Washington, D.C. — With President Barack Obama set to outline his plan to combat the threat of the Islamic State of Iraq and al-Sham, or ISIS, tonight, the Center for American Progress has released a report outlining actions the United States should take to contain and degrade the threat from the militant group.
The report—authored by CAP Senior Fellows Brian Katulis and Hardin Lang and Vikram Singh, CAP Vice President for National Security and International Policy—defines core goals and actions to combat the extremist group, alleviate the humanitarian crisis the conflict has created, and restore the territorial integrity of Iraq and Syria.
“Countries in the region need to work together with the United States and an international coalition in order to defeat ISIS,” Katulis said. “Increased U.S. engagement on this challenge requires substantial support from the region, otherwise it could be seen as a rallying cry and recruitment tool for ISIS.”
“Defeating ISIS will be a long-term and multifaceted endeavor,” Lang said. “A successful U.S. strategy will integrate robust diplomacy, political engagement, and humanitarian aid with intelligence and law enforcement cooperation and security assistance. The military component will only be one part of the story.”
The report says that while military engagement may be necessary, it should come with international approval and cooperation and in conjunction with efforts to disrupt ISIS’s ability to fund itself and recruit more members. Any effort must help build local partners to counter ISIS, including groups within the Syrian opposition that will be capable of resisting both ISIS and the attacks of President Bashar al-Assad’s regime.
Click here to read the report.
Experts will be available for comment tonight after the President’s address.
For more information on this topic, contact Tom Caiazza at 202.481.7141 or [email protected].