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- Impressions from Iraq: Part One, Lawrence
Korb
- A Political Settlement for Darfur: A
Practical Roadmap, Omer Ismail, Colin Thomas-Jensen, Maggie Fick and
John Prendergast
- Lawyers, Guns, and Money, John Norris
- Realistic Engagement with Syria, Theodore
Kattouf
- Three Reasons Not to Rush More Troops to
Afghanistan, Lawrence Korb
- Iraq: Laying the Groundwork for a
Transition, Samir Sumaida'ie
- A Preview of the P5+1 Negotiations with
Iran, Nicholas Burns
- Don't Blame Craig for Gitmo Closure
Difficulties, Ken Gude
- Any Counterinsurgency Strategy in
Afghanistan Requires an Effective Partner Government, Brian Katulis
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Lawrence Korb, "Impressions from
Iraq: Part One," Center for American Progress, October 13, 2009
This is my third trip to Iraq since the U.S. invasion of March 2003. I
will be part of an official group that will assess the current
situation. The group is composed of current and former government
officials and some outside experts (Unfortunately, because this is an
official trip, I am limited as to what I can write about). We arrived
on October 11, 2009 and will remain in the country until October 25.
Click here to
read the full article.
Omer Ismail, Colin
Thomas-Jensen, Maggie Fick and John Prendergast, "A Political
Settlement for Darfur: A Practical Roadmap," Enough Project, October
13, 2009
The Darfur peace process is at a crossroads. Until now, the mediation
team has not produced a credible peace proposal and key external actors
have not generated the necessary pressures and incentives to achieve an
agreement. International efforts to restart negotiations in the coming
weeks must avoid the mistakes of the past and instead focus on
substantive peace proposals and backing the mediation team with the
requisite leverage.
Click here to
read the full report.
John Norris,
"Lawyers, Guns, and Money," Foreign Policy, October 13, 2009
Instead
of actually changing its behavior, Sudan's ruling
National Congress Party wants to return to favor in Washington the
old-fashioned way: by swamping a bunch of high-powered lobbyists in a
sea of
money to make its case. Thanks to two excellent recent articles by the Washington
Post's Dan Eggen,
we have gained a much clearer window into the behind-the-scenes
machinations of
the National Congress Party and the greedy inside-the-Beltway types
lining up
to do the party's bidding. In the process, we have also gained some
alarming
insight into how the administration is dealing with this mess. As
actress Lily
Tomlin once said, "No matter how cynical you get, you just can't keep
up."
Click here to
read the full article.
Theodore Kattouf,
"Realistic Engagement," Middle East Bulletin interview, October 12, 2009
Syria has shown that it can play an unhelpful role if it wishes, but a
more constructive role if it wants. ... Both the U.S. and Saudi Arabia
have had to recognize that it's better to deal with Syria than not, if
they want to make at least some progress toward their aims. But the
fact remains that everyone needs to be realistic, because the regime
still insists on recovering every last inch of Syrian-held territory
occupied in the Six-Day War, and it wants a new relationship with the
United States whereby it would be removed from the state sponsors of
terrorism list, and similar such sanctions' legislation.
Click here to
read the full interview.
Lawrence Korb, "Three
Reasons Not to Rush More Troops to Afghanistan," Baltimore Sun, October 11, 2009
President Obama and his national security team are right to take a
deliberative approach in readapting U.S. strategy in Afghanistan in the
wake of that country's disastrous presidential elections in August.
While time is not on our side, Mr. Obama would be well advised to keep
these considerations in mind before he orders the second troop
escalation this year.
Click here to
read the full article.
Samir Sumaida'ie,
"Iraq: Laying the Groundwork for Transition," Middle East Bulletin interview, October 6, 2009
After Saddam's regime was removed, a
vacuum was created. It was filled in for awhile, and still to some
extent, by the United States. The new regime— the new political
order—is not yet consolidated, so you can argue that there is
still a political and security vacuum. Each of the neighboring
countries is eager to occupy all or part of this vacuum in order to
protect their interests, and reflect their priorities. So there is
strong temptation for all of our neighbors to intervene in ways that
reflect their interests. For that reason, the coming elections will not
be an entirely internal affair between political players inside Iraq.
All our neighboring countries will want to influence the outcome of the
elections. ... The reality is, the best defense against interference,
is to strengthen our own institutions and political coherence inside
the country.
Click here to
read the full interview.
Nicholas Burns, "A
Preview of the P5+1 Negotiations with Iran," Middle East Bulletin interview, October 1, 2009
I know that there are critics, particularly on the right, who say that
engagement isn’t going to work and that it has been a waste of
time. I very strongly disagree with that. I think President Obama made
clear from the very first moments of his presidency, from the clenched
fist reference in his inaugural speech, through his Nowruz message to
the Iranian people and then through his offer to negotiate
unconditionally—I think he turned the tables on the Iranians. He
has helped to put them on the defensive. I do think these talks start
with the Iranians in a difficult position.
Click here to
read the full interview.
Politico - Ken Gude says attempts to blame
White House counsel Greg Craig for difficulties the administration
faces in closing down the Guantanamo prison is misguided: "This clearly
was a decision that had the full support of the entire national
security team. It's typical Washington that someone has their head on
the chopping block, but it's ridiculous that it's Craig."
National Public Radio
- Brian Katulis argues that any prospective counterinsurgency strategy
in Afghanistan will require an effective partner government: "If we
have a weak leadership in Afghanistan that doesn't have the same
objectives that we do in terms of stabilizing the country, fighting
corruption, advancing good governance and justice in the country, then
it calls into question whether a counterinsurgency strategy is the most
appropriate means to advance U.S. national security interests."
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New Tools for Old
Traumas
October 20, 12:00 PM - 1:30 PM
One of the major developments in the human rights
field over the
past decade has been the increased application of new technologies,
such as satellite imaging, database and data analysis tools, medical
forensics, mobile phones, and social networking software to situations
in which human rights are under threat. The convergence of scientific
innovation and human rights advocacy may well represent a major
breakthrough in the struggle for human dignity.
Full realization of that promise will require far
greater
collaboration between government, business, the scientific community,
and human rights NGOs than we have seen to this point. Our panel will
describe ways in which new technologies are revolutionizing human
rights work and make recommendations for how the U. S. government can
play a leadership role in promoting the nexus between technology and
human rights.
Introduction and
moderated by:
William F. Schulz, Senior Fellow, Center
for American Progress
Featured panelists:
Susannah Sirkin,
Deputy Director, Physicians for Human Rights
Susan Wolfinbarger,
Senior Program Associate, Geospatial Technologies and Human Rights
Project, American Association for the Advancement of Science
Sarah Dreier,
former Research Assistant, Center for American Progress
For more
information and to RSVP, please click here.
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