CONFLICT AND CONFLICT RESOLUTION
January 11, 2013
"Worries About a ‘Failed State’ in Syria"
Op-Ed, Washington Post
By David Ignatius, Senior Fellow, Future of Diplomacy Project
"Growing chaos in the liberated areas of northern Syria is convincing some members of the Syrian opposition that the country will become a 'failed state' unless an orderly political transition begins soon to replace President Bashar al-Assad.
This stark analysis is contained in an intelligence report provided to the State Department last week by Syrian sources working with the Free Syrian Army (FSA). Describing the situation in the area from Aleppo to the Turkish border, where Assad’s army has largely disappeared, the report draws a picture of disorganized fighters, greedy arms peddlers and profiteering warlords," writes David Ignatius in The Washington Post.
January 30, 2013
"Israel Strikes a Syrian Target and Lays Down a Marker"
Op-Ed, Washington Post
By David Ignatius, Senior Fellow, Future of Diplomacy Project
"The Israeli attack on the SA-17 missiles was first reported Wednesday by the Associated Press. What’s intriguing is that the same area that was hit — the Jamraya research center in the suburb known as Dummar, northwest of Damascus — is also a center for chemical weapons research. This led some Syrian opposition sources to believe that the Israelis’ real target was the chemical weapons center," writes David Ignatius.
February 15, 2013
"In Egypt, the Kids Are Not All Right"
Op-Ed, Washington Post
By David Ignatius, Senior Fellow, Future of Diplomacy Project
"If you’re trying to understand the rampaging soccer fans who have become a political force in the new Egypt, you might consult Anthony Burgess’s 1962 novel 'A Clockwork Orange.'
The book is about a chaotic future shaped by roving gangs of 'droogs' (Burgess’s imaginary word for young male toughs). Led by Alex, the droogs get stoned on milk-and-drug cocktails and then commit brutal acts of what Burgess called 'ultra-violence,'" warns David Ignatius or the Washington Post.
AP Images
March 2013
"The Long Hot Arab Summer"
Paper
By Nawaf Obaid, Visiting Fellow, Belfer Center for Science and International Affairs
"The so-called Arab Spring has ushered in a great deal of hope that a number of Arab states might begin to develop and engender more socially responsive, economically prosperous and politically progressive indigenous conditions," writes Nawaf Obaid.
"Unfortunately, in the nine Arab nations I analyze here -Tunisia, Egypt, Libya, Bahrain, Yemen, Syria, Sudan, Jordan and Iraq - this does not seem to be the case. Indeed, one might say that some or all of these nations are far worse off than they were before their social upheavals."
March 20, 2013
"Renewing Dialogue with Israel"
Op-Ed, The Jerusalem Post
By Chuck Freilich, Senior Fellow, International Security Program
"The most pressing issue on the agenda is a collapsing Syria and the increasingly realistic danger that it may, in extremis, use chemical weapons against its civilian population, or Israel. Recent indications have created the worrisome impression that the administration is focused on ways of responding to a Syrian use of such weapons, rather than preventing them from being used."
March/April 2013
"Our Pacific Predicament"
Magazine or Newspaper Article, American Interest, issue 4, volume 8
By Joseph S. Nye, Harvard University Distinguished Service Professor
"American interests rest on stability in the region to allow the continuing growth of trade and investment that benefits all countries. The U.S.-Japan alliance remains crucial to stability in East Asia, but so too are good relations in all three sides of the strategic triangle. One thing is clear: If, despite all we do, Sino-Japanese relations deteriorate toward literal conflict, the United States will be faced with some very tough choices."
February 22, 2013
"Syrian Rebel Commander on a Post-Assad Syria"
Op-Ed, Washington Post
By David Ignatius, Senior Fellow, Future of Diplomacy Project
"The commander of the Free Syrian Army, encouraged by recent successes on the battlefield, said that he is ready to meet with military officers from the regime of President Bashar al-Assad to 'discuss how to keep order in the country' should Assad give up power," writes David Ignatius for the Washington Post.
March 13, 2013
"Is Peaceful Political Transition in Afghanistan Possible?"
Media Feature
By Robert Johnson, Jawed Nader, Matt Waldman, Research Fellow, International Security Program and Michael Keating
As the 2014 deadline for the withdrawal of international troops in Afghanistan looms, the speakers explored what is required to ensure a smooth transition and avoid a descent into chaos.
whitehouse.gov
March 19, 2013
"America and the Middle East-II"
Op-Ed, Agence Global
By Rami Khouri, Senior Fellow, Middle East Initiative
American and other foreign support for Arab autocrats and dictators for over half a century helped to create the conditions of disparity, corruption, and populist despair that ultimately sparked the uprisings and citizen demands for rights that we now witness. The Anglo-American invasion of Iraq has been the single most important stimulus for new terrorists who gravitated to occupied Iraq from many lands, eager to repel the foreign invaders, and who have since seeped out of Iraq to do their dirty deeds in other Arab countries.
(DoD Photo)
March 19, 2013
"Still Trying to Win the Peace in Iraq"
Op-Ed, The Straits Times
By Derwin Pereira, International Council Member, Belfer Center for Science and International Affairs
"Ten years ago, this newspaper dispatched me to cover the Iraq War and its impact on the Middle East on a two-month odyssey that took me to Iraq, Jordan, Kuwait and Qatar....The good news is that Iraqis are winning that peace, as they should. How well they consolidate their gains has implications for the region in the immediate future....Iraq will contribute to the process if it can show that day- to-day democracy can work in ethnically-divided societies, and that the Middle East is not fated to be a group of tribes forever in quest of a region."
