Middle East

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Program(s): Peaceful, Just and Inclusive Societies , Peace and Security

Topic(s): Arab Awakening, Fragile States

Staff

Bruce Jones

Richard Gowan

Emily O'Brien

WPS Sidhu

The Mess Obama Left Behind in Iraq

Is it right to blame the president for the rise of the Islamic State? Well, it’s not wrong

Publication Date: Oct 10, 2016

Author(s) / Contributor(s): James Traub

Region/Country: Middle East, United States

Topic(s): Crises, Fragile States, Humanitarian Crises, Peace Operations

Should the U.S. have kept Iraq's oil, as Donald Trump argues?

Donald Trump repeated an eyebrow-raising idea this week that the United States should have kept Iraq’s oil after ousting Saddam Hussein.

"I’ve always said -- shouldn’t be there, but if we’re going to get out, take the oil," Trump told moderator Matt Lauer at NBC’s Commander-in-Chief Forum on Sept. 7, 2016. "If we would have taken the oil, you wouldn’t have ISIS, because ISIS formed with the power and the wealth of that oil."

Publication Date: Sep 09, 2016

Author(s) / Contributor(s): Barnett Rubin

Region/Country: Middle East, United States

Program(s): Afghanistan-Pakistan Regional Project

Topic(s): Humanitarian Crises, Organized Crime

JCPOA meets national interest of U.S. and Iran: Barnett Rubin

Barnett Rubin is of the opinion that the nuclear deal, officially known as the Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action (JCPOA), meets the “the national interest” of Iran and the United states.

Publication Date: Aug 24, 2016

Author(s) / Contributor(s): Barnett Rubin

Region/Country: Middle East, United States

Program(s): Afghanistan-Pakistan Regional Project

Topic(s): International Security, South Asia

The U.S. Presence and Afghanistan’s National Unity Government: Preserving and Broadening the Political Settlement

President Obama has announced that the U.S, will maintain 8,400 troops in Afghanistan until the end of his term. The international military presence does not only affect the balance of forces between the government and the Taliban insurgency based in Pakistan.

Publication Date: Aug 09, 2016

Author(s) / Contributor(s): Barnett Rubin, Georgette Gagnon

Region/Country: Middle East, Afghanistan

Topic(s): Fragile States, South Asia

Program(s): Afghanistan-Pakistan Regional Project

The fears of US allies, the benefits of US alliances

Donald Trump’s recent comments on America’s alliances, coinciding with the Republican convention last week, have further raised the anxiety levels of US allies about Washington’s global role after the US presidential election.

Publication Date: Jul 27, 2016

Author(s) / Contributor(s): Elsina Wainwright

Region/Country: East Asia, Middle East, United States

Program(s): Peace and Security

A Global Action Platform and Fund for Forced Migrants: A Proposal

World events of the past decade have put the international refugee system under great stress. The challenges include a dramatic increase in the number of forced migrants, a significant shortfall in needed funding, and inadequate international burden-sharing.

Publication Date: Jul 25, 2016

Author(s) / Contributor(s): Sarah Cliffe, T. Alexander Aleinikoff

Region/Country: Europe, Middle East

Program(s): Humanitarian Crises

Topic(s): Humanitarian Crises, International Security, Transnational Threats

To Stay Open, Europe Needs to Close Its Doors

The United States has something important to teach Europe about the migration crisis. Right now, though, Europe isn’t listening.

Publication Date: Jun 22, 2016

Author(s) / Contributor(s): James Traub

Region/Country: Europe, Middle East

Program(s): Peace and Security

Topic(s): Humanitarian Crises, International Security

Doha Forum 2016 Third Plenary Session

Sarah Cliffe CIC Director, recently moderated the Third Session of the Doha Forum held in Qatar from May 21-23. The theme for the Third Session was the Global Economy. Globally we are facing two major economic challenges; the global slowdown and volatility of commodities, currencies and financial markets. Watch the full video of the Third Session of the Doha Forum below:

Publication Date: Jun 10, 2016

Author(s) / Contributor(s): Sarah Cliffe

Region/Country: East Asia, Europe, Middle East, United States

Topic(s): United Nations

If the Refugee Deal Crumbles, There Will Be Hell to Pay

A strange thing happened in the Aegean Sea last month: No refugees drowned. This modest piece of good news was, however, overwhelmed by the calamity in the Mediterranean, where 1,083 refugees drowned in the last week of May. Those poor souls, almost all African, left from Libya, a country unable to exercise control over its borders. But passage across the Aegean is controlled by Turkey, which has clamped down on trafficking in the wake of a deal it reached with the European Union in March. In 2015, 800,000 refugees crossed from Turkey to Greece.

Publication Date: Jun 07, 2016

Author(s) / Contributor(s): James Traub

Region/Country: Europe, Middle East

Program(s): Humanitarian Crises

Topic(s): Humanitarian Crises

Iran's 'marriage of convenience' with Taliban

Experts say reports of an Iran-backed Taliban buffer zone in Afghanistan against the Islamic State are overstated but that Iran has had links with Taliban commanders for over a decade.

Publication Date: Jun 01, 2016

Author(s) / Contributor(s): Barnett Rubin

Region/Country: Middle East, South Asia, Afghanistan, Pakistan

Program(s): Afghanistan-Pakistan Regional Project

Topic(s): Afghanistan, Pakistan, South Asia