Can ISIS be Stopped?

by Mark N. Katz The radical jihadist group, the Islamic State of Iraq and Syria (ISIL or ISIS), has seized much of Iraq’s Sunni Arab heartland and reached the outskirts of Baghdad. The armed forces of Iraq’s US-backed, Shia majority… Continue Reading

The Fall of Mosul

Marches of Folly by James Russell Painful as it is to watch black clad Sunni extremists marauding their way through Mosul — a city that Americans died defending — we should all be required to take a dose of the… Continue Reading

Maliki’s Folly: Empowering Iraqi Extremists

by Wayne White The Islamic State in Iraq and the Levant (ISIL or ISIS) has stunned Baghdad by overrunning most of Iraq’s second largest city in the north, Mosul. Yet, the Sunni Arab extremist group — in its zeal for a quick victory —… Continue Reading

The Irreplaceable Spy

by Augustus Richard Norton Until 1:04 PM on April 18, 1983, Robert Clayton Ames was little known outside U.S. foreign policy and intelligence circles. On that day he died, along with 62 other casualties in and around the U.S. Embassy in… Continue Reading

Rise of Terror Groups Demands Hard Look at US Policy

by Derek Davison The resurgence of “Salafi-jihadist” terrorist groups is once again at the forefront of national security thinking in Washington. A report released this week by the RAND Corporation, “A Persistent Threat: The Evolution of al Qa’ida and Other… Continue Reading