International Crisis Group

What Obama Doesn’t Understand About Syria | Noah Bonsey

The U.S. policy to defeat the Islamic State is doomed to failure. Here’s how to fix it.

The current U.S. strategy to destroy the Islamic State is likely doomed to fail. In fact, it risks doing just the opposite of its intended goal: strengthening the jihadis’ appeal in Syria, Iraq, and far beyond, while leaving the door open for the Islamic State to expand into new areas.

This is in large part because the United States so far has addressed the problem of the Islamic State in isolation from other aspects of the trans-border conflict in Syria and Iraq. Unless Barack Obama’s administration takes a broader view, it will be unable to respond effectively to the deteriorating situation on the ground.

The good news is that the White House can still change course – and indeed, President Obama has reportedly requested a review of his administration’s strategy in Syria. In crafting a new way forward, the White House needs to understand three points about the Islamic State and the military landscape in which it operates.

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Photo: Official White House Photo/Pete Souza

The Diplomat | The Week in Asia

Chen Guancheng’s quest to leave China, China bears, a Pakistani missile test and the country’s improving ties with India feature in this week’s news roundup.

Best of the Research

The International Crisis Group takes a close look at improving relations between India and Pakistan.  Stronger economic links have bolstered moderate voices in both countries, allowing the governments to move past previously intractable issues such as Kashmir to broaden engagement in other areas. The report makes a number of recommendations for both governments on continuing to pursue this, but cautions that there are many impediments to peaceful engagement, including the possibility of another Pakistan originating terrorist attack in India.

“Within India, with suspicions of Pakistani intentions still high, Prime Minister Manmohan Singh has limited political support for talks that do not prioritise the terrorist threat. Another Mumbai-style attack by a Pakistan-based jihadi group would make such a dialogue untenable. It could also provoke a military confrontation between the two nuclear-armed neighbours,” the authors say.