Azeem Ibrahim
Former Research Fellow, International Security Program, 2008–2010
AP Photo
November 20, 2009
"Why Israel is Safer (from Iran) Than it Might Seem"
Op-Ed, The Huffington Post
By Azeem Ibrahim, Former Research Fellow, International Security Program, 2008–2010
Most of the arguments that Iran is a threat to Israel center around Iranian President Ahmadinejad's anti-Semitism and holocaust denial. But he does not make Iranian foreign policy, Khameini does. Khameini has been in office since 1989, throughout the period of relative detente with the West during Khatami's presidency, and through the violent and volatile Ahmadinejad years. Yes, there is evidence that Khameini is a tyrant comfortable sanctioning violence to hold onto power in Iran; no, there is no evidence that he is a psychopath whose hatred of Israel would drive him to order the murder of millions. Yes, there is evidence that he sanctions the sponsorship of anti-Israel terrorism to increase his influence in the region, but no, there is no evidence that he values a confrontation with Israel the reprisal from which would inevitably cause Iranian casualties and threaten the regime's already weak power structure (from within even if not from without).
AP Photo
July 2009
"U.S. Aid to Pakistan—U.S. Taxpayers Have Funded Pakistani Corruption"
Discussion Paper
By Azeem Ibrahim, Former Research Fellow, International Security Program, 2008–2010
The United States must not provide Pakistani institutions with incentives to act counter to U.S. foreign policy objectives in the future. It has done so in the past. But until the spring of 2009, no comprehensive overview of the full funding to Pakistan was possible as the figures were kept secret. Those figures, as well as a full analysis of what is known about how they were spent, can now be evaluated. The available information paints a picture of a systemic lack of supervision in the provision of aid to Pakistan, often lax U.S. oversight, and the incentivization of U.S. taxpayer–funded corruption in the Pakistani military and security services. The author believes that this is the first attempt to present an overview of U.S. aid to Pakistan since 2001, evaluate it, and present recommendations on how to ensure that mistakes are not repeated and lessons are learned.
June 2010
Tackling Muslim Radicalization: Lessons from Scotland
Report
By Azeem Ibrahim, Former Research Fellow, International Security Program, 2008–2010
THE 9/11 ATTACK upon the United States awakened Washington to the danger of violent Muslim radicalization on its soil. In the long term, the only way to defeat radical Islamists is to reduce the motivation for Muslims to radicalize in the first place. The report explains the cutting-edge solution currently operating in Scotland.
AP Photo
June 11, 2010
"Future Trends and Challenges to UK Security"
Op-Ed, The Huffington Post
By Azeem Ibrahim, Former Research Fellow, International Security Program, 2008–2010
"Cybersecurity is likely to overtake terrorism as the number one threat to the UK's critical infrastructure over the coming decades, even if lags behind terrorism as a threat in the public mind. This is because of the rise in access to computers and computer literacy around the globe, the relative ease and anonymity of conducting a cyber attack on critical infrastructure, the reduced risk to the protagonist compared to other forms of attack, and the fact that protagonists can attack more flexibly, quickly, and with minimal institutional preparation or a shorter decision-making process than states or formalized terrorist groups require."
AP Photo
April 30, 2010
"The Cost of Trident"
Op-Ed, Critical Reaction
By Azeem Ibrahim, Former Research Fellow, International Security Program, 2008–2010
"Clegg's insistence in the debate that downgrading our nuclear weapons could be a panacea for reducing the deficit came in the same week as senior officials in the Pentagon raised the alarm about Iran's progress towards acquiring nuclear weapons capability. President Obama's conference on global nuclear security helps to remind us of the urgent need for action on safeguarding the world's nuclear materials to prevent terrorists or other non-state actors from obtaining nuclear weapons. Given the financial incentives for rogue elements from international regimes to sell their knowledge for profit, the danger that such knowhow falls into the wrong hands is very real. Is it really safe to downgrade Britain's safeguard against such attacks?"
AP Photo
April 29, 2010
"No Game-changing Moments in Final Leaders' Debate"
Op-Ed, politics.co.uk
By Azeem Ibrahim, Former Research Fellow, International Security Program, 2008–2010
"This was a scrappier, livelier debate than the previous two, and all three men had raised their game from last time. I expect the polls to show no clear winner, but Cameron and Clegg again ahead of Brown. But there was, I believe, no game-changing moment, and we are likely to head towards May 6th with the polls in a roughly similar position to last week."
AP Photo
April 26, 2010
"Trident Is No Debt Cure for Britain"
Op-Ed, The Huffington Post
By Azeem Ibrahim, Former Research Fellow, International Security Program, 2008–2010
"But ultimately, Clegg is wrong because his proposal falls into the oldest of traps: believing that because there are no clear and present dangers to the UK who we can envisage using nuclear weapons, that there could never be in the future. History has shown again and again that making decisions on defence based on only foreseeable threats is a dangerous mistake."
AP Photo
April 8, 2010
"Obama Must Tell It Like It Is On Afghanistan"
Op-Ed, The Huffington Post
By Azeem Ibrahim, Former Research Fellow, International Security Program, 2008–2010
"Honesty is the least bad option for the Obama administration. He should address the concerns, and acknowledge that the deployment is not going as he had hoped. That way, he can begin to lay out the groundwork for how he is going to turn this around, and take the American people with him. Or, even better, how he is going to facilitate power-sharing with the least extreme Taliban, and bring American troops home, before the situation gets any worse."
AP Photo
April 6, 2010
"Trust is the Key to Defeating Islamic Extremism"
Op-Ed, The Scotsman
By Azeem Ibrahim, Former Research Fellow, International Security Program, 2008–2010
"...[T]rust must be earned. That also means that police and politicians alike must understand how they are eroding it. Aside from foreign policy, number one on the list is data. Clearly, people will be reluctant to get involved in any programme if they have the slightest suspicion that it is feeding information to the security services, and that their details will appear on some database. If that security service is foreign, especially American, the danger to trust is even greater."
AP Photo
April 5, 2010
"There is Nothing to Discuss on the Falklands' Sovereignty"
Op-Ed, The Huffington Post
By Azeem Ibrahim, Former Research Fellow, International Security Program, 2008–2010
"The fact that they are geographically closer to Argentina is of no consequence. Will the United States hand over Alaska to Russia which is famously visible from Sarah Palin's house as opposed to over 500 miles from the US mainland? Is the US going to give Puerto Rico and the US Virgin Islands to the Dominican Republic? Are they going to give Hawaii to Japan? Texas and Florida to Mexico? Guam to the Philippines? American Samoa to New Zealand? What about Taiwan, should that be annexed by China?"
