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- Sustainable Security in Afghanistan,
Lawrence J. Korb, Caroline Wadhams, Colin Cookman, and Sean Duggan
- Swords and Ploughshares, Reuben Brigety
- Obama Must Halt Starvation in Darfur,
John Prendergast
- Barriers to a Solution, Brigadier General
(Ret.) Ilan Paz
- Lessons from Six Years in Iraq, Lawrence
J. Korb, Sean Duggan, and Laura Conley
- Gulf States and an Integrated
Regional Strategy, Brian Katulis
- Posts from the U.A.E. and Kuwait, Brian
Katulis
- Economic Crisis Hits an Already Damaged
U.S. Image in the Middle East, Brian Katulis
- TWICs and Securing America's Ports, P.J.
Crowley
- U.S.-China Relations and Human Rights,
Nina Hachigian
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Lawrence J. Korb, Caroline Wadhams, Colin
Cookman, and Sean Duggan, "Sustainable Security: Crafting an Effective
and Responsible Strategy for the Forgotten Front," Center for American
Progress, March 24, 2009
The Obama administration inherits a rapidly deteriorating situation in
Afghanistan. In fact, both President Obama and General David McKiernan,
who commands all U.S. and NATO troops in Afghanistan, agree that we are
not winning the war against the Taliban and other insurgent groups.
Facing facts on the ground is a prerequisite to responding to this
challenge, which will require a comprehensive and long-term approach
that uses all elements of U.S. national power.
Click here to
read the full report.
Reuben Brigety, "Swords and Ploughshares: Sustainable
Security in Afghanistan Requires Sweeping U.S. Policy Overhaul," Center
for American Progress, March 19, 2009
The ability of the U.S. government to improve the lives of others in
countries with varying degrees of instability does not match its
ability to wage decisive combat operations. There is a fundamental
mismatch between the civilian and military aspects of American
power—a
mismatch that undermines the pursuit of U.S. foreign policy,
particularly the effective implementation of foreign assistance
programs across the spectrum of conflict. This must be corrected to
achieve near-term successes in immediate crises facing the United
States, such as in Afghanistan today, as well as to ensure the
long-term viability of U.S. foreign policy objectives abroad.
Click here to read the full report.
John Prendergast, "Obama Must Halt Starvation in
Darfur," Atlanta Journal-Constitution,
March 22, 2009
Between 1991 and 1993, I traveled
extensively as a human rights monitor
in what became known as the “starvation triangle” in
southeastern
Sudan. A third of a million southern Sudanese civilians perished in
those swamps and savannas, primarily due to the extended periods when
the Sudanese government would cut off all access to humanitarian aid to
the areas it was trying to pacify militarily.
Click here to read the full article.
Brigadier General (Ret.) Ilan Paz, "Barriers to a
Solution," Interview with Middle East Bulletin, March 24, 2009
Middle
East Bulletin sat down with Brigadier General (Ret.) Ilan Paz,
former head of the Israeli Civil Administration in the West Bank
(2002-2005) to discuss prospects for a two-state solution in the Middle
East.
“Israel did remove several main checkpoints and roadblocks during
the last several months. ... [But i]t should have happened before and
in greater numbers. Now I can explain the exact security needs
associated with almost each road block and checkpoint. ... But we are
now living in another, much better, security situation, and we have to
balance our efforts against terror. I believe that military-security
activities aren't enough to reduce the level of violence. We have to do
much more. ... [W]ithout the peace process, I'm afraid that we won't
see a big change on the ground. The Palestinians have to see a light at
the end of the tunnel parallel to all of these activities on the
ground. Without it, this won't work.”
Click here to
read the full interview. Click here to view the full event video for "Prospects
for a Two-State Solution: Understanding Challenges and Creating
Opportunities."
Lawrence J. Korb,
Sean Duggan, and Laura Conley, "Lessons from Six Years in Iraq," Center
for American Progress, March 19, 2009
The past six years of U.S. involvement
in Iraq have been marked by
profound failure and fragile success. Former President George W.
Bush’s
May 2003 “mission accomplished” announcement marked the
ostensible end
of hostilities in the country and was followed by the capture of Saddam
Hussein and the transfer of power to Iraq’s interim
government—important accomplishments in a difficult campaign. Yet
a
growing insurgency quickly undermined these achievements and ensnared
the United States in a protracted and bloody civil war.
Click here to
read the full article.
Brian Katulis,
"Gulf States Essential for an Integrated Regional Strategy," Middle East Bulletin, March 19, 2009
In his first two months in office,
President Barack Obama has moved
rapidly to set the contours of a new strategy to address multiple
security challenges in the Middle East and South Asia. As the
administration continues to define its policies on complicated issues
like counterterrorism, the Arab-Israeli conflict, Iraq, Iran,
Afghanistan and Pakistan in the coming months, it should consult
closely with its Gulf Arab allies, who serve as a key link between
nearly all of the pieces of the broader puzzle of the Middle East and
South Asia.
Click here to
read the full article.
Brian
Katulis, Posts from the U.A.E. and Kuwait, ForeignPolicy.com,
March 16-23, 2009
I'm in the United Arab Emirates as part of a delegation organized by
the Middle East Program at the Center for Strategic and International
Studies (CSIS), directed by Jon Alterman (check out the program's
excellent reports and note here.
The U.S. delegation is in the U.A.E. and Kuwait this week to see how
people here are thinking about the global economic meltdown, Iran's
evolving role in the region, and the increasing emphasis in U.S. policy
on Pakistan and Afghanistan (discussed in that order out here). We're
also hearing a good bit on the usual mix of Middle East issues like the
Arab-Israeli conflict and Iraq.
Click here to
read "What Can We Learn from the Emirates?"
Click here to
read "A Small Arab Gulf Country Arms Up"
Click here
to read "Where is the Muslim World on Afghanistan?"
Brian Katulis, "Economic Crisis Hits an Already
Damaged U.S. Image in the Middle East," TPM Cafe, March 18, 2009
It's common knowledge that the new Obama administration is
scrambling to pull America out of two big holes that the Bush
administration helped dig - the biggest economic crisis since the Great
Depression and a major decline in America's image abroad, which
essentially has undermined U.S. power.
On my current trip to the Middle East, I'm
hearing a lot about these
two dynamics and the interplay between both. It's not just that America
is less admired in the Middle East compared to when I first started
coming to the region more than 15 years ago - America was never
well-loved in these parts. The Bush administration's overall approach
to the region didn't win us many new friends and alienated millions at
a popular level. In addition, it didn't actually strengthen our hand
and increase our power to reshape regional trends to our advantage.
Click here to read the full article.
AFP - Senior Fellow PJ Crowley
discusses the slow progress toward securing U.S. ports. The inability
of major ports to complete thorough background checks of workers
and provide biometric "TWIC" cards - Transport Worker Identification
Credentials - by mid-April, the deadline set by the Department of
Homeland Security, show ports are still struggling to balance
security regulations with operations." We are still grappling with how
to improve security while keeping supply chains open," said Crowley.
Politico
-Senior Fellow Nina Hachigian discusses U.S.-China relations and
Speaker Nancy Pelosi's recent remarks on human rights in
China. “Nancy Pelosi’s predicament with China embodies
the larger U.S.
predicament with China,” said Hachigian. “On one hand,
there’s this conflict on human rights; on the other hand,
there’s this tremendous interdependence...We need their
help on the economic crisis, global warming, North Korea and a host of
other issues. And in many ways, they are being as helpful as many of
our allies, especially when they passed a stimulus of the magnitude
that [Treasury Secretary] Tim Geithner has demanded. So Pelosi will
have to balance that.”
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Back from the Brink:
Strengthening the Group of 20 to Tackle Global Crises
March 31, 2009
10:00 AM - 11:30 AM
As President Obama heads to London early next
month for the second
meeting of the G-20 nations' leaders, the pressing issue on the agenda
is rescuing the global economy from the worst recession since the Great
Depression. It is therefore imperative that President Obama and the
G-20 leaders agree on necessary measures to stem the global crisis. The
Center for American Progress believes that these measures entail
restoring normal functioning of financial markets, coordinating
economic stimulus measures, providing much needed assistance to
developing countries, avoiding protectionism, and taking new steps to
reduce greenhouse gas emissions worldwide.
But agreement alone is not enough. For this
reason, the Center is
calling for the G-20 leaders to establish an empowered, resourced and
permanent but evolving "G-20 leadership forum" with the immediate
mission to restore stability to the global economy, but with a longer
term mandate to broker global deals, provide direction for multilateral
organizations and cope with economic aspects of global challenges as
they arise.
Please join the Center for American Progress for a
discussion around these recommendations.
Featured Speakers:
Colin Bradford, Nonresident Senior Fellow,
Global Economy and Development, Brookings Institution
Kemal Dervis, former Secretary General,
United Nations Development Programme
Sabina Dewan, Associate Director of
International Economic Policy, Center for American Progress
Bruce Stokes, International Economics
Columnist, National Journal; Fellow, German Marshall Fund
Moderated by:
Nina Hachigian, Senior Fellow, Center for
American Progress
For more information and to RSVP, click here.
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