Search

Begin New Search Political Geography Iraq

981. Troop Levels in Stability Operations: What We Don’t Know

Author:
Peter Krause
Publication Date:
02-2007
Content Type:
Working Paper
Institution:
MIT Center for International Studies
Abstract:
Troop levels in Iraq have been one of the most hotly contested issues om American foreign policy over the past three years, from debates over the initial deployment in 2003 to those surrounding the troop surge in 2007. The Bush administration has faced significant criticism for ignoring the conventional wisdom regarding the number of soldiers required to secure Iraq, and recent attempts to change course in this area are seen by some as too little, too late. Specifically, the Pentagon’s deployment of only 120,000 American troops for the invasion and the decision by Paul Bremer, U.S. Administrator in Iraq, to disband the Iraqi army and police has kept the ratio of security forces to Iraqi civilians well below the 20 per 1,000 seen as the basic ante required to play the high stakes stabilization game. Many supporters of higher troop levels blame these missteps for the emergence of the robust insurgency and the coalition’s failure to defeat it. But where exactly does the 20 per 1,000 figure come from, how strong is the evidence sup- porting it, and what steps are being taken to assess and improve the conventional wisdom in this area? While the answer to the first part of the question is relatively accessible, the latter are more difficult. They address a daunting problem, but unveil a disconnect between the objectives and methods of policy and social science.
Topic:
Foreign Policy, Military Strategy, Iraq War, and Troop Deployment
Political Geography:
United States, Iraq, Middle East, and North America

982. Reform in Syria: Steering between the Chinese Model and Regime Change

Publication Date:
07-2006
Content Type:
Working Paper
Institution:
Carnegie Endowment for International Peace
Abstract:
The issue of political reform in Syria straddles the line between reform of political institutions and removal from power of a particular regime and entails both domestic and external actors. The regime of Bashar al-Asad is under pressure from Syrian citizens who want a different political system and different leadership. He is also under pressure from the United States, which wants Syria to change its regional policy: stop intruding in Lebanese affairs, reduce support of Palestinian groups, and make a bigger effort to prevent infiltration of radical Islamists into Iraq. As a result, it is impossible to separate completely a domestic process of political reform from the external pressures. The two are entangled to a much greater extent than in any other country in the region except Iraq, and the analysis that follows reflects this entanglement.
Topic:
International Relations, Politics, and Regime Change
Political Geography:
China, Iraq, Middle East, Asia, and Syria

983. AsiaSource Interview with Under Secretary Nicholas Burns

Author:
Nermeen Shaikh
Publication Date:
11-2006
Content Type:
Working Paper
Institution:
Asia Society
Abstract:
Ambassador R. Nicholas Burns is the Under Secretary of State for Political Affairs, the Department of State's third ranking official. Prior to his current assignment, Ambassador Burns was the United States Permanent Representative to the North Atlantic Treaty Organization. As Ambassador to NATO, he headed the combined State-Defense Department U.S. Mission to NATO at a time when the Alliance committed to new missions in Iraq, Afghanistan and the global war against terrorism, and accepted seven new members.
Topic:
Security, Foreign Policy, and Terrorism
Political Geography:
Afghanistan, United States, Iraq, Middle East, and Asia

984. Interview with Iowa Governor Tom Vilsack

Author:
Nermeen Shaikh
Publication Date:
11-2006
Content Type:
Working Paper
Institution:
Asia Society
Abstract:
Governor Tom Vilsack was elected Iowas 39th Governor in 1998, the first Democratic governor of the state in more than 30 years. He was re-elected to a second four-year term in 2002.
Topic:
International Relations and Energy Policy
Political Geography:
Iraq, Middle East, and Asia

985. Mapping the Jihadist Threat: The War on Terror Since 9/11

Author:
Kurt M. Campbell and Willow Darsie
Publication Date:
08-2006
Content Type:
Working Paper
Institution:
Aspen Institute
Abstract:
Secretary of Defense Donald Rumsfeld famously bemoaned the challenges of measuring success in a long twilight struggle with Islamic fundamentalists. There are the “known unknowns” and “unknown unknowns” that confront the United States in the most unfamiliar set of foreign policy challenges in the country's history. In addition to the difficulties of establishing “metrics” – as Rumsfeld would put it – in our war on terror, there is also the intrinsically related and perhaps more vexing question of how the global ideological virus of Islamic fundamentalism is morphing and evolving. An influential and well-funded cohort of radicalized Islamists, seizing upon an unyielding interpretation of religious text (a kind of Koranic original intent), has been at war with the West for nearly a generation, and the pace of operations globally is accelerating. According to recently released U.S. government reports, there has been a sharp surge in the number of global terrorist attacks in recent years, a tally substantially comprised of incidents initiated by Islamist instigators. Taken in its totality with all its many manifestations, the jihadist challenge stretches from the Taliban strongholds in the rugged Afghan mountains and the dense jungle hideouts of the Philippines, to the ornate mosques of Saudi Arabia, from a quiet neighborhood in Leeds, England to, just possibly, a place near you.
Topic:
Islam, Terrorism, and War
Political Geography:
United States, Iraq, and Middle East

986. War and the Liberal Democratic State

Author:
Vivienne Jabri
Publication Date:
01-2006
Content Type:
Journal Article
Journal:
Cultures & Conflits
Institution:
Cultures & Conflits
Abstract:
En matière de politique internationale, la guerre est une technologie de contrôle. Tandis que ses manifestations violentes comme l\'invasion et l\'occupation de l\'Irak sont directement ressenties par les populations visées, les pratiques qui y sont associées ainsi que ladite « guerre au terrorisme » ont des effets d\'une portée mondiale. Cet article offre une lecture de la guerre globale comme forme de contrôle propre à cette modernité tardive. Il montre que les pratiques qui constituent la guerre globale sont à comprendre en termes de matrice, ceci comprenant les Etats et leurs bureaucraties ainsi que des agents non étatiques, visant Etats, communautés particulières et individus. La matrice de la guerre opère au nom de l\'humanité, mais c\'est finalement cette même humanité qui en vient à devenir le sujet de ces opérations de contrôle global. Comme le montre l\'article, les conséquences sont monumentales pour le gouvernement, l\'examen démocratique et les espaces possibles de dissidence.
Topic:
Government and War
Political Geography:
Iraq

987. Counterinsurgency and Political Control. US Military Strategies Regarding Regional Conflict, INEF-Report 81

Author:
Jochen Hippler
Publication Date:
01-2006
Content Type:
Working Paper
Institution:
Institute for Development and Peace
Abstract:
With US forces in Iraq and Afghanistan fighting rather ruthless counter- insurgency campaigns, the topic of in surgency and counterinsurgency is of pressing relevance. At the same time, questions of internal violence in developing countries have generally been high on the political and academic agenda in the context of “failed” and “failing states”.
Topic:
Defense Policy and War
Political Geography:
Afghanistan, United States, Iraq, Middle East, and Asia

988. The Defense Monitor, “Wars decrease”

Author:
Col. Daniel Smith
Publication Date:
06-2006
Content Type:
Policy Brief
Institution:
Center for Defense Information
Abstract:
Set against non-stop cable news broadcasts recounting the ongoing daily carnage in Iraq and the resurgent violence in Afghanistan, the headline “wars decrease” was a jolt.
Topic:
Defense Policy, International Political Economy, and War
Political Geography:
Afghanistan, United States, and Iraq

989. Defense Monitor, Missile Defense: An Expensive Bluff?

Author:
Eric Hagt, Philip E. Coyle, Whitney Parker, Rachel Stohl, Winslow Wheeler, and Anthony Zinni
Publication Date:
08-2006
Content Type:
Policy Brief
Institution:
Center for Defense Information
Abstract:
North Korea's launch of numerous missiles the first week of July raised serious questions about the capabilities of both the U.S. missile defense system and North Korea's ballistic missile program. CDI Analyst Victoria Samson and Senior Advisor Philip Coyle appeared on numerous radio talk shows and TV news programs nationwide, helping viewers, listeners and readers to understand that the missile defense system being deployed in Alaska and California has no demonstrated capability to defend the United Sates against an enemy attack. Meanwhile the Bush administration is losing precious time. As Coyle points out in the article below, it's time to enter into one-on-one talks with North Korea before Pyongyang improves its short and long range missiles further. The six-party talks are important and necessary, but not sufficient to stop North Korea's missiles. And neither, unfortunately, are U.S. missile defenses.
Topic:
Defense Policy, Arms Control and Proliferation, and United Nations
Political Geography:
United States, China, Iraq, Middle East, Asia, and North Korea

990. Defense Monitor: Where is America Going? Five Years After Sept. 11

Author:
Philip E. Coyle, Whitney Parker, Rachel Stohl, Winslow Wheeler, Victoria Samson, Jessica Ashooh, Mark Burgess, and Rhea Myerscough
Publication Date:
09-2006
Content Type:
Policy Brief
Institution:
Center for Defense Information
Abstract:
In the days before Sept. 11, riding the post-Cold War high, America was blissfully unaware of the threats it faced, and why. A few in the William J. Clinton administration tried to warn their successors about al-Qaida's danger, but overall, most Americans were blindsided by the Sept. 11 attacks. Five years later, America is still largely in the dark.
Topic:
Defense Policy, Terrorism, and War
Political Geography:
Afghanistan, United States, Iraq, Middle East, and Asia