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132. United States Budgetary Costs of the Post-9/11 Wars Through FY2019: $5.9 Trillion Spent and Obligated
- Author:
- Neta C. Crawford
- Publication Date:
- 11-2018
- Content Type:
- Special Report
- Institution:
- Watson Institute for International and Public Affairs at Brown University
- Abstract:
- The United States has appropriated and is obligated to spend an estimated $5.9 trillion (in current dollars) on the war on terror through Fiscal Year 2019, including direct war and war-related spending and obligations for future spending on post9/11 war veterans. This number differs substantially from the Pentagon’s estimates of the costs of the post-9/11 wars because it includes not only war appropriations made to the Department of Defense – spending in the war zones of Iraq, Syria, Afghanistan, Pakistan, and in other places the government designates as sites of “overseas contingency operations,” – but also includes spending across the federal government that is a consequence of these wars. Specifically, this is war-related spending by the Department of State, past and obligated spending for war veterans’ care, interest on the debt incurred to pay for the wars, and the prevention of and response to terrorism by the Department of Homeland Security. If the US continues on its current path, war spending will continue to grow.
- Topic:
- Defense Policy, Government, Military Affairs, Budget, Military Spending, War on Terror, and Veterans
- Political Geography:
- Pakistan, Afghanistan, Iraq, South Asia, Middle East, Syria, and United States of America
133. Kurdish Disunity In Historical Perspective
- Author:
- Michael M. Gunter
- Publication Date:
- 06-2018
- Content Type:
- Journal Article
- Journal:
- The Journal of Diplomacy and International Relations
- Institution:
- School of Diplomacy and International Relations, Seton Hall University
- Abstract:
- Kurdish nationalism is challenged not only by the more developed counternationalisms of the states in which the Kurds live (Turkey, Iran, Iraq, and Syria) but also by the problem of Kurdish disunity and infighting.
- Topic:
- History, Conflict, Kurds, Referendum, and Infighting
- Political Geography:
- Iraq, Iran, Turkey, Middle East, Syria, and Kurdistan
134. Projecting stability in practice? NATO’s new training mission in Iraq
- Author:
- Kevin Koehler
- Publication Date:
- 10-2018
- Content Type:
- Working Paper
- Institution:
- NATO Defense College
- Abstract:
- Since the 2016 Warsaw Summit, the notion of projecting stability has made a return to NATO’s policy discourse. A central tenet of this agenda is the idea of securing the Alliance by stabilizing its periphery: “If our neighbours are more stable, we are more secure”, says the Secretary General Jens Stoltenberg. At the core of this approach is therefore an attempt at shaping the security environment in NATO’s neighbourhood, relying to a significant extent on partnership with individual countries and other international organizations. But how does projecting stability work in practice? Can NATO develop a type of small-footprint, large-effect interaction with partners in its periphery? How can potential interest asymmetries between NATO and partners be addressed in this context? The new NATO
- Topic:
- NATO, Imperialism, Regional Cooperation, and Political stability
- Political Geography:
- Iraq, Europe, North Atlantic, Middle East, and North America
135. Western Foreign Fighters: The Threat to Homeland and International Security by Phil Gursky
- Author:
- Houssem Ben Lazreg and Phil Gursky
- Publication Date:
- 07-2018
- Content Type:
- Journal Article
- Journal:
- Fletcher Security Review
- Institution:
- The Fletcher School, Tufts University
- Abstract:
- Islamic State (IS) has demonstrated unprecedented capabilities in attracting foreign fighters, particularly from Western countries. Between 2011 and 2015, Western foreign fighters coming from North America, Europe, and Australia traveled to Iraq and Syria in order to join IS and the Al-Qaeda affiliate Jabhat Al-Nusra. As IS has been significantly weakened, authorities in many western countries are increasingly worried that returning fighters will come back to their home countries radicalized, battle hardened, and eager to commit terrorist attacks. This concern is clearly manifested in Phil Gursky’s book cover which features a striking image of a Belgian returnee from Syria, Abdelhamid Abaaoud, who has been named by security officials as one of the architects of the attacks in Paris in 2015. In Western Foreign Fighters: The Threat to Homeland and International Security, Phil Gursky, a former analyst at the Canadian Security Intelligence Service, elaborates on the phenomenon of ‘Western Foreign Fighters.’ This book aims at addressing two fundamental issues: “why people leave their homeland to join terrorist groups?” and “do they pose a threat upon their prospective return?”[1] To answer those questions, Gurski relies not only on a detailed analysis of the excerpts and statements by the fighters recently engaged in violent extremism at home and overseas, but also on accounts that delineate historical parallels and differences with previous conflicts sharing similar dynamics. Gurski divides his analysis into eight substantive chapters, an appendix, a glossary and a suggested reading list, using accessible, non-academic prose. He conducts the majority of his historical analysis in chapter three. His discussion of western volunteers—mainly Canadians and Americans—and their involvement in previous conflicts such as the Spanish Civil War and the Boers Wars provides informative and engaging insights, mostly for a general readership.[2] It also sets the stage for shedding light on why Westerners join terrorist groups like IS, and what threat they pose to homeland/international security. Obviously, these issues will be of most interest to intelligence officers, policy makers, scholars, and practitioners...
- Topic:
- Terrorism, International Security, Violent Extremism, Islamic State, Homeland Security, and Book Review
- Political Geography:
- Iraq, Europe, Middle East, Syria, North America, and United States of America
136. For the Love of Music
- Author:
- Isabel Roemer
- Publication Date:
- 12-2018
- Content Type:
- Special Report
- Institution:
- Center for Contemporary Arab Studies
- Abstract:
- MAAS alum combines language skills, industry savvy, and a bit of “wasta” to bring Arab musicians to Washington audiences. In 2003, MAAS alum David Chambers (‘88) received a call from the family of the late Munir Bashir, the celebrated Iraqi musician widely regarded as “King of Oud.” Chambers had spent much of the 1990s in the entertainment industry in the Arab world—notably, for the Showtime Arabia satellite TV network. Now back in Washington, D.C., he faced a challenge: how to arrange a gig for Omar Bashir, Munir’s son, in the nation’s capital?
- Topic:
- History, Culture, Higher Education, and Music
- Political Geography:
- Iraq, Middle East, North America, Washington, and D.C.
137. The Revolutionary Seeds of Mass Media
- Author:
- Sania El-Husseini
- Publication Date:
- 04-2018
- Content Type:
- Special Report
- Institution:
- Center for Contemporary Arab Studies
- Abstract:
- The development and spread of mass media throughout the Middle East over the past two decades—starting with satellite television stations, which took national narratives out from under state control, and followed by social media, which gave voice to the masses—is widely considered a key factor leading to the eruption of the Arab revolutions.
- Topic:
- Science and Technology, Mass Media, Democracy, Internet, Arab Spring, Journalism, and Revolution
- Political Geography:
- Afghanistan, Iraq, Middle East, North America, Qatar, and United States of America
138. R2P Monitor, Issue 40, 15 July 2018
- Author:
- Global Centre for the Responsibility to Protect
- Publication Date:
- 07-2018
- Content Type:
- Special Report
- Institution:
- The Global Centre for the Responsibility to Protect
- Abstract:
- R2P Monitor is a bimonthly bulletin applying the Responsibility to Protect lens to populations at risk of mass atrocities around the world. Issue 40 looks at developments in Afghanistan, Central African Republic, Myanmar (Burma), Syria, Yemen, Democratic Republic of the Congo, South Sudan, Burundi, Cameroon, Iraq, Israel and the Occupied Palestinian Territories and Nigeria.
- Topic:
- Human Rights, International Law, Responsibility to Protect (R2P), and Atrocities
- Political Geography:
- Afghanistan, Iraq, Israel, Yemen, Democratic Republic of the Congo, Palestine, Syria, Nigeria, Burundi, Myanmar, South Sudan, Cameroon, and Central African Republic
139. R2P Monitor, Issue 39, 15 May 2018
- Author:
- Global Centre for the Responsibility to Protect
- Publication Date:
- 05-2018
- Content Type:
- Special Report
- Institution:
- The Global Centre for the Responsibility to Protect
- Abstract:
- R2P Monitor is a bimonthly bulletin applying the Responsibility to Protect lens to populations at risk of mass atrocities around the world. Issue 39 looks at developments in Afghanistan, Central African Republic, Democratic Republic of the Congo, Myanmar (Burma), Syria, Yemen, South Sudan, Burundi, Iraq and Israel and the Occupied Palestinian Territories.
- Topic:
- Human Rights, International Law, Responsibility to Protect (R2P), and Atrocities
- Political Geography:
- Afghanistan, Iraq, Israel, Yemen, Democratic Republic of the Congo, Palestine, Syria, Burundi, Myanmar, South Sudan, and Central African Republic
140. R2P Monitor, Issue 38, 15 March 2018
- Author:
- Global Centre for the Responsibility to Protect
- Publication Date:
- 03-2018
- Content Type:
- Special Report
- Institution:
- The Global Centre for the Responsibility to Protect
- Abstract:
- R2P Monitor is a bimonthly bulletin applying the Responsibility to Protect lens to populations at risk of mass atrocities around the world. Issue 38 looks at developments in Myanmar (Burma), Syria, Yemen, Afghanistan, Democratic Republic of the Congo, South Sudan, Central African Republic, Iraq and Burundi.
- Topic:
- Human Rights, International Law, Responsibility to Protect (R2P), and Atrocities
- Political Geography:
- Afghanistan, Iraq, Yemen, Democratic Republic of the Congo, Syria, Burundi, Myanmar, South Sudan, and Central African Republic