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Mon, 09 Nov 2009 18:00:00 GMT
Event Information:
- November 09, 2009, 6:00 PM to 8:00 PM
On November 9, the Brookings Doha Center hosted a policy discussion with H.E. Mohamad Chatah, the Lebanese minister of finance, H.E. Ghassan Khatib, director of the Palestinian Government Media Center, and H.E. Ayad Al Samarrai, speaker of the Iraqi Parliament on the project of inclusive national dialogue and state-building in Lebanon, the Palestinian territories, and Iraq. The speakers examined past and current nationally-driven conflict resolution efforts.
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Sun, 08 Nov 2009 00:00:00 GMT
In October, Kenneth Pollack travelled to Iraq as part of an evaluation team for the Iraq Joint Campaign Plan - the fully integrated political, military, economic and diplomatic approach to be pursued there. During his trip, Pollack witnessed a growing sense of security and normalcy, but also a continued need for U.S. presence to stem the threat of renewed civil war.
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Mon, 26 Oct 2009 00:00:00 GMT
Kenneth Pollack says the massive bombings in Baghdad on October 25 that killed over 150 people are a problem for both Iraqi Prime Minister Maliki and U.S. President Obama. Pollack concludes the bombing calls Maliki's claims of keeping Iraq secure into question while also bringing forward the idea that U.S. troops may need to return to Baghdad – despite previous U.S. plans – back into consideration.
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Fri, 23 Oct 2009 00:00:00 GMT
Although violence in Iraq has decreased, Raj Desai states other transitions are needed before U.S. businesses feel comfortable about the Iraqi investment climate. In addition to security, Desai offers three sets of fundamental reforms to convince investors that Iraq is really "open for business."
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Wed, 07 Oct 2009 00:00:00 GMT
Iraq remains between peace and war while the situation in Afghanistan still appears to be deteriorating, and Pakistan is doing better than Afghanistan but more progress is needed. Jason Campbell, Michael O'Hanlon and Jeremy Shapiro examine leading metrics from all three countries to assess how well the counterinsurgency and stabilization operations are faring.
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Thu, 01 Oct 2009 00:00:00 GMT
Correctly sizing the military force and tracking results on the ground are key to success in counterinsurgency and stabilization missions, write Jason Campbell, Michael O'Hanlon, and Jeremy Shapiro. To determine how the U.S. strategy is working, they assess a range of indicators to measure progress in Afghanistan and relate them to lessons learned from the conflict in Iraq.
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Tue, 01 Sep 2009 00:00:00 GMT
Justin Vaïsse lays out the delicate international issues that await President Obama in the fall. He concludes none of them holds any promise of easy resolution, and the principles on which Obama founded his foreign policy will be severly tested. (French)
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Tue, 25 Aug 2009 00:00:00 GMT
With renewed violence striking Iraq, Ken Pollack writes that the United States is still all that stands between the war-torn country and anarchy. Pollack argues that the United States should use its power and influence within Iraq to ensure that the country does not slide back into civil war.
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Tue, 04 Aug 2009 00:00:00 GMT
Michael O'Hanlon assesses Barack Obama's foreign policy record halfway through his first year as president. From Russia to China and India, O'Hanlon concludes that Obama is handling situations about as well as possible. In Iraq and Afghanistan, O’Hanlon believes Obama has been willing to take important advice from commanders on the ground as well as Secretary Gates to make tough but well executed decisions.
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Tue, 28 Jul 2009 16:11:16 GMT
Michael O’Hanlon says that conflicts in Afghanistan and Iraq presented Obama with a situation that none of his five predecessors had to contend with in their early months in the White House.
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Tue, 21 Jul 2009 00:00:00 GMT
Michael O'Hanlon says that Iraq is going well on the whole, but there could be trouble brewing between the Iraqi army and Kurdish peshmerga over land interests. To address the situation, O'Hanlon recommends a U.S. envoy to Iraq be named, Kirkuk to be supervised internationally and negotiations of new "green lines" for the Kurdistan border.
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Thu, 09 Jul 2009 00:00:00 GMT
The withdrawal of U.S. combat troops from Iraq's cities is the beginning of the end of the American part of the war, writes Bruce Riedel. He outlines both the enormous costs already paid by going to war and explains how al-Qaeda and Iran benefited from years of U.S. foreign policy focusing almost entirely on Iraq.
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Tue, 07 Jul 2009 00:00:00 GMT
Displacement is one of the tragic consequences of conflict. Elizabeth Ferris argues that once a conflict ends, resolving displacement and preventing future displacement is inextricably linked with achieving a lasting peace.
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Mon, 06 Jul 2009 00:00:00 GMT
Though there are parallels between Iraq and Afghanistan, says Michael O’Hanlon, Afghanistan’s history of war makes the Afghan people realistic in their expectations about the future—and grateful for even modest progress.
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Thu, 02 Jul 2009 00:00:00 GMT
Recently discussion has turned to the prospects for the large-scale return of refugees and internally displaced persons (IDPs) to Iraq. More than 4 million Iraqis have been displaced, either internally or externally. And while the Iraqi and US governments, policymakers in the region, and humanitarian actors assume that most will return to Iraq in the near future, Elizabeth Ferris points out that experience with other displacement crises indicates that return will be neither automatic nor straightforward.
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Wed, 01 Jul 2009 14:48:04 GMT
As President Barack Obama and Russian President Dmitry Medvedev meet in Moscow, Steven Pifer says the administration is looking for three key outcomes from the meeting: a new treaty to replace START, a cooperative approach for dealing with Iran and Afghanistan, and a structured mechanism to keep their mutual interests on track.
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Tue, 30 Jun 2009 00:00:00 GMT
Michael O'Hanlon evaluates the situation on the ground in Iraq as troops fully withdraw from cities and urban centers. He concludes that through violence may continue to spike in the short-term, it is unlikely to return to pre-surge levels and he also notes U.S. troops will still be available to play security roles when called upon.
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Mon, 29 Jun 2009 15:58:29 GMT
As U.S. troops withdraw back to their bases in Iraq, questions remain about Iraq’s ability to maintain security and stability in the country. Iraq’s leadership, military, and police force face a number of challenges ahead as they assume control, but as Kenneth Pollack explains, Iraqis are eager to end the so-called U.S. occupation and establish their sovereignty.
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Thu, 18 Jun 2009 00:00:00 GMT
The American troop buildup is proceeding in Afghanistan while Iraq—despite several recent attacks—continues to slowly progress on many fronts. Jason Campbell, Michael O'Hanlon and Jeremy Shapiro examine leading metrics from both conflicts to assess how well the counterinsurgency operations are going.
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Thu, 11 Jun 2009 00:00:00 GMT
With increased levels of security in Iraq in 2008-9, displaced persons have begun to make decisions about their future: whether to return to their place of origin, locally integrate or resettle in a third location. As Jamille Bigio and Jen Scott argue, the time is ripe to assess how the government of Iraq, with the support of international and national actors, can advance the process of achieving durable solutions to displacement.
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Mon, 08 Jun 2009 00:00:00 GMT
Massive displacement of people within and across borders has become a defining feature of the post-cold war world. It is also a major feature of human insecurity in which genocide, terrorism, egregious human rights violations and appalling human degradation wreak havoc on civilians. Though there has been a critical shift in thinking at the international level with regards to forced displacement, Cohen and Deng argue that concepts of sovereignty as responsibility and the responsibility to protect remain far ahead of international willingness and capacity to enforce them.
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Fri, 05 Jun 2009 00:00:00 GMT
2008 marked the tenth anniversary of the Guiding Principles on Internal Displacement—an occasion both to commemorate efforts over the past decade to uphold the human rights of IDPs and to remind ourselves that much remains to be done. In this report, the Project presents its work from 2008 and discusses the challenges that lie ahead.
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Wed, 03 Jun 2009 00:00:00 GMT
In this Saban Center working paper, Lydia Khalil examines the unresolved challenges relating to Kurdistan, particularly the status of Kirkuk, oil claims and internal governance, to determine the prospects for long-term Iraqi unity and stability. In presenting this analysis, Khalil offers a series of recommendations for the Obama Administration, placing a priority on strengthened diplomacy and support of mediation efforts that strike a balance between resolving the issues and not alienating the parties.
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Mon, 01 Jun 2009 14:00:00 GMT
Event Information:
- June 01, 2009, 2:00 PM to 3:30 PM
The two Iraq wars in 1991 and 2003 represent milestones in American military intervention abroad. They reflect the influences of the two dominant and competing schools of American foreign policy. On June 1, the Saban Center for Middle East Policy at Brookings will host Richard N. Haass for a discussion of his new book War of Necessity, War of Choice, as well as the implications of these two wars for future American military interventions in the Middle East.
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Mon, 04 May 2009 00:00:00 GMT
In conventional warfare, identifying the momentum of battle is a fairly straightforward undertaking, but counterinsurgency and stabilization operations are different, and more complex. Jason Campbell, Michael O'Hanlon and Jeremy Shapiro examine a range of indicators in both Afghanistan and Iraq to reach policy conclusions for current and future counterinsurgency operations.
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Wed, 29 Apr 2009 00:00:00 GMT
As President Obama spends his 100th day in office, Michael O'Hanlon assesses the foreign policy maneuvers of the new U.S. administration. Partisan debates aside, O'Hanlon argues that Obama is off to a more solid start—in numerous regions of the world—than any of his recent predecessors.
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Thu, 23 Apr 2009 00:00:00 GMT
Lloyd Austin is back from Iraq, where he was the number 2 U.S. commander. Michael O'Hanlon writes that Austin's successful tenure says plenty about him and Iraq—and also offers some insights into where the U.S. command should be headed in Afghanistan.
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Thu, 23 Apr 2009 00:00:00 GMT
To explore the strategies by which Europe can increase its commitment in Iraq and make a constructive difference, the Center on the U.S. and Europe and the Heinrich Böll Foundation convened a workshop in April 2009. In this paper, Justin Vaisse and Sebastian Gräfe summarize the consolidated advice advocated by the workshop participants.
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Thu, 09 Apr 2009 13:52:48 GMT
With stops in London for the G-20 Summit, France and Germany for NATO and additional visits to Turkey and Iraq, President Obama has completed his first major trip abroad as the nation’s leader. Darrell West examines the president’s overseas meetings and the impact they’ll have on his policies.
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Wed, 01 Apr 2009 09:00:00 GMT
Event Information:
- April 01, 2009, 9:00 AM to 12:30 PM
On April 1, the Center on the U.S. and Europe and the Heinrich Böll Foundation convened a workshop to explore the strategies by which Europe can increase its commitment in Iraq and make a constructive difference.
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Tue, 24 Mar 2009 00:00:00 GMT
Daniel Byman writes that talking with insurgents is often a necessary first step toward defeating them or reaching an acceptable compromise. Pointing to successes in Iraq and elsewhere, Byman addresses the costs and advantages of talking with insurgents to draw conclusions about how lessons learned may be applied to Afghanistan.
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Fri, 20 Mar 2009 00:00:00 GMT
As President Obama looks to reduce the number of troops in Iraq, the situation in Afghanistan is increasingly cloudy. Jason Campbell, Michael O'Hanlon and Jeremy Shapiro examine leading indicators of progress—or lack thereof—in both countries.
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Wed, 18 Mar 2009 14:22:09 GMT
As the nation marks the sixth year of the U.S. invasion in Iraq, Senior Fellow Michael O’Hanlon says it will take years to stabilize the country and the region. O'Hanlon adds that President Obama’s plans for peace in Iraq are smart and measured.
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Fri, 06 Mar 2009 00:00:00 GMT
Michael O'Hanlon explores defense spending in Afghanistan, Iraq and other locations in the world where U.S. military personnel are based. O'Hanlon finds that changes planned by the Obama administration will save large amounts of money over the coming years, but he cautions that politics of defense will continue to make it difficult to deny funding which supports troops in the field.
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Sat, 28 Feb 2009 00:00:00 GMT
Post-conflict reconstruction and stabilization requires protecting and assisting internally displaced persons (IDPs) who have been uprooted from their homes and made vulnerable to violence, exploitation, discrimination and other human rights violations. In this paper, Andrew Solomon and others review the international standards and best practices for protecting the housing, land and property rights of IDPs.
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Thu, 26 Feb 2009 00:00:00 GMT
President Barack Obama has announced plans to withdraw most U.S. troops from Iraq by the end of August 2010, while leaving between 35,000 to 50,000 troops through the end of 2011. Michael O'Hanlon and Kenneth Pollack, who recently returned from Iraq, note the country continues to make tremendous strides even if the war is not over. O'Hanlon and Pollack point to numerous challenges that could strain the situation and worsen conditions, but they argue this could be a final crucial test of our mission to stabilize Iraq enough for U.S. troop withdrawals.
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Fri, 20 Feb 2009 12:00:00 GMT
Event Information:
- February 20, 2009, 12:00 PM to 2:30 PM
The basic principles of humanitarian action are being challenged from all sides. Upholding the neutrality of humanitarian action and protecting humanitarian space is increasingly difficult and perhaps nowhere as much as in Afghanistan and Iraq.
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Mon, 16 Feb 2009 00:00:00 GMT
Iraq and Afghanistan face displacement crises of massive proportions. According to best estimates, the number approaches two million refugees and 2.8 million IDPs. Although the pace of displacement has slowed since mid-2007, few IDPs and refugees have been able to return, their resources are running out, and international assistance has been inadequate. The longer displacement lasts, the more complicated it will be to resolve.
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Mon, 16 Feb 2009 00:00:00 GMT
Throughout the Muslim world, millions of people have been forced to flee their homes and communities for many reasons, including both conflicts and natural disasters. This massive displacement of people affects both national development plans and individual human development, affecting relationships between countries, UN Security Council discussions, and peace processes. In short, as Hady Amr and Elizabeth Ferris argue, understanding—and resolving—displacement is central to development, peace, and security.
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Mon, 09 Feb 2009 00:00:00 GMT
Michael O'Hanlon and Raid Juhi Hamadi al Saedi, the judge who presided over Saddam Hussein's trial, write that Iraq's recent progress is fragile and several major unresolved issues could threaten the country's future stability. Nothing is more fundamental, they argue, than the effort to help more than 4 million individuals displaced by violence to return home safely without igniting another round of sectarian killing and cleansing as they do so.
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Fri, 30 Jan 2009 14:00:00 GMT
Event Information:
- January 30, 2009, 2:00 PM to 4:00 PM
Although civilian assistance programs will play a crucial role in Iraq's long-term stabilization, the public debate on U.S. policy toward Iraq has focused on the redeployment and withdrawal of U.S. troops. The Brookings-Bern Project on Internal Displacement hosted a discussion with a panel of leading experts on civilian assistance programs, including those who have worked on the ground in Iraq, to examine the work of civilian aid agencies, including the experiences of the Provincial Reconstruction Teams in Iraq, the role of humanitarian assistance in U.S. foreign policy and the potential role of the United Nations.
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Fri, 09 Jan 2009 00:00:00 GMT
Sen. Joe Biden – note that is Senator Biden, not former senator, or vice president-elect, or distinguished citizen of Delaware – is entirely within his rights to travel overseas in the coming days to prepare for his new responsibilities, according to Michael O'Hanlon. In fact, Biden is fulfilling his duty in taking the trip and O'Hanlon outlines the reasons why.
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Wed, 07 Jan 2009 00:00:00 GMT
The recent news from Iraq has been mostly good. Violence is down significantly, sectarian militias are giving ground to Iraqi security forces, and we see signs of a political process that could foster reconciliation, deliver basic services and pave the way for an orderly U.S. withdrawla. However, one major threat to Iraq's hard-won stability has yet to be fully acknowledged, let alone addressed: the problem of displacement.
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Mon, 05 Jan 2009 14:30:00 GMT
Event Information:
- January 05, 2009, 2:30 PM to 4:00 PM
Israel's continued engagement against Hamas in Gaza, now being waged with ground forces, further complicates Barack Obama's agenda for the Middle East, which also includes withdrawing from Iraq and capping Iran’s nuclear ambitions. On January 5, Martin Indyk and Kenneth Pollack offered a public memo to President-elect Obama with recommendations on how to deal with the urgent challenges that will confront him across the volatile region.
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Sun, 04 Jan 2009 00:00:00 GMT
One feature of the new Iraq is the presence of disputed territories. In an interview with Peshawa Abdulkhaliq Muhammed from Kurdistani Nwe, Roberta Cohen discusses the issues surrounding the disputed territories in Iraqi Kurdistan, including Kirkuk and propects for the resolution of this dispute.
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Wed, 31 Dec 2008 00:00:00 GMT
Refugees and internally displaced persons are hardly a new phenomenon for Iraq. Under Saddam Hussein's regime, forced displacement was a tool used to subdue recalcitrant populations and punish political opponents. Roberta Cohen says that the U.S. invasion and the toppling of Saddam Hussein, far from resolving the problem however, made it worse. The ensuing conflicts increased the number of people forced to flee their homes and a combination of national and international steps needs to be taken.
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Mon, 29 Dec 2008 00:00:00 GMT
Michael O'Hanlon and Jason Campbell write that Iraq has settled into a kind of violent semi-peace but, for all the progress in Iraqi politics—including approving the status of forces agreement with the United States that takes effect on Jan. 1—there are still big challenges: agreements on oil sharing among all sectarian groups and provinces; determining Kirkuk's future status and other places contested by Kurds and Arabs; and the resettlement of four million people.
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Tue, 23 Dec 2008 00:00:00 GMT
It is no coincidence that many internally displaced persons and refugees are members of minority groups. In every region of the world, minorities have been repressed, killed and displaced by governments and other armed actors seeking to take over their territory, command their loyalty, and control their actions. In this paper, Elizabeth Ferris & Kimberly Stoltz examine the relationship between minorities and displacement, with a particular emphasis on Iraq's smaller minorities.
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Fri, 19 Dec 2008 00:00:00 GMT
As violent incidents decrease in Iraq and as US combat troops prepare to withdraw, expectations will grow that Iraqis will return to their communities in growing numbers. In fact, UN Officials and political leaders in Iraq, the region, and the US have always expected that return will be the durable solution for Iraqi IDPs and refugees without giving serious consideration to other options. For returns to be successful, the government of Iraq and the international community need to learn from the lessons of other mass returns of displaced populations and refugees.
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Wed, 17 Dec 2008 00:00:00 GMT
President Barack Obama will face a series of challenges in the Middle East demanding urgent attention: an Iraq that could still unravel, an Iran approaching the nuclear threshold, a faltering Israeli-Palestinian peace process, and weak governments in Lebanon and the Palestinian territories. Martin Indyk and Richard Haass outline what the initial goals of the Obama administration should be in the region.
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Wed, 17 Dec 2008 00:00:00 GMT
Stephen Biddle, Michael O'Hanlon and Kenneth Pollack analyze the current situation in Iraq and the evolving Iraq strategy. They lay out a "conditions based" approach to reduce American forces in Iraq and argue that most combat forces can leave by 2011.
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Tue, 16 Dec 2008 14:30:00 GMT
Event Information:
- December 16, 2008, 2:30 PM to 4:00 PM
On December 16, Brookings hosted foreign policy experts Suzanne Maloney, Michael O’Hanlon and Kenneth Pollack for a discussion on the state of Iraq and Afghanistan, as well as Iran’s nuclear and regional ambitions.
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Thu, 11 Dec 2008 00:00:00 GMT
Martin Indyk and Richard Haass argue to be successful in the Middle East, the Obama administration will need to move beyond Iraq, find ways to deal constructively with Iran, and forge a final-status Israeli-Palestinian agreement.
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Fri, 05 Dec 2008 17:00:00 GMT
Event Information:
- December 05, 2008, 5:00 PM to 8:00 PM
- December 06, 2008, 8:00 AM to 5:00 PM
- December 07, 2008, 8:00 AM to 1:00 PM
On December 5-7, in the month before the new U.S. administration enters office, the Saban Center for Middle East Policy at Brookings brought together top Israeli and American policymakers, journalists, and members of the public and private sectors, as well as leaders from Britain and Turkey to discuss the most critical issues in the Middle East.
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Tue, 02 Dec 2008 00:00:00 GMT
Martin Indyk and Richard Haass note that President-elect Obama will face a series of critical, complex, and interrelated challenges in the Middle East that will demand his immediate attention: an Iran apparently intent on approaching or crossing the nuclear threshold as quickly as possible; a fragile situation in Iraq that is straining the U.S. military; weak governments in Lebanon and Palestine under challenge from stronger Hezbollah and Hamas militant organizations; a faltering Israeli-Palestinian peace process; and American influence diluted by a severely damaged reputation.
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Tue, 02 Dec 2008 09:30:00 GMT
Event Information:
- December 02, 2008, 9:30 AM to 11:00 AM
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Thu, 20 Nov 2008 09:00:00 GMT
Event Information:
- November 20, 2008, 9:00 AM to 11:00 AM
To face the daunting problems of the global financial crisis to the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan and transnational threats such as nuclear proliferation, terrorism and global climate change, the new Obama administration will need to forge global partnerships and usher in a new era of international cooperation. On November 20, the Managing Global Insecurity (MGI) Project released "A Plan for Action,” a comprehensive set of foreign policy recommendations for the next U.S. president—and other world leaders—to address the most critical challenges facing the world today.
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Tue, 04 Nov 2008 00:00:00 GMT
Michael O'Hanlon argues the success of the surge in Iraq depends on our ability to maintain the gains made thus far. However, the unwillingness of Iraqi leaders to accept a new Status of Forces Agreement jeopardizes hard-fought security improvements and endangers prospects of political reconciliation.
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Fri, 31 Oct 2008 00:00:00 GMT
Daniel Byman examines whether the outbreak of an insurgency after the U.S. invasion of Iraq was an avoidable policy failure or whether the structural conditions surrounding the occupation made such an outbreak inevitable.
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Mon, 27 Oct 2008 00:00:00 GMT
Bruce Riedel joined Newsweek to discuss the continuing threat from Al Qaeda, their successes and failures, and options for fighting the organization now and in the future.
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Wed, 22 Oct 2008 00:00:00 GMT
Michael O'Hanlon and Ann Gildroy believe an exit strategy from Iraq should incorporate the thinking of both presidential candidates. They argue the next president will need to keep pressure on the Iraqis to make compromises, but also that U.S. strategy requires patience and resolve as well as a stabilizing troop presence in the near term.
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Wed, 15 Oct 2008 00:00:00 GMT
Ron Nessen points to multiple causes for the U.S. news media's reduced coverage of and presence in Iraq, including the changing economics of journalism and high levels of violence being replaced by the complexities of government formation. But, Nessen argues, it is vitally important that the news media continue to keep the American public informed and interested in what’s happening in Iraq.
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Wed, 15 Oct 2008 18:00:00 GMT
Event Information:
- October 15, 2008, 6:00 PM to 7:30 PM
On October 15, 2008, the Brookings Doha Center, a Project of the Saban Center for Middle East Policy at the Brookings Institution, hosted Ambassador Martin Indyk, Director of the Saban Center, for its first policy discussion of the post-Ramadan season. The policy discussion entitled covered some of the most important challenges and responsibilities facing the next administration with regard to U.S. foreign policy in the Middle East.
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Mon, 13 Oct 2008 00:00:00 GMT
The future of Iraq hinges on its young, but far too many of them have been driven into exile.
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Thu, 02 Oct 2008 00:00:00 GMT
Provincial elections are an important step toward national reconciliation in Iraq, but steps must be taken to ensure that the displaced— both refugees and internally displaced persons (IDPs)— are able to participate. Despite the passage of the provincial elections law, there are no provisions for Iraqis living outside the country to vote, meaning that close to 10% of Iraq's populatioin will be disenfranchised, with serious consequences for the legitimacy of the elections.
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Tue, 09 Sep 2008 00:00:00 GMT
Kenneth Pollack joined the Philadephia Inquirer's Trudy Rubin to discuss the long-term impact of the Iraq war on al Qaeda and what the future involvement of the United States should be in the region.
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Fri, 05 Sep 2008 14:00:00 GMT
Event Information:
- September 05, 2008, 2:00 PM to 3:30 PM
The Saban Center for Middle East Policy at Brookings hosted Senior Fellow Kenneth Pollack for a discussion of his book A Path Out of the Desert: A Grand Strategy for America in the Middle East. In the book, Pollack offers a long-term strategy to improve the political, economic and social problems that underlie the region’s many crises.
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Thu, 28 Aug 2008 00:00:00 GMT
Most of those writing about future scenarios for Iraq rarely mention the fate of the five million displaced Iraqis, but when they do, they seem to assume that once security and political progress in Iraq are achieved, the refugees and interanlly displaced persons (IDPs) will return to their communities and life will go on. Unfortunately, even in the best of political scenarios, it is unlikely to be so straightforward.
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Fri, 22 Aug 2008 10:30:00 GMT
Event Information:
- August 22, 2008, 10:30 AM to 12:00 PM
Since the attack on Iraq’s al-Askari Mosque in February 2006, over 1.5 million Iraqis have been forced to flee their homes and seek refuge in other parts of Iraq and approximately 2 million have fled into neighboring countries. The Brookings-Bern Project on Internal Displacement at Brookings hosted a discussion on finding solutions to this ongoing crisis and the variety of challenges facing the prospects of return and resettlement.
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Thu, 21 Aug 2008 00:00:00 GMT
Iraq has improved dramatically across almost all fronts in the last year, but largely still unaddressed is the plight of those displaced by violence. Current estimates say that more than 2 million Iraqis are refugees abroad and almost 2.8 million are displaced internally. Elizbeth Ferris and Michael O'Hanlon say that people who think that Iraq is nearly stable need to remember that the return of these 4.8 million people carries huge risks for that stability.
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Sat, 09 Aug 2008 00:00:00 GMT
Brookings experts Michael O'Hanlon and Kenneth Pollack, writing with Stephen Biddle of the Council on Foreign Relations, argue that the situation in Iraq is improving. They believe that with the right strategy, the United States will eventually be able to draw down troops in the country without sacrificing stability.
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Thu, 07 Aug 2008 00:00:00 GMT
Lost in discussions of the military surge, the pace of troop drawdowns, and political benchmarks are millions of displaced Iraqis. Their plight is both a humanitarian tragedy and a strategic crisis that is not being addressed.
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Wed, 06 Aug 2008 11:00:00 GMT
Event Information:
- August 06, 2008, 11:00 AM to 12:30 PM
Brookings hosted foreign policy experts Michael O’Hanlon, Kenneth Pollack, Bruce Riedel and Jeremy Shapiro for a discussion on the state of Iraq and Afghanistan, as well as U.S. efforts to partner with Pakistan in confronting al Qaeda.
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Tue, 05 Aug 2008 00:00:00 GMT
Brookings experts Michael O'Hanlon and Kenneth Pollack, writing with Stephen Biddle of the Council on Foreign Relations, note that while security in Iraq is much is improved, a complete withdrawal of U.S. troops at this time would be unwise. The authors argue that in order to maintain the advances in stability and security achieved over two years, a continued U.S. combat force presence is still required.
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Tue, 29 Jul 2008 00:00:00 GMT
Kenneth Pollack joined washingtonpost.com readers to discuss his new book A Path Out of the Desert: A Grand Strategy for America in the Middle East.
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Wed, 23 Jul 2008 12:30:00 GMT
Event Information:
- July 23, 2008, 12:30 PM to 2:00 PM
The Saban Center for Middle East Policy hosted a policy forum luncheon in conjunction with Search for Common Ground on July 23, 2008. The Saban Center welcomed three members of Search for Common Ground’s US-Syria Working Group, including featured speaker Ahmad Samir al-Taki, director of the Orient Center for International Studies in Damascus and consultant to the Syrian Prime Minister.
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Thu, 10 Jul 2008 10:00:00 GMT
Event Information:
- July 10, 2008, 10:00 AM to 11:00 AM
On July 10, the Brookings Institution hosted the British Secretary of State for Defence, the Rt Hon Des Browne MP, for a discussion of British and U.S. policies in Iraq, Afghanistan and beyond—now and with the change in U.S. leadership in 2009.
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Wed, 09 Jul 2008 16:20:14 GMT
A new United Nations report finds that in the past year the number of refugees worldwide has increased from 9 to 11 million. Khalid Koser, deputy director of the Brookings-Bern Project on Internal Displacement, discusses the causes behind this increase as well as possible implications if the number of refugees continues to climb.
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Tue, 01 Jul 2008 00:00:00 GMT
Daniel Byman and Kenneth Pollack argue that the problems facing Iraq could have tremendous consequences for the broader "war on terror," particularly if problems return to or exceed levels seen at the height of violence in 2006. Byman and Pollack write that Salafi militants may use the country as a base for operations or attacks elsewhere in the region and that refugees from Iraq might spread terrorism, radicalize neighboring populations, and contribute to instability throughout the region.
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Thu, 26 Jun 2008 11:00:00 GMT
Event Information:
- June 26, 2008, 11:00 AM to 12:00 PM
Brookings's Opportunity 08 and Managing Global Insecurity projects hosted Senator Chuck Hagel for a discussion of U.S. foreign policy in the context of the 2008 presidential campaign. Senator Hagel examined the global challenges that the next president will inherit and the responsibilities of the presidential candidates to address these challenges.
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Thu, 26 Jun 2008 18:30:00 GMT
Event Information:
- June 26, 2008, 6:30 PM to 9:00 PM
The Crisis in the Middle East Task Force addressed the topic of “The Rise of China: Beijing’s Role in the Middle East” in its eighth and final session. This session, hosted by the Saban Center for Middle East Policy on June 26, 2008, examined the changing nature of the relationship between the United States, China and the Middle East.
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Wed, 25 Jun 2008 13:00:00 GMT
Event Information:
- June 25, 2008, 1:00 PM to 3:00 PM
The 21st Century Defense Initiative at Brookings hosted Kimberly Dozier, CBS News correspondent, for a discussion of her new book Breathing the Fire: Fighting to Report—and Survive—the War in Iraq. Dozier was joined by Martha Raddatz, ABC News White House correspondent, and Lieutenant General Peter Chiarelli, senior military assistant to the secretary of defense.
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Sun, 22 Jun 2008 00:00:00 GMT
Michael O'Hanlon and Jason Campbell write that Iraq remains a violent country plagued by many problems, but they also see continuing signs of progress. Of major note, they believe, is Iraq's government control of almost the entire country and the Iraqi security forces performing better than expected in several key battles.
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Thu, 19 Jun 2008 00:00:00 GMT
Michael O'Hanlon and Jason Campbell assess where the United States is and where it is headed regarding the war in Iraq. They note that while problems remain, many important trends are moving in the right direction.
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Sun, 15 Jun 2008 00:00:00 GMT
After returning from a fact-finding mission, Michael O'Hanlon and Kenneth Pollack joined CNN’s Fareed Zakaria to discuss recent developments in Iraq. O'Hanlon and Pollack assessed progress made by the Iraqi government and security forces, and noted the weakened state of insurgent groups throughout the country. Both experts argued that planned U.S. troop drawdowns would undermine the current relative stability within Iraq.
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Fri, 13 Jun 2008 10:00:00 GMT
Event Information:
- June 13, 2008, 10:00 AM to 11:30 AM
Senior Fellows Michael O’Hanlon and Kenneth Pollack discussed their findings from a recently completed fact-finding mission to Iraq. Beyond offering an assessment of drawdown plans for U.S. troops, the two Iraq experts discussed the fallout from recent battles in Basra, Mosul and elsewhere in Iraq.
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Mon, 09 Jun 2008 15:00:00 GMT
Event Information:
- June 09, 2008, 3:00 PM to 05:00 PM
One of the most difficult challenges to achieving durable solutions for persons displaced by conflict arises where the homes and lands they left behind have been destroyed or occupied by others. The Brookings-Bern Project on Internal Displacement hosted a round-table discussion on the opportunities and challenges posed by property issues in post-conflict displacement settings.
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Sun, 01 Jun 2008 00:00:00 GMT
The next American president will inherit an overseas military base realignment process guided by an effort known as the Global Posture Review. As Michael O'Hanlon argues, a successful outcome will depend on the next U.S. administration refining the current plan—and redefining the broader national security policy context in which base realignment will be viewed.
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Fri, 30 May 2008 00:00:00 GMT
Daniel Benjamin comments on the recent decline or flat line of terrorism-related deaths outside of Iraq. He writes that quantitative stats alone, and without context, can be misleading because they say little about the geopolitics of the threat or the dangers emanating from safe havens.
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Thu, 29 May 2008 00:00:00 GMT
The current United States approach to state sponsorship of terrorism is flawed, writes Daniel Byman. He suggests that instead of simply managing a list of state sponsors, Washington needs to recognize the complexity of sponsorship, monitor states using a broad definition of what constitutes state sponsorship, and use diplomatic pressure as well as political and economic penalties when needed.
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Wed, 28 May 2008 12:30:00 GMT
Event Information:
- May 28, 2008, 12:30 PM to 2:00 PM
The Saban Center for Middle East Policy hosted a policy luncheon on May 28, 2008, launching a Saban Center analysis paper of the same name. The paper’s author, Daniel Byman, presented a summary of the paper’s findings. Bruce Hoffman, Senior Fellow at the U.S. Military Academy and Professor at the School of Foreign Service at Georgetown University, provided comments. Bruce Riedel moderated the discussion.
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Mon, 12 May 2008 00:00:00 GMT
Peter Singer writes that the Pentagon is now seeking to hire contractors that will train and advise Iraq's army. He believes this task, determined as "essential to our successful war effort," should not be outsourced and that the military should learn from contracting mistakes of the past.
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Sun, 04 May 2008 00:00:00 GMT
While the surge and new U.S. strategies in Iraq have improved the situation throughout northern portions of the country, Kenneth Pollack warns that progress remains fragile. He argues that because the coalition has so far been unable to provide security in the south, it has become a battleground that may undermine gains made elsewhere.
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Sun, 04 May 2008 00:00:00 GMT
Michael O'Hanlon explores how well the U.S. military is holding up under the weight of wars in Iraq and Afghanistan. While statistics do not point to a "broken force or a military on the verge of collapse," O'Hanlon argues that continued strain on personnel needs to be addressed as part of future policy considerations.
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Thu, 24 Apr 2008 00:00:00 GMT
Testifying before the Subcommittee on the Middle East and South Asia of the House Committee on Foreign Affairs, Peter Rodman argued "the conditions do not exist for an improvement of relations with Syria as long as Syrian policies remain hostile to important interest of ours in the Middle East." He concluded that Syria must change course in relation to Iraq, Lebanon, and Arab-Israeli peace before the U.S. reaches out to the country.
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Thu, 24 Apr 2008 00:00:00 GMT
In congressional testimony, Martin Indyk argued that the current policy of isolating Syria has had mixed results. He believes that the next U.S. president should consider a different approach that could foster a more productive relationship allowing mutual goals to be realized in the troubled region.
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Mon, 21 Apr 2008 00:00:00 GMT
In his recent briefing to Congress on the current state of Iraq, General David Petraeus emphasized Iran's role in Iraq by mentioning the country and its newly found influence numerous times. Bruce Riedel notes that a "weak and malleable" Iraq places Iran in a position that leaders of the Islamic Republic could have only hoped for prior to the U.S. invasion.
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Mon, 21 Apr 2008 00:00:00 GMT
Michael O'Hanlon believes that "hawkish" diplomatic contact with Iran is needed, because it is likely to "set the U.S. up more effectively to galvanize the kind of growing international pressure on Iran that is probably our only long-term hope of producing better behavior from Teheran."
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Sun, 20 Apr 2008 00:00:00 GMT
Martin Baily says that while many voters view the war in Iraq and the poor state of the economy as a cause and effect relationship, they are, in fact, two very different messes.
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Wed, 16 Apr 2008 00:00:00 GMT
Michael O'Hanlon and Ann Gildroy believe that "after a 75 percent reduction in the rate of violence ... and significant accomplishments by Iraqi leaders ... there is a reasonable prospect of achieving a sustainable stability there within the next few years."