prince No More Help For Yemen

Washington Must Tell Saudi Prince No More Help For Yemen
Washington Must Tell Saudi Prince No More Help For Yemen

The Saudi intervention in Yemen is a strategic catastrophe that has added to regional chaos and fostered the most acute humanitarian crisis on the globe. President Trump must stop making the Saudi intervention in Yemen possible.

Hard Lessons from America’s Longest Wars

Hard Lessons from America’s Longest Wars
Hard Lessons from America’s Longest Wars

This is one of two pieces by our contributor James Kitfield, who’s won more Gerald Ford Defense Reporting awards than anyone else (3), on the challenges and mistakes America has made in grappling with the complex threat of global terrorism. As James puts it in his summary sentence: U.S. counterterrorism forces continue to learn and adapt…

As Daesh Is Crushed, Future Of Middle East At Stake

As Daesh Is Crushed, Future Of Middle East At Stake
As Daesh Is Crushed, Future Of Middle East At Stake

The future of the Middle East is currently being determined, in a process that is almost entirely hidden from view. In recent weeks, the gaze of the world has been fixed on the fight against Daesh (aka ISIL), as the end of its occupation in Mosul, Iraq, and the breaching of its defenses in Raqqa,…

After Mosul: Iraq’s Arab Neighbors Must Help Rebuild

After Mosul: Iraq’s Arab Neighbors Must Help Rebuild
After Mosul: Iraq’s Arab Neighbors Must Help Rebuild

On July 10, Iraqi Prime Minister Haider al-Abadi, pulling on the same black uniform and jacket that Iraq’s elite counterterrorism forces wore throughout the battle for Mosul, declared the final liberation of the city from Daesh’s (aka ISIL) control. “I announce from here the end and the failure and the collapse of the terrorist state…

Will Daesh 3.0 Rise From Mosul’s Ashes?

Will Daesh 3.0 Rise From Mosul’s Ashes?
Will Daesh 3.0 Rise From Mosul’s Ashes?

They’re surrounded, targeted by constant bombardments and slowly strangled of supplies and reinforcements for months so fighters for Daesh (aka ISIS) might reasonably have abandoned Mosul and tried to slink off into the night. That’s what happened last June in the battle to recapture Fallujah, when Daesh fighters were relatively quickly routed, and hundreds were killed by U.S.…

Beyond Paris: Still No Clear Strategy For Dealing with ISIL, Syria

Beyond Paris: Still No Clear Strategy For Dealing with ISIL, Syria
Beyond Paris: Still No Clear Strategy For Dealing with ISIL, Syria

  Anthony Cordesman at the Center for Strategic and International Studies (CSIS) is simply one of the sharpest minds dealing with American national security. When he says the Obama administration hasn’t done enough to counter ISIL, or Daesh as we prefer to call them now, it’s worth noting. Read on to see what the White House and Pentagon should be…

Arab Spring To Paris Fall: A Strategic Shift in the Works

Arab Spring To Paris Fall: A Strategic Shift in the Works
Arab Spring To Paris Fall: A Strategic Shift in the Works

President Francois Hollande of France arrives Tuesday in Washington for talks with President Obama. Top of the list will be how much America is willing to commit to destroying Daesh, the terrorist group we used to call ISIL. Robbin Laird, Ed Timperlake and Harald Malmgren explore in detail what America’s options are, what France wants and…

A Calibrated Response To ISIL

A Calibrated Response To ISIL
A Calibrated Response To ISIL

The ISIL-induced crisis in the Middle East is a major one with regional implications. With several years of dynamic change in the region, and the failure to create a stable Iraq during the period after the overthrow of Saddam Hussein, ISIL has functioned like a match thrown into a gas can. What  should we do? We…