Keeping US Troops in Iraq Wouldn’t Have Stopped the Rise of ISIS

by Jim Lobe Just a quick note to cite and link to an important analysis on the three-year-old debate, first raised by Charles Krauthammer, over “Who Lost Iraq.” The article, entitled “Behind the U.S. Withdrawal from Iraq,” was published this… Continue Reading

The Collapse of Order in the Middle East

by Chas Freeman* Will Rogers once observed that “when you get into trouble 5,000 miles from home, you’ve got to have been looking for it.”  It’s a good deal more than 5.000 miles to Baghdad or Damascus from here.  And,… Continue Reading

Bookends of America’s Broken Regional Policy

by James A. Russell It’s hard not to cringe watching the United States careen around the Middle East these days, dispensing bombs, money and political fealty in various doses depending on the crisis of the day to a series of… Continue Reading

US Policy Towards Iran Played Big Role in Rise of Sunni Extremism

by Shireen T. Hunter Throughout the recent handwringing about how the US and other Western countries failed to foresee the emergence of ISIS, one factor has been totally ignored, either intentionally or inadvertently: the impact of Washington’s hostility towards Iran,… Continue Reading

Fighting for Democracy While Supporting Autocracy

ISIS and Bahrain’s F-16 by Matar E. Matar For the second time in recent history, the United States is trading away support for democracy and fundamental human rights protections in Bahrain as part of an effort to establish democracy and… Continue Reading