home > by publication type > audio > Foreign Affairs Live: A Discussion of Iraqi Futures (Audio)
Email
| Speakers: | Steven Simon, Hasib J. Sabbagh Senior Fellow for Middle Eastern Studies, Council on Foreign Relations |
|---|---|
| Stephen Biddle, Senior Fellow for Defense Policy, Council on Foreign Relations | |
| Presider: | James F. Hoge Jr., Peter G. Peterson Chair and Editor, Foreign Affairs |
September 8, 2008
General Meeting: Foreign Affairs Live: A Discussion on Iraqi Futures
With violence down and U.S. troop deaths at their lowest point since the Iraq war began, military analysts are in near-agreement that Iraq is more secure today than it has been in years. But policy experts are deeply divided on how lasting this stability is, and how to ensure it continues. Stephen Biddle, CFR Senior Fellow for Defense Policy, writes in a September/October 2008 Foreign Affairs essay that a string of positive developments—from political changes to improved Iraqi army capabilities—"offers hope that the desire of so many Americans to bring the troops home can be fulfilled without leaving Iraq in chaos." Steven Simon, CFR's Hasib J. Sabbagh Senior Fellow for Middle Eastern Studies, counters that Biddle's view is overly optimistic. Simon reiterated the arguments from his May/June 2008 Foreign Affairs essay, in which he warned that the U.S. strategy of building up Sunni tribes to secure Iraq has come by "stoking the three forces that have traditionally threatened the stability of Middle Eastern states: tribalism, warlordism, and sectarianism." And he told the meeting's attendees that "instead of bringing the Sunni tribes into the state and co-opting the sheiks, in fact the United States …empowered the sheiks, and they created a huge army—an army of 100,000 fairly well-armed people who are not happy with the current political dispensation in Iraq."
To access this file, you will need Windows Media Player, Real Player, or QuickTime Player. You can download the player for free.
I understand that I may access this audio and/or video file solely for my personal use. Any other use of the file and its content, including display, distribution, reproduction, or alteration in any form for any purpose, whether commercial, noncommercial, educational, or promotional, is expressly prohibited without the written permission of the copyright owner, the Council on Foreign Relations. For more information, write outreach@cfr.org.
To order Task Force reports, Council Special Reports, and Critical Policy Choices, please call, fax, or order online from our distributor, the Brookings Institution Press: phone +1.800.537.5487, fax +1.410.516.6998.
For information on other reports that are not for sale, or for general publications information, please call +1.212.434.9516 or email publications@cfr.org.
Start-Up Nation addresses the trillion-dollar question: How is it that Israel—a country of 7.1 million, only sixty years old, surrounded by enemies— produces more start-up companies than large, peaceful, and stable nations like Japan, China, India, Korea, Canada, and the UK? With the insights of geopolitical experts and investors, the authors examine this nation’s adversity-driven culture to answer this question and offer prescriptions for a global economy on the rebound.
In Forces of Fortune, Vali Nasr presents a paradigm-changing revelation that will transform the understanding of the Muslim world at large. He reveals that there is a vital but unseen rising force in the Islamic world—a new business-minded middle class—that is building a vibrant new Muslim world economy and that holds the key to winning the cold war against Iran and extremists.
In Cuba: What Everyone Needs to Know, Julia E. Sweig presents a remarkably accessible portrait of Cuba's unique place on the world stage over the past fifty years, including its internal politics, its often fraught relationship with the United States, and its shifting relationship with the global community.
Complete list of CFR Books
The report of this bipartisan Task Force of distinguished leaders and experts represents a strong consensus on the importance of repairing America's immigration policy. It makes the case that maintaining America's political and economic leadership depends on attracting talented and hard-working immigrants, and on securing the country's borders in a smart, effective, and humane way.
This report finds that nuclear weapons will remain a fundamental element of U.S. national security in the near term, and makes recommendations on how to ensure the safety, security, and reliability of the U.S. deterrent nuclear force, prevent nuclear terrorism, and strengthen the nuclear nonproliferation regime.
About Independent Task Forces at CFR
Complete list of Task Force reports
Identifying international threats and acting on them may be the most difficult job for U.S. policymakers. This report
provides an actionable road map for managing international threats before they erupt into crises and makes a strong case that preventive action is not a luxury but a necessity.
For more than a decade, the United States has mostly watched from the sidelines as Asian countries organize themselves into an alphabet soup of new multilateral groups. In this report, the authors review the relationship between pan-Asian and trans-Pacific institutions and suggest policy guidelines for a new U.S. approach to this new Asian landscape.
Complete list of Council Special Reports
Copyright 2009 by the Council on Foreign Relations. All Rights Reserved.