Experts from the U.S. Institute of Peace provide the latest analysis and perspective on the world’s critical hot spots, U.S. and global security and issues involved in violent conflict, based on the Institute’s work on the ground and with key individuals, governments and organizations. They give interviews and background briefings to journalists and write for news outlets around the world.
The Pentagon refused to confirm the accuracy of media reports that the United States military is intensifying its presence in northern Syria’s Manbij region, only indicating that the U.S. is engaged in talks with Turkey to de-escalate the tensions in the area in a statement to Breitbart News Wednesday.
The Iraqi security troops rekindled their relationship with the Kurdish Peshmerga forces this week as Iraq faces an Islamic State (ISIS/ISIL) resurgence.
President Trump has instructed military leaders to withdraw U.S. troops from Syria as soon as possible and told them he wants Arab allies to take over and pay for stabilizing and reconstructing areas liberated from the Islamic State, according to senior U.S. officials.
The US Institute of Peace (USIP) hosted a day-long conference on the future of Iraq and Syria after the defeat of the Islamic State (IS). The picture that emerged at Tuesday’s conference was somewhat mixed, with US officials providing a more upbeat perspective than most other panelists.
President Donald Trump said Tuesday he wanted the U.S. military to “bring our troops back home” from Syria, taking a position at odds with many top advisers who worry that leaving the country too soon would cede ground to Iran, Russia, their proxies and other extremist groups.
Top Pentagon and State Department officials on Tuesday said the U.S. won't be leaving Syria anytime soon, even as President Trump indicated the same day that he wants to pull U.S. troops from the war-torn country.
The top commander of U.S. forces in Syria made the case Tuesday for American troops to remain in the country at the same time President Donald Trump doubled down on his argument for pulling them out.
President Trump said Tuesday that the end is in sight for the U.S. military mission in Syria, yet military leaders have said the U.S. should remain until the Islamic State is wiped out. American reinforcements have arrived in Manbij in recent days, a sign that they will remain a counterweight in the conflict. John Yang talks to former USAID official Mona Yacoubian and Amberin Zaman of Al Monitor.