In The News

Obama Waits for Lawful Way to Fight Islamic State Terrorists

Harold Hongju Koh September 4, 2014
International observers and critics in the United States repeatedly ask why President Barack Obama does not simply bomb areas controlled by the Islamic State terrorist group inside Iraq and Syria. “Part of the challenge lies in the maze of domestic and international law that must be navigated,” suggests Harold Hongju Koh, Yale professor of law and former legal adviser to the US State Department....

Brutal Efficiency: The Secret to Islamic State's Success

Siobhan Gorman, Nour Malas and Matt Bradley September 4, 2014
The Islamic State group of terrorists, also known as IS or ISIS, is controlling swaths of territory throughout Syria and Iraq, community by community, with coercion, brutal tactics and US-made weapons captured from the Iraqi army. Strategies that include kidnappings with big ransoms and takeover of oil fields as well as extreme support for Islam win over young men from around the globe seeking...

Confronting Islamic State Group: Coalition of Rivals?

Shashank Joshi September 2, 2014
The self-proclaimed Islamic State terrorist group moved swiftly through Syria and Iraq, committing war crimes in two countries ravaged by civil war and sectarian divide. The group’s evolving name and online maps make no secret of the group’s ambitions for restoring a caliphate. ISIS closes in on and threatens borders with Lebanon, Turkey, Saudi Arabia, Jordan and Iran. A broad coalition of...

Israel Faces International Criticism for Land Grab Revenge

Inna Lazareva September 2, 2014
Soon after the rockets and bombs stopped falling with the long-term ceasefire between Israel and Palestine, Israel dropped a bombshell of an announcement. The international community quickly condemned Israel’s plan to designate more Palestinian-claimed territory near Bethlehem in the occupied West Bank as “state land,” paving the way for more Israeli settlements: “More than 300,000 Israelis live...

Turkey Struggles as “Lone Gatekeeper” Against Islamic State Recruitment

Nick Tattersall and Mariam Karouny August 27, 2014
Thousands of foreign fighters from Turkey, Europe and the United States have crossed the Turkish border with Syria, eager to join the brutal Islamic State group. Early in the Syrian uprising, Turkey maintained an open border to allow safe passage for refugees and support for moderate Syrian rebels. “That policy now appears to have been a miscalculation and has drawn accusations, strongly denied...

Arab Nations Strike in Libya, Surprising US

David D. Kirkpatrick and Eric Schmittaug August 26, 2014
Without asking or waiting for US approval, Egypt and the United Arab Emirates targeted airstrikes against Islamist militias in Libya, reports the New York Times. During the 2011 Arab Spring protests, powerful autocrats, tending to regard any political opposition to their rule as extreme, had warned that extremists could hijack the democracy movements. Elections in Libya have since led to bitter...

Pointless Punishment

Ely Ratner and Elizabeth Rosenberg August 23, 2014
The United States and the European Union have stepped up sanctions on Russia for its intervention in Ukraine – and have urged Asian nations like China and Japan to do likewise. Yet the conflict continues. Asia and Europe have more to lose from sanctioning Russia than does the United States. “The majority of the Asia-Pacific governments – including U.S. allies Australia and South Korea – have...