Analysis

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Al Shabaab Area of Operations: October 2018

James Barnett October 05, 2018 ANALYSIS

The U.S. military intensified direct action operations against al Shabaab, which has disrupted the group’s offensive campaigns but has no...

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ISIS Affiliate Expands in the Sahel

Emily Estelle October 05, 2018 ANALYSIS

The expansion of an Islamic State of Iraq and al Sham (ISIS) affiliate in the Sahel demonstrates that current U.S. and European counterte...

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The U.S. Can Defuse Iraq’s Crisis

Frederick W. Kagan Kimberly Kagan September 13, 2018 ANALYSIS

The U.S. and Gulf partners can help prevent a civil war among the Shi'a by providing water, energy, and medical assistance.

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Testimony: Ethiopia’s Strategic Importance: US National Security Interests at Risk in the Horn of Africa

Emily Estelle September 12, 2018 ANALYSIS

The potential for Ethiopia to destabilize persists. It faces a rapid political transition and ethnic conflict across multiple regions, bo...

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Understanding ISIS and al Qaeda

Mary Habeck September 10, 2018 ANALYSIS

This briefer provides the fundamentals on Salafi-jihadi groups both organizationally and as fighting groups.

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Iran’s hardliners are going after the entire Rouhani Administration

Mike Saidi August 28, 2018 ANALYSIS

Hardliner success in crushing President Rouhani may shave years off the regime’s lifespan

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Can We Pursue a Victory Strategy Against Iran?

Frederick W. Kagan August 15, 2018 ANALYSIS

Lessons from the collapse of the Soviet Union are useful not only to show us how to proceed, but also how not to

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Warning Update: Threats to Mali’s Elections Reveal Weakness of U.S. Security Policy in West Africa

Emily Estelle July 27, 2018 ANALYSIS

The U.S. has core security interests at stake in the Sahel, many of which have roots in Mali

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America Ignores Africa to Its Peril

Emily Estelle July 24, 2018 ANALYSIS

Washington needs to counter the spread of terrorists and rival powers before it's too late.

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Iran's Hardliners Will Be the First Winners of the Protest Movement

Nicholas Carl July 02, 2018 ANALYSIS

The Iranian regime is going nowhere fast.

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Iranian Protests Turn Deadly Again

Mike Saidi June 30, 2018 ANALYSIS

Khorramshahr is experiencing the deadliest protests Iran has seen since the 2017 December demonstrations.

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Warning Update: Oil Battle Returns Libya to the Brink

Emily Estelle June 18, 2018 ANALYSIS

A strategy reliant on elite agreements and elections will not succeed in an environment in which armed groups can seize power at will.

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The Assault on al Hudaydah: Surfacing America’s Partnership Problems

Katherine Zimmerman June 13, 2018 ANALYSIS

The United States needs it partners much more now than they need the U.S.

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Ahem: Iran still has troops in Syria on Israel’s northern border

Mike Saidi June 07, 2018 ANALYSIS

The Iranian regime wants to have their troops near the Israeli border – and are comfortable lying about it.

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2018 Red Sea Coast Offensive

Katherine Zimmerman Maher Farrukh June 05, 2018 ANALYSIS

A UAE-backed Yemeni offensive secured the main road to al Hudaydah but it's unclear whether or when an assault on al Hudaydah city and po...

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The Never-Ending War on Terror

Katherine Zimmerman May 11, 2018 ANALYSIS

Why the U.S. Keeps Fighting the Wrong Battle

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Al Shabaab’s Vehicle-Borne IED Campaign: January 2017–March 2018

Matthew Cassidy April 13, 2018 ANALYSIS

Al Shabaab’s vehicle-borne improvised explosive attacks serve as a metric to evaluate the group’s ability to disrupt the Somali National ...

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Libya Update: Exit the General?

Emily Estelle April 11, 2018 ANALYSIS

The incapacitation or death of Libyan warlord Khalifa Haftar could change the balance of power in the country.

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Let's get real: It's time to move on from the Putin-dominated UN

Frederick W. Kagan March 16, 2018 ANALYSIS

The United Nations has once again lost its power to act.

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The United States must take swift action to stop Russia’s aggression

Catherine Harris Frederick W. Kagan March 07, 2018 ANALYSIS

Vladimir Putin is distracting Western leaders from the real threat Russia poses through ostentatious displays of nuclear and conventional...