NORTH AFRICA
April 25, 2013
"The Collapsing Arab State"
Op-Ed, Project Syndicate
By Nawaf Obaid, Visiting Fellow, Belfer Center for Science and International Affairs
The so-called Arab Spring generated a wave of hope among those fighting or advocating for democratization of the Arab world’s authoritarian regimes. Now, following leadership changes in Tunisia, Egypt, Libya, and Yemen, and with a brutal civil war raging in Syria and increasingly fraught conditions in Bahrain, Sudan, Jordan, and Iraq, there is much talk of a major shift – and hope for improvement – in the nature and prospects of the Arab state.
AP Photo/Rebecca Blackwell
Spring 2013
"Climate Change and Insecurity: Mapping Vulnerability in Africa"
Journal Article, International Security, issue 4, volume 37
By Joshua Busby, Former Research Fellow, International Security Program, 2004-2005, Todd G. Smith, Kaiba L. White and Shawn M. Strange
Many experts argue that climate change will exacerbate the severity and number of extreme weather events. Such climate-related hazards will be important security concerns and sources of vulnerability in the future regardless of whether they contribute to conflict.
April 4, 2013
"The Palestinian Occupation: Even (Or Especially) the 'Gatekeepers' Say It Isn't Working"
Op-Ed, The Huffington Post
By Charles G. Cogan, Associate, International Security Program
"...[U]nlike the French in Algeria, the Israelis, back in history, had a leading presence in the land they much, much later moved in on; nevertheless, there are similarities. What struck me most about The Gatekeepers was reminiscent of The Battle of Algiers: thousands and thousands of indigenous faces shouting or silently expressing their unhappiness at living under the thumb of foreign occupying forces. Looking at this sea of frustration, in frames that must have come largely from official Israeli footage, I said to myself, how can the Israelis, in continuing an occupation that has lasted over 45 years, hope to contain this movement?"
March 6, 2013
"In Egypt, Sliding Toward Ruin"
Op-Ed, Washington Post
By David Ignatius, Senior Fellow, Future of Diplomacy Project
A"s Egypt’s Muslim Brotherhood government slides toward the financial cliff, what’s the right policy for the United States? That’s becoming an urgent question, as Egypt’s financial reserves decline and the country nears a new breaking point," writes David Ignatius for the Washington Post
AP Photo
February 15, 2013
"Marry in Haste, Repent at Leisure: the Problem With the Egyptian Constitution"
Op-Ed, The Huffington Post
By Charles G. Cogan, Associate, International Security Program
"The above issues appear to be the principal points of contention between the text of the Muslim Brotherhood-inspired Constitution and the aspirations of the non-Islamists, many of whom are among the youth. Though this matter is not at the heart of the country's current crisis, marked by rampant insecurity and economic stasis, the ambiguities contained in the Constitution may cause serious problems in the future."
January 24, 2013
"Clinton's Reality Check"
Op-Ed, Boston Globe
By Juliette Kayyem, Lecturer in Public Policy
"The Benghazi attacks, she said, were likely the beginning of another wave of Al Qaeda-inspired violence: smaller but still deadly. The end of totalitarian governments will lead to more disruption, ideological fervor, and black-market weapons trading. It is the undeniable consequence of regime change, whether it comes from an invasion (Iraq), a limited intervention (Libya), a nudge (Egypt), or a hands-off policy (Syria) on America's part."
January 24, 2013
"Algeria: The Land of No Quarter"
Op-Ed, The Huffington Post
By Charles G. Cogan, Associate, International Security Program
"Algeria's operation at its gas field at In Amenas, which terrorists threatened to blow up, ran into four days, and was ended at an extremely heavy cost: 37 expatriates killed, plus one Algerian; and 29 terrorists killed plus three taken captive. Algeria's policy has long been is one of no quarter with terrorists; that plus the legacy of a brutal independence struggle would have made it unlikely that Algeria would have accepted any counter-terrorism assistance from outside powers that in any way would have been seen as an infringement of the country's sovereignty."
AP Photos
January 17, 2013
"Raised on Hatred"
Op-Ed, New York Times
By Ayaan Hirsi Ali, Fellow, The Future of Diplomacy Project
Ayaan Hirsi Ali writes, "As a child growing up in a Muslim family, I constantly heard my mother, other relatives and neighbors wish for the death of Jews, who were considered our darkest enemy. Our religious tutors and the preachers in our mosques set aside extra time to pray for the destruction of Jews."
January 15, 2013
"The Once and Present Ally: France"
Op-Ed, The Huffington Post
By Charles G. Cogan, Associate, International Security Program
"When the new, and pro-American, French President, Nicolas Sarkozy, returned France to the NATO integrated command in the spring of 2009, a number of prominent French figures stated their reservations, the most articulate of whom was the former French foreign minister under François Mitterrand, Hubert Védrine. Much later, and more recently, in a report submitted to President François Hollande on Nov. 12, 2012, Védrine stated that although de Gaulle had been right in 1966, the world had changed since. And the United States, especially with the reelection of Barack Obama, had changed. The Americans now want an increased military role for the Europeans."
December 10, 2012
"Qatar Arms Deals Expose Limits of US"
Op-Ed, Boston Globe
By Juliette Kayyem, Lecturer in Public Policy
"...[M]oving arms to just about anyone who was willing to bring down Moammar Khadafy would have satisfied three of Qatar's goals at once: its political desire for relevancy in making a future Libyan government beholden to it; its strategic desire to minimize the influence of the Shi'ite government in Iran, its giant neighbor; and its practical desire to make a lot of money. As if to make the last point clear, Qatar is now asking the new Libyan government to pay it back for all those guns."
