The new Trump Administration must review its policies toward Pakistan in order to more effectively contain, and eventually eliminate, the terrorist threats that continue to emanate from the country. The activities and operations of diverse terror groups on and from Pakistani soil, and the government’s failure to rein them in, threaten vital U.S. national security […]

On Sunday [September 18th], four militants attacked an Indian army post in Uri near the Line of Control (LoC) that divides Pakistani and Indian Kashmir, killing 18 Indian soldiers and provoking a crisis between the two nuclear-armed states. The U.S. must pressure Pakistan to take concrete steps to rein in terrorist groups, such as the […]

Legacy of Obama’s Foreign Policy in the Middle East As the second innings of Barack Obama draws to a close, the American foreign policy is facing a critical test of legitimacy. The belief in US exceptionalism– American indispensability for ensuring stability of its trusted allies and its preponderance to prevent the outbreak of conflicts and […]

Despite significant post-9/11 reforms, the U.S. intelligence community (IC) is still not as effective as it could—and should—be. As soon as the 2004 Intelligence Reform and Terrorism Prevention Act passed, security experts warned that the act had not fully dealt with the challenges facing the IC. The critics pointed to lack of strategic analysis, politicization […]

As recent events in Nice and Ansbach demonstrate, Europe faces an ongoing threat from Islamist terrorism. The United States also remains a key target for ISIS, al-Qaeda, and their supporters. The U.S. and Europe have a shared enemy and must assist each other in the defense of liberal and democratic values. For its part, the […]

The China-India relationship is remarkably stable in many ways. Bilateral summits and new multilateral groupings often bring the two Asian giants together in common cause. Both sides clearly appreciate the value of peace as a way to expand their trade and investment ties and to enable a continued focus on economic development at home. Yet […]

The Orlando attack was the 86th instance of Islamist terror in the U.S. since 9/11. In the aftermath of such a horrific attack, America can learn vital lessons on how to stop the next attack. The U.S. must first commit to proactively combatting terrorism at home and abroad. Of the 22 plots or attacks since […]

Kurdish military fortunes improving Developments within the Kurdistan Regional Government (KRG) are every bit as complicated as those in Baghdad. In the military realm, the Peshmerga are enjoying a similar improvement to the Iraqis in their fortunes. Da’esh attacks are now regularly beaten back with heavy losses and the Kurds are very comfortable holding their […]

The military campaign is gathering steam The U.S.-led coalition’s military campaign to “defeat” Da’esh (the Arabic acronym for ISIS) appears to be going better than is widely realized. The media has begun to pick up on this, but so far, the accounts do not seem to do it justice. The coalition has trained (or retrained) […]

The House of Saud cannot simply continue with business as usual. The Middle East today is once more on the edge of implosion. The humanitarian catastrophe in Syria continues unabated, the Islamic State is on the march, and Russia remains the only great power with a serious presence in the region. Another state that is […]

Persistent political paralysis As has too often been the case in Iraq, progress in the military sphere is not being matched by equivalent (or even commensurate) political progress. I continue to see Prime Minister Haider al-Abadi as a decent, intelligent man who wants to take Iraq in what I consider to be the right direction: […]