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381. Afghanistan at the Breaking Point

Author:
Gilles Dorronsoro
Publication Date:
11-2010
Content Type:
Working Paper
Institution:
Carnegie Endowment for International Peace
Abstract:
The current strategy of defeating the Taliban militarily is unrealistic. The coalition is on the defensive across much of Afghanistan and, with current troop levels, can at most only contain the insurgency. On present course, the coalition is swiftly heading toward an impasse.
Topic:
Foreign Policy, Diplomacy, Military Strategy, and Insurgency
Political Geography:
Afghanistan, United States, and Taliban

382. A Path Forward with Iran: Pressure through Engagement

Author:
Andy Johnson and Kyle Spector
Publication Date:
02-2010
Content Type:
Policy Brief
Institution:
Third Way
Abstract:
If the Afghanistan-Pakistan region is the most dangerous place in the world at the moment, Afghanistan's neighbor to the West, Iran, is making a strong play for number two. It is alarming the world community, rattling its saber loudly at Israel and the West, and brutally suppressing internal dissent. Iran's regime, yet again, is showing why it remains a major threat to America n national security interests.
Topic:
Foreign Policy, Defense Policy, and Military Strategy
Political Geography:
Pakistan, Afghanistan, United States, America, Iran, Middle East, and Israel

383. Disrupting, Dismantling and Defeating Terrorism 2.0

Author:
Andy Johnson
Publication Date:
07-2010
Content Type:
Policy Brief
Institution:
Third Way
Abstract:
Third Way's National Security Program is launching a Defeating Terrorism Initiative to help US policymakers better understand and confront the threat posed by al Qaeda and other violent extremist organizations. The Defeating Terrorism Initiative will analyze in a series of products what is fueling the continued recruitment and radicalization of terrorists, how the battlefield—both geographical and ideological—is fluid and shifting, and what tools should be brought to bear to attack the root causes of the threat and halt the spread of violent extremism. In doing so, Third Way will provide near- and long-term policy recommendations for defeating terrorism that cover the military-intelligence-diplomatic spectrum and bridge the foreign-domestic divide. The first of these products—"Disrupting, Dismantling and Defeating Terrorism 2.0"— offers a policy framework for how the US can build on and broaden the disrupt, dismantle and defeat strategy that President Obama has begun in Afghanistan and Pakistan.
Topic:
Foreign Policy, Defense Policy, and Terrorism
Political Geography:
Pakistan, Afghanistan, and United States

384. Reforming Foreign Security Training to Help Defeat Terrorism

Author:
Andy Johnson and Scott Payne
Publication Date:
07-2010
Content Type:
Policy Brief
Institution:
Third Way
Abstract:
A key component of US strategy to defeat global terrorist groups like al Qaeda is denying them the physical space to operate with impunity. The ability of the US and our allies to train foreign military and security forces can be an effective tool in both preventing terrorists from establishing a foothold in vulnerable states and empowering foreign partners to move against terrorists where they exist today. Yet the current array of US training programs is fragmented, ad hoc, and underfunded. Moreover, overreliance on contractors to provide large scale military and police training in Iraq and Afghanistan, at a collective cost of $48 billion, has led to findings of poor performance, wasteful spending, weak oversight and insufficient accountability.
Topic:
Foreign Policy, Defense Policy, and Terrorism
Political Geography:
Afghanistan, United States, Iraq, and North America

385. NATO Initiatives for an Era of Global Competition

Author:
Franklin D. Kramer
Publication Date:
03-2010
Content Type:
Policy Brief
Institution:
Atlantic Council
Abstract:
The transatlantic partnership has historically been at the heart of U.S. foreign policy, and the North Atlantic Treaty Organization has been at the heart of the partnership. But the factors that long made "transatlantic" the dominant foreign policy construct have fundamentally changed – and with it has come a need for concomitant strategic and operational changes to meet new requirements.
Topic:
Foreign Policy, Economics, International Cooperation, and Reform
Political Geography:
Afghanistan, United States, Europe, and North America

386. Uncertain Kyrgyzstan: Rebalancing U.S. Policy

Author:
Ross Wilson and Damon Wilson
Publication Date:
06-2010
Content Type:
Policy Brief
Institution:
Atlantic Council
Abstract:
Kyrgyzstan is lurching forward, its future uncertain. Eleven weeks after street protests forced the collapse of the regime of President Kurmanbek Bakiyev and three weeks after the worst ethnic violence in the country's history, a measure of security-enforced calm has returned. The apparently successful June 27 referendum on a new constitution and mandate for Interim President Roza Otunbayeva will provide legitimacy and confidence to the government. But Otunbayeva and the group around her appear to underestimate the difficulties they face and to overestimate their ability to control events. They will have to work hard to overcome divisions among their ranks, staggering political and economic challenges, the risks of renewed violence in the south and antipathy toward Kyrgyzstan elsewhere in Central Asia.
Topic:
Foreign Policy and International Cooperation
Political Geography:
Russia, United States, and Central Asia

387. The Iran Stalemate and the Need for Strategic Patience

Author:
Barbara Slavin
Publication Date:
11-2010
Content Type:
Policy Brief
Institution:
Atlantic Council
Abstract:
Seventeen months after disputed presidential elections, the Iranian government has forced opposition protestors off the streets but continues to face an unprecedented crisis of legitimacy that is undermining its capacity to implement effective domestic and foreign policies.
Topic:
Foreign Policy
Political Geography:
United States, Iran, and Middle East

388. U.S.-Iran Relations: Policy Compendium

Author:
Kenneth Katzman
Publication Date:
03-2010
Content Type:
Working Paper
Institution:
Atlantic Council
Abstract:
This chapter contains major policy statements and documents on Iran primarily from the current and previous U.S. Administrations. The statements and documents presented here are intended to be illustrative of themes in U.S. policy toward Iran. Statements on specifi c aspects of U.S. policy toward Iran, such as U.S. interpretations of Iran's disputed June 12, 2009 presidential election, Iran's positions on multilateral meetings on its nuclear program, its holding of dual U.S.-Iranian nationals periodically, are a frequent feature of daily State Department and White House press briefi ngs on U.S. foreign policy.
Topic:
Foreign Policy, Treaties and Agreements, and Bilateral Relations
Political Geography:
United States, Iran, and United Nations

389. Astana on the Atlantic: Transatlantic Strategy in Central Asia and the OSCE

Author:
Ross Wilson and Damon Wilson
Publication Date:
11-2010
Content Type:
Working Paper
Institution:
Atlantic Council
Abstract:
An arc of potential disorder and instability increasingly looms over Central Asia. This year's political turmoil and ethnic violence in Kyrgyzstan illustrated the difficulties and dangers before the region –and that American interests confront there. Much of Central Asia is not succeeding economically or politically. Parts of it face the prospect of indigenous extremist violence and/or could become new safe havens for transnational threats emanating from Afghanistan. U.S. strategies that for years aimed to support the sovereignty, independence, territorial integrity and success of the new Central Asian states have come to be dominated by the exigencies of the Afghan war and an increasingly unproductive conversation on human rights and democracy. As a result, those strategies are failing, and U.S. policy is being marginalized.
Topic:
Foreign Policy and Diplomacy
Political Geography:
United States, America, and Central Asia

390. Advancing U.S., African, and Global Interests: Security and Stability in the West African Maritime Domain

Author:
Kristen E. Smith and John Raidt
Publication Date:
11-2010
Content Type:
Working Paper
Institution:
Atlantic Council
Abstract:
The United States possesses clear and compelling national interests in West Africa, particularly in the region's maritime domain. These vital security, economic, and humanitarian interests, including reliable long-term access to energy, shared largely by the African people and the international community, are at grave risk from regional instability and the increasing potential for state failures in an economically and politically distressed area of over 250 million people.
Topic:
Foreign Policy, Diplomacy, and Terrorism
Political Geography:
Africa and United States