RESEARCH AND COMMENTARY
Daniel Benjamin, October 22, 2008, Slate
Daniel Benjamin analyzes the trend for jihadists to act in the run-up to or months following an election. Benjamin argues that organizations like al-Qaeda want to leave their fingerprints on big historical events, because they want to be seen as a central player in determining the outcome. Read More
RESEARCH AND COMMENTARY
Bruce Riedel, November 30, 2008, The Brookings Institution
The attacks on multiple targets in downtown Mumbai in late November is only the latest in a long series of horrific terrorist operations in India. Brookings senior fellow Bruce Riedel examines the complex phenomenon of terrorism in India and its connections to the global jihad. Read More
RESEARCH AND COMMENTARY
Vanda Felbab-Brown, November 30, 2008, The Brookings Institution
Brookings fellow Vanda Felbab-Brown writes that the bloody terrorist attacks in Mumbai have serious repercussions for NATO efforts to stabilize Afghanistan and defeat the Taliban insurgency. Among other recommendations, Felbab-Brown believes the U.S. and NATO must discourage Afghanistan's political leaders from exploiting regional tensions. Read More
RESEARCH AND COMMENTARY
Stephen P. Cohen, November 27, 2008, The NewsHour with Jim Lehrer
Stephen Cohen joined PBS's NewsHour to discuss the terrorist attacks on Mumbai. Cohen offered clues into who may be behind the attacks, what the reaction from the Indian government could be, and he noted possible effects for the broader region. Read More
RESEARCH AND COMMENTARY
Benjamin Wittes, November 21, 2008, The Washington Post
President-elect Obama has reiterated his campaign promise to close Guantanamo Bay. As Benjamin Wittes writes, the incoming administration must create a systematic and rigorous review of the detainee population, whose handling will require wrenching choices with no easy answers. Read More
RESEARCH AND COMMENTARY
Bilal Y. Saab, November 2008, CTC Sentinel
Bilal Saab examines the Salafi-jihadi movement in Lebanon which he believes has no operational ties to the tribal areas of Pakistan-Afghanistan. He writes that the movement in Lebanon is neither fictional nor a creation of Syrian intelligence services, and instead has a Lebanese constituency not entirely made up of Palestinians. Read More
VIDEO
Stephen Hess and Benjamin Wittes, November 20, 2008
On the Transition Tracker, Brookings expert Benjamin Wittes answers questions about how President-elect Obama can put a legal framework in place to end the clash over detainee rights, while Senior Fellow Stephen Hess discusses the process of selecting the cabinet.
PAST EVENT
Thursday, November 20, 2008
9:00 AM to 11:00 AM
Washington, DC
To face the daunting problems of the global financial crisis to the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan and transnational threats such as nuclear proliferation, terrorism and global climate change, the new Obama administration will need to forge global partnerships and usher in a new era of international cooperation. On November 20, the Managing Global Insecurity (MGI) Project released "A Plan for Action,” a comprehensive set of foreign policy recommendations for the next U.S. president—and other world leaders—to address the most critical challenges facing the world today. Read More
PAST EVENT
Wednesday, November 19, 2008
12:30 PM to 1:30 PM
The incoming administration has indicated that one of its first priorities will be to close Guantanamo Bay. The Scouting Report continued its weekly web chat with Brookings expert Benjamin Wittes, who answered questions about how President Obama can put a legal framework in place to end the clash over detainee rights. Politico's David Mark moderated.
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RESEARCH AND COMMENTARY
Michael E. O'Hanlon, November 14, 2008, The Wall Street Journal
The war in Afghanistan is not going well, but that does not mean the U.S. should give up. Michael O'Hanlon argues it is imperative that the U.S. help the Afghanistan government recruit, vet, train, and equip 300,000 to 400,000 new Afghan troops. Read More
RESEARCH AND COMMENTARY
Managing Global Insecurity, November 2008, The Brookings Institution
American and global leaders face a choice: they can either use this moment to help shape an international, rule-based order that will protect their global interests, or resign themselves to an ad hoc international system where they are increasingly powerless to shape the course of international affairs. The longer the delay in new approaches and new cooperation against today’s threats, the more difficult the challenges will become. Global leaders must chart a shared path forward that marries power and responsibility to achieve together what cannot be achieved apart: peace and security in a transnational world. Read More
RESEARCH AND COMMENTARY
Bruce Riedel, November 2008, Current History
In the global struggle against terrorism, Pakistan poses paradoxes and enigmas. Bruce Riedel believes understanding these issues—and developing a strategy to deal with them—may constitute the single most important foreign policy challenge facing the United States. Read More
RESEARCH AND COMMENTARY
Daniel L. Byman, November 05, 2008, Slate
Terrorism analysts repeatedly warned that al-Qaeda might strike in the days leading up to the election, but November 4th came and went without incident. Daniel Byman explains why the U.S. did not witness any acts of terrorism in the run-up to this years election. Read More
RESEARCH AND COMMENTARY
Strobe Talbott, November 02, 2008, Financial Times
Climate change, nuclear proliferation, global trade and poverty, pandemics and terrorism will top the next president's agenda. The biggest job for the new U.S. administration, says Strobe Talbott, is to find better methods of governing an interdependent world. That is the only way to ensure the upside of globalization prevails over the downside. Read More
RESEARCH AND COMMENTARY
Vanda Felbab-Brown, October 28, 2008, The Brookings Institution
Violence in Afghanistan has increased dramatically and now paralyzes much of the country. Vanda Felbab-Brown explores the current options for dealing with the growing crisis and makes recommendations for creating sustainable security. Read More