Recent Publications

Iraq, Women’s Empowerment and Public Policy
December 1, 2006 — Author: Dr Sherifa D Zuhur The role and experience of women is not always considered in wartime or during stabilization and reconstruction operations. In Iraq, it is essential to consider women’s needs and the obstacles they now face. The author examines some of the difficulties that attend policy formulation on Iraqi women, who have identified the... MORE

Regional Fears of Western Primacy and the Future of U.S. Middle Eastern Basing Policy
December 1, 2006 — Author: Dr W Andrew Terrill The United States has a core national interest in maintaining peace and stability in the Middle East as well as containing or eliminating threats emanating from that region. Yet, there is often disagreement on the ways to best achieve these goals. The author seeks to present his analysis of how the United States and... MORE

Russia, Iran, and the Nuclear Question: The Putin Record
November 1, 2006 — Author: Dr Robert O Freedman The author analyzes the Russo-Iranian relationship through the spring of 2006. This issue is vitally important in U.S. foreign policy, not just as it relates to Iran and the overall issue of nonproliferation, especially in the Middle East, but also as U.S. foreign policy pertains to relations with Moscow. Thus this... MORE

Iran, Iraq, and the United States: The New Triangle’s Impact on Sectarianism and the Nuclear Threat
November 1, 2006 — Author: Dr Sherifa D Zuhur This monograph considers the issues of Iranian influence in Iraq, and its impact on continuing sectarian violence there. It also questions the claims that a Shi'a crescent of power is solidifying by examining the distinct features of Iraqi versus Iranian Shi'ism and political Islam. Iran and Iraq havehistorically... MORE

Addicted to Oil: Strategic Implications of American Oil Policy
May 1, 2006 — Author: CMDR Thomas D Kraemer In his 2006 State of the Union address, President George W. Bush proclaimed that "America is addicted to oil, which is often imported from unstable parts of the world." He announced it was time for the United States to "move beyond a petroleum-based economy and make our dependence on Middle Eastern oil a thing of the... MORE

Is there a Positive Side to Al Jazeera?
February 1, 2006 — Author: Dr W Andrew Terrill Each month a member of the SSI faculty writes an editorial for our monthly newsletter. This is the Op-Ed for the February 2006 newsletter.Read Now MORE

Revisions in Need of Revising: What Went Wrong in the Iraq War
December 1, 2005 — Authors: Dr David C Hendrickson, Dr Robert W Tucker Though critics have made a number of telling points against the Bush administration's conduct of the Iraq war, the most serious problems facing Iraq and its American occupiers—criminal anarchy and lawlessness, a raging insurgency and a society divided into rival and antagonistic groups—were... MORE

Getting Ready for a Nuclear-Ready Iran
November 1, 2005 — Authors: Mr Patrick Clawson, Mr Henry D Sokolski As Iran edges closer to acquiring a nuclear bomb and its missiles extend an ever darker diplomatic shadow over the Middle East and Europe, Iran is likely to pose three threats. First, Iran could dramatically up the price of oil by interfering with the free passage of vessels in and through the... MORE

The Danger of Seeking Permanent U.S. Military Bases in Iraq
November 1, 2005 — Author: Dr W Andrew Terrill Each month a member of the SSI faculty writes an editorial for our monthly newsletter. This is the Op-Ed for the November 2005 newsletter.Read Now MORE

Precedents, Variables, and Options in Planning a U.S. Military Disengagement Strategy from Iraq
October 1, 2005 — Authors: Dr Conrad C Crane, Dr W Andrew Terrill The questions of how to empower the Iraqis most effectively and then progressively withdraw non-Iraqi forces from that country is one of the most important policy problems currently facing the United States. The authors seek to present the U.S. situation in Iraq in all of its complexity and ambiguity,... MORE

Saudi Arabia: Islamic Threat, Political Reform, and the Global War on Terror
March 1, 2005 — Author: Dr Sherifa D Zuhur This monograph examines the convergence of the war on terror on Saudi soil, calls for and modest programs of political reform, and heightened post-9/11 tensions with the United States. Saudi Arabia has been condemned for its Wahhabist version of Islam, and linked to the growth of salafist extremism operating locally,... MORE

Strategic Implications of Intercommunal Warfare in Iraq
February 1, 2005 — Author: Dr W Andrew Terrill In the post-Saddam era, differences among Iraqi ethnic and religious groups will either emerge as a barrier to political cooperation and national unity, or they will instead be mitigated as part of the struggle to define a new and more inclusive system of government. Should Iraqi ethnic and sectarian differences become... MORE