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552. How to Win the Battle of Ideas in the War on Terror
- Author:
- Robert Satloff
- Publication Date:
- 11-2004
- Content Type:
- Policy Brief
- Institution:
- The Washington Institute for Near East Policy
- Abstract:
- President George W. Bush will enter his second term leading a country that is at war on five fronts at once. Four are clear: in Iraq and Afghanistan, against al-Qaeda and its global affiliates, and within the homeland. The fifth front, however, is the poor stepsister to the other four. It is being fought with an arsenal of outmoded and dysfunctional weaponry, a set of confused and self-defeating battlefield tactics, and no clear strategy for victory. Such is the status of the U.S. effort to fight the "battle of ideas" -- the ideological war to prevent Islamists and their sympathizers from capturing the social, cultural, economic, and political high ground in Muslim societies around the world.
- Topic:
- Security, Religion, Terrorism, and War
- Political Geography:
- Afghanistan, Iraq, Middle East, and Arab Countries
553. Challenges in Iraq: Learning from Yemen?
- Author:
- Jonathan Schanzer
- Publication Date:
- 03-2004
- Content Type:
- Policy Brief
- Institution:
- The Washington Institute for Near East Policy
- Abstract:
- The Yemeni media recently reported that thousands of Iraqis who fled Saddam Husayn's brutal regime and have lived in Yemen for more than a decade are now thinking about returning home. Many of these individuals are encouraged by signs of new infrastructure and a recovering economy in Iraq. If and when they return, they will see a number of stark similarities between their old homeland and Yemen, including primordial federalism, a "triangle" of terrorism, and questions of Sunni-Shi'i relations. Although Yemen is certainly not a model to which Iraq should aspire, San'a does have experience in dealing with challenges similar to those currently facing Iraq. Yemen's handling of these challenges provides reasons for cautious optimism about Iraq's future.
- Topic:
- Conflict Resolution and Terrorism
- Political Geography:
- United States, Iraq, Middle East, Yemen, and Arabia
554. Naming the Enemy
- Author:
- Thomas Donnelly
- Publication Date:
- 08-2004
- Content Type:
- Policy Brief
- Institution:
- American Enterprise Institute for Public Policy Research
- Abstract:
- The report of the 9/11 Commission should help strengthen American resolve in the war on terror. The report brings greater clarity to the enemy and threats we face, as well as to the methods by which the United States can strengthen national security through a “forward strategy of freedom” in the greater Middle East.
- Topic:
- Terrorism
- Political Geography:
- United States, America, and Middle East
555. Hizbollah: Rebel Without A Cause?
- Publication Date:
- 07-2003
- Content Type:
- Working Paper
- Institution:
- International Crisis Group
- Abstract:
- Few political actors in the Middle East have seen their environment as thoroughly affected by recent events in the region as Hizbollah, the Lebanese political-military organisation that first came on the scene in the mid-1980s. In U.S. political circles, calls for action against Hizbollah, which is accused of global terrorist activity, are heard increasingly. With the ouster of Saddam Hussein's regime, the U.S. has upped its pressure on Syria and Iran - Hizbollah's two most powerful patrons. Meanwhile, Israel has made clear it will not tolerate indefinitely the organisation's armed presence on its northern border. Within Lebanon itself, weariness with Hizbollah and questions about its future role are being raised with surprising candour.
- Topic:
- Foreign Policy, Ethnic Conflict, Politics, and Terrorism
- Political Geography:
- Middle East, Israel, Arabia, Lebanon, and Syria
556. Terrorist Threat to Energy and Infrastructure
- Author:
- Tamara Makarenko
- Publication Date:
- 06-2003
- Content Type:
- Working Paper
- Institution:
- Centre for the Study of Terrorism and Political Violence, St. Andrews University, Scotland
- Abstract:
- Recent indications point to an increased risk of systematic attacks against the world's petroleum supply chain, particularly in South Asia and the Middle East. Tamara Makarenko examines the trends in terrorist attacks on the energy sector.
- Topic:
- Energy Policy and Terrorism
- Political Geography:
- South Asia and Middle East
557. Crushing Crime in South East Europe: A Struggle of Domestic, Regional and European Dimensions
- Author:
- Frederic Labarre and Predrag Jureković
- Publication Date:
- 05-2003
- Content Type:
- Working Paper
- Institution:
- Austrian National Defence Academy
- Abstract:
- The United Nations Office on Drugs and Crime (UNODC) is not a law enforcement agency. We do not manage informants, undertake surveillance or analyze criminal intelligence but we do coordinate and deliver technical assistance to countries to develop and strengthen these skills. This is our role in the war against drugs. To help us in South Eastern Europe we employ law enforcement officers in the field.
- Topic:
- International Relations, Security, Arms Control and Proliferation, Democratization, Human Rights, and Terrorism
- Political Geography:
- Middle East, United Nations, and Balkans
558. Hidden Costs of War
- Author:
- William D. Hartung
- Publication Date:
- 03-2003
- Content Type:
- Working Paper
- Institution:
- Fourth Freedom Forum
- Abstract:
- The Bush administration's war on terrorism and its proposed military intervention in Iraq have sparked the steepest increases in military and security spending in two decades. Since September 11, 2001, the federal government has approved over $110 billion in increased military spending and military aid. Spending on national defense is slated to reach $399 billion in the Fiscal Year 2004 budget, and to rise to over $500 billion annually by the end of this decade. These vast sums do not include the costs of the ongoing war in Afghanistan or a war with Iraq. Steven Kosiak of the Center for Strategic and Budgetary Assessments estimates that only 5 to 10 percent of the Fiscal Year 2003 Pentagon budget is being set aside for anti-terror activities and homeland security.
- Topic:
- Security, Economics, Government, Terrorism, and War
- Political Geography:
- Afghanistan, United States, Iraq, and Middle East
559. Saudi Arabia's Dubious Denials of Involvement in International Terrorism
- Author:
- Dore Gold
- Publication Date:
- 10-2003
- Content Type:
- Policy Brief
- Institution:
- Jerusalem Center for Public Affairs
- Abstract:
- Saudi Arabia's past involvement in international terrorism is indisputable. While the Bush administration decided to redact 28 sensitive pages of the Joint Intelligence Report of the U.S. Congress, nonetheless, Saudi involvement in terrorist financing can be documented through materials captured by Israel in Palestinian headquarters in 2002-3. In light of this evidence, Saudi denials about terrorist funding don't hold water. Israel retrieved a document of the International Islamic Relief Organization (IIRO) which detailed the allocation of $280,000 to 14 Hamas charities. IIRO and other suspected global Saudi charities are not NGOs, since their boards of directors are headed by Saudi cabinet members. Prince Salman, a full brother of King Fahd, controls IIRO distributions "with an iron hand," according to former CIA operative Robert Baer. Mahmoud Abbas, in fact, complained, in a handwritten December 2000 letter to Salman, about Saudi funding of Hamas. Defense Minister Prince Sultan has been cited as a major IIRO contributor. It was hoped, after the May 12 triple bombing attack in Riyadh, that Saudi Arabia might halt its support for terrorism. Internally, the Saudi security forces moved against al-Qaeda cells all over the kingdom. But externally, the Saudis were still engaged in terrorist financing, underwriting 60-70 percent of the Hamas budget, in violation of their "roadmap" commitments to President Bush. Additionally, the Saudis back the civilian infrastructure of Hamas with extremist textbooks glorifying jihad and martyrdom that are used by schools and Islamic societies throughout the West Bank and Gaza Strip. Ideological infiltration of Palestinian society by the Saudis in this way is reminiscent of their involvement in the madrassa system of Pakistan during the 1980s, that gave birth to the Taliban and other pro bin-Laden groups.
- Topic:
- Security, Religion, and Terrorism
- Political Geography:
- United States, Middle East, Israel, Palestine, Gaza, Arab Countries, and Saudi Arabia
560. The Psychological Framework of Suicide Terrorism
- Author:
- Irwin J. Mansdorf
- Publication Date:
- 04-2003
- Content Type:
- Policy Brief
- Institution:
- Jerusalem Center for Public Affairs
- Abstract:
- Since 1993, attempts have been made to portray Palestinian-Arab perpetrators of suicide bombings as desperate individuals understandably coping with a difficult situation, in effect, transforming the attackers into victims, and thus diminishing the impact of one's revulsion at such attacks. The use of the “bomber as victim” model has led others to similarly view, and incorrectly justify, the motivations behind Palestinian-Arab suicide bombers. Yet, in fact, individual psychopathology or personal feelings do not appear to play any significant role. Unlike other groups that have used suicide as a political or military tool, only in the case of Palestinian-Arab terror has there been an attempt to personalize the perpetrator as a victim of uncontrollable psychological and motivational forces that forced such extreme behavior. It is actually group dynamics that reinforces behavior within a Palestinian-Arab culture where suicide bombers are viewed as heroes whose faces are prominently displayed on public posters and where families of bombers are showered with both respect and financial reward.
- Topic:
- Security, Religion, and Terrorism
- Political Geography:
- Middle East, Palestine, and Arabia