Social Issues in Islamic Countries
Selected Research, Commentary and Congressional Testimony
Our Man in Kabul — Nov. 5, 2009
Now that Karzai has been declared the election's winner, the breach with Abdullah—the man most responsible for his original rise to power—could have very dangerous consequences. The last thing Karzai, NATO, and the United States can afford is the emergence of a renewed northern alliance, writes James Dobbins.
Commentary
International Affairs Research Area
Karzai's Second Term a Test for International Community — Nov. 2, 2009
Afghan President Hamid Karzai begins his second term with his country on the brink of chaos. To establish control, two major elements of reform are necessary, writes Terrence Kelly.
CommentaryInternational Affairs Research Area
Fighting Terror the Cold War Way — Oct. 14, 2009
With much talk about how to "win hearts and minds" in the Muslim world, it's surprising that few are looking back to a global contest of ideas that the U.S. and its allies categorically won: the Cold War, write Todd C. Helmus and Dalia Dassa Kaye.
CommentaryTerrorism and Homeland Security Research Area
Living Conditions in Anbar Province in June 2008 — Sep. 30, 2009
Effective counterinsurgency is dependent on understanding the local population. A survey of those living in Iraq's Anbar Province (once one of the country's most violent areas), reveals both the many improvements that have occurred, as well as the extent to which these Iraqis have suffered from the effects of war.
Full DocumentNational Security Research Area
Barriers to the Broad Dissemination of Creative Works in the Arab World — Sep. 22, 2009
Many analysts have examined the media that violent extremists use to communicate their core messages. Far less research, however, has been devoted to the growing body of creative works produced by Arab authors and artists that counter the intellectual and ideological underpinnings of violent extremism.
Full DocumentThe Arts Research Area
Iran's Real Winners: The Revolutionary Guards — Jun. 22, 2009
Despite the huge protests on the streets of Tehran, Iranian President Ahmadinejad has once again triumphed. A relative newcomer to Iranian politics, his re-election and subsequent crackdown on the demonstrators suggest that the Iranian political system is moving in a new and potentially dangerous direction, writes Alireza Nader.
CommentaryInternational Affairs Research Area
Lebanon Vote Tilts to the West — Jun. 10, 2009
The result of the June 7 parliamentary elections in Lebanon is a boon for the U.S., but it would be well-advised to play for the long term in Lebanon with a pragmatic policy that deals with the reality of Hezbollah's political power while continuing to strengthen moderate forces and national institutions, write Aram Nerguizian and Ghassan Schbley.
CommentaryInternational Affairs Research Area
Living with the Outcome: Elections in Lebanon — Jun. 5, 2009
Lebanon is scheduled to hold elections June 7, and the pro-Western political alliance favored by the United States may lose. If it does, the Obama Administration should not consider the result a triumph for Hezbollah, but a challenge, write Aram Nerguizian and Ghassan Schbley.
CommentaryInternational Affairs Research Area
The U.S. and India Need to Work Together to Prepare for an Increasingly Chaotic Pakistan — May 12, 2009
For every good reason, the Obama Administration is devoting enormous thought to Pakistan. In my judgment, the evolving situation in Pakistan is potentially the most dangerous international situation since the 1962 Cuban missile crisis, writes Robert D. Blackwill.
CommentaryInternational Affairs Research Area
South Asia's Taliban Problem: Multiple Threats From Multiple Groups — Apr. 14, 2009
For India, the development of a conducive environment on its western flank for groups like Lashkar-e-Taiba and Jaish-e-Muhammad has already resulted in sophisticated terrorist attacks on Indian soil. While there is good reason for India and its neighbors to be concerned, there is considerable misunderstanding of the threat, writes Seth Jones.
CommentaryNational Security Research Area
Power to the People: Rebooting Conventional Diplomacy — Feb. 27, 2009
The story of how President Obama engineered a grass-roots campaign, mobilizing formerly disengaged U.S. citizens with new media and new technologies, has reached almost mythological proportions. Less well known is the story of similar grass-roots efforts emerging in local communities around the world, write Cherl Benard and Edward O'Connell.
CommentaryInternational Affairs Research Area
Going the Distance — Feb. 15, 2009
Afghanistan has a reputation as a graveyard of empires, based as much on lore as on reality.... Yes, the situation is serious, but it's far from doomed. We can still turn things around if we strive for a better understanding of the Afghan insurgency and work to exploit its many weaknesses, writes Seth G. Jones.
CommentaryNational Security Research Area
Maritime Piracy: Reasons, Dangers and Solutions — Feb. 4, 2009
In testimony presented before the House Transportation and Infrastructure Committee, Subcommittee on Coast Guard and Maritime Transportation, Peter Chalk testifies on the scope and contributing factors driving the rash of recent pirate attacks and the principal dangers associated with this particular manifestation of transnational crime.
Full DocumentTransportation and Infrastructure Research Area
Defeating Hamas Will Not Defeat Iran — Jan. 14, 2009
In the absence of clarity of what Israel hopes to leave behind in Gaza, some observers speculate that the offensive against Hamas has a second target: Iran.... Although Hamas surely benefits from Iranian support, Iran's regional position has little to do with Hamas, writes Dalia Dassa Kaye.
CommentaryInternational Affairs Research Area
In Iraq, a Different Kind of Drama Stages a Message of Reconciliation — Dec. 18, 2008
While female suicide bombers in Iraq have been getting all the headlines, a very different cadre of women has emerged on the scene with the opposite goal of forging peace and paving over the sectarian differences. Above all, these activists want to take back the streets and neighborhoods of their country, write Edward O'Connell and Cheryl Benard.
CommentaryTerrorism and Homeland Security Research Area
Is Ahmadinejad in Trouble? — Dec. 17, 2008
Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad may lose the June 2009 presidential election. And a more pragmatic figure... may assume power. But no one, especially in the United States, should count on a dramatic change in Iran's policies, even if Ahmadinejad loses, writes Alireza Nader.
CommentaryInternational Affairs Research Area
History of Egyptian Grassroots Political Reform Movement Provides Insight Into Reform Efforts — Nov. 25, 2008
The Kefaya Movement, an indigenous effort for political reform organized in Egypt, provides policymakers with an example of the challenges grassroots organizations in the Arab world face as they try to implement democracy and political reform. In late 2004, Kefaya was able to mobilize wide segments of Egyptian society.
Full DocumentInternational Affairs Research Area
Piracy Needs Regional Answer — Nov. 25, 2008
The international community is at something of a loss as to how to respond to the increasingly audacious nature of piracy off the Horn of Africa.... What's needed is a less dramatic and more nuanced approach, one with a greater focus on the land-based violence in Somalia, home of the pirates, writes Peter Chalk.
CommentaryInternational Affairs Research Area
Talk to the Taliban? Not Now — Nov. 11, 2008
As new U.S. Central Command chief Gen. David Petraeus got a firsthand look at the worsening security situation in Afghanistan last week, he heard from some U.S., British and Afghan officials that the best way forward is to engage in peace talks with the Taliban. Such talks have already even tentatively begun. This is a bad idea.
CommentaryInternational Affairs Research Area
Probing Why Women Kill in Iraq — Aug. 7, 2008
A significant emphasis has been placed on female suicide bombers' tactical success, and efforts to determine why they kill focus on al-Qaida's recruitment of women. But little attention is paid to the personal motivation women have for killing themselves and dozens of innocents around them, writes Farhana Ali.
CommentaryTerrorism and Homeland Security Research Area
The Rise of Political Islam in Turkey: The Nation’s Role in Western Security Efforts — Jun. 23, 2008
While Muslim-majority Turkey may be the linchpin to promoting liberal Islam worldwide, relationships between the nation’s secular government and religious forces have shifted in the past decade, with implications for the future of Islam in the region and the world.
Full DocumentNational Security Research Area
Unbeknownst to U.S., Islamic Media Shapes the Mid-East — May 23, 2008
A DVD is now available of a conference RAND sponsored to build awareness of popular media initiatives in the Islamic world that are successfully combating extremist agendas.
Full DocumentScience and Technology Research Area
Good Morning, Syria! – Time to Revisit Our Axis of Evil List? — Apr. 22, 2008
The time may come to start contemplating whether Syria might follow the example of Libya and make its way off the axis of evil, write Cheryl Benard and Ed O'Connell.
CommentaryInternational Affairs Research Area
Danish Cartoons Doom Us All — Mar. 21, 2008
Like two years ago, last week's rage in Pakistan over reprints of cartoons and a forthcoming Dutch film that insult Islam's holy book once again entangles Muslims and the West in a fury over freedom of speech, writes Farhana Ali.
CommentaryInternational Affairs Research Area
Make Room for Refugees — Dec. 16, 2007
Today, tens of thousands of Iraqis are in grave danger, targeted because they have worked with the United States. Many have been murdered. Others have fled their homes because of attacks or threats… Many want to come to America, and we should welcome them, writes Olga Oliker.
CommentaryInternational Affairs Research Area
The Quest for Common Grounds in American and Iranian Public Opinion — Oct. 2, 2007
Although the emergent and ever-deepening conflict between Iran and the U.S. is often framed in the rhetoric of "clash of civilizations," a review of data from the World Values Survey found considerable common ground in the values
of the American and Iranian peoples.
Full DocumentInternational Affairs Research Area
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