Weekend Reading: 27 June
Happy Friday, WOTR readers! Although yesterday might have felt like Friday for anyone who happened to walk into a bar while a certain sporting event was going on, today is, in fact, the actual end of...
View ArticleA Long-Term Strategy for a Democratic Iraq
If U.S. policymakers desire a whole, stable, and democratic Iraqi state, then the United States requires a strategy that fosters this objective. Yet public debate over what to do in Iraq is mired in...
View Article5 Questions on Foreign Policy and Drinking Matchups with Richard Fontaine
This is the latest edition of our Five Questions series. Each week, we feature an expert, practitioner, or leader answering five questions on a topic of current relevance in the world of defense,...
View ArticleInside the Collapse of the Iraqi Army’s 2nd Division
Recent advances by the Islamic State in Iraq and the Levant (ISIL) (which recently renamed itself the Islamic State) in Mosul and Tikrit captured the attention of many analysts, many of whom were...
View ArticleInfographic: Visualizing ISIS Violence in Iraq and Syria
Editor’s note: We’ve partnered with the National Consortium for the Study of Terrorism and Responses to Terrorism (START) to publish a series of infographics based on data from their Global Terrorism...
View ArticleOttoman Nostalgia: A Proactive Turkey in the Middle East?
Istanbul, Turkey – Nostalgia for the Ottoman Empire has been on the rise as of late. The Ottoman Sultan’s seal can be found on T-shirts, advertisements, and jewelry everywhere in its old imperial...
View Article4,116 Days (Or Thereabouts)
Editor’s note: With Iraq in the news once more, bringing back memories for many of those who served there, we asked veterans of OIF to get in touch to share their stories and tell us what they remember...
View ArticleTo Be [Engaged], or Not To Be [Engaged]? That is the [$100,000] Question
The Middle East is once again on fire. Once again, Iraq hangs in the balance. The conflict in Syria, which has been metastasizing for years, has now spilled over into the broader region and is...
View ArticleFrom Magdeburg to Mosul: Iraq, Syria, and the 30 Years War
Mark Twain’s supposed quip that “history doesn’t repeat itself, but it does rhyme” has been in the back of my mind as I followed the recent events in Iraq. The fall of Mosul, Tikrit and Tal Afar,...
View ArticleRealigning Your Mental Map: Sadr City, 2008
Editor’s note: Charlie Mike is our blog on military and veterans issues. From basic training to the VA, this is the place to share stories and engage on topics important to the men and women that have...
View Article6 Strategies for Syria and Iraq
In June, the Islamic State of Iraq and Syria (ISIS) launched a conventional offensive that caught the international community by surprise, temporarily conquering large amounts of territory, capturing...
View Article5 Questions with Thomas Hegghammer on Jihad and Jihadi Cocktails
This is the latest edition of our Five Questions series. Each week, we feature an expert, practitioner, or leader answering five questions on a topic of current relevance in the world of defense,...
View ArticleISIL’s Bold Caliphate Roll-Out: Objectives and Risks
Only three weeks after it surprised the world with its lightning advance across north and central Iraq, the Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant (ISIL) delivered an even more audacious surprise when,...
View ArticleThe New Caliph: Just Another Broadway Joe
“I’ll see you in New York” was the parting comment of Abu Bakr al-Baghdadi, the emir of the newly announced Islamic State (IS), to his American hosts at Camp Bucca in 2009. He was a nobody then, but...
View ArticleThe Railway Man: The Long Shadow of Past Grievances
War films generally cover both war and history and can on occasion be very informative (think Letters from Iwo Jima) on both; however, what war films rarely do — and even rarer still do well — is...
View ArticleThe Islamic State Isn’t: A Legal Examination
On June 10, the Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant (ISIL) overran Mosul, Iraq’s third largest city. A string of smaller cities, including Tikrit, and Iraq’s largest oil refinery fell to ISIL in the...
View ArticleYou Can’t Stop Shrapnel with Canvas
Editor’s note: Charlie Mike is our blog on military and veterans issues. From basic training to the VA, this is the place to share stories and engage on topics important to the men and women that have...
View ArticleDefeating the Islamic State: Crafting a Regional Approach
The Islamic State in Iraq and the Levant (ISIL), now calling itself the “Islamic State,” has burst onto the world scene in an impressive way in the past month, with its Blitzkrieg-like seizure of...
View ArticleAfghanistan is not the next Iraq
Could Afghanistan be the next Iraq? Within foreign policy circles, it’s become one of the most frequently posed questions of the summer. And according to many, the answer is a resounding “Yes.” “A...
View ArticleDon’t Believe Everything You Read in the Papers: General Amos Edition
Many of us have experienced occasions where we’ve read about an event in which we were a participant — either as a direct actor or merely an observer — and found ourselves perplexed by the written...
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