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President Obama’s self-imposed deadline for closing the U.S. military detention facility in Guantanamo Bay has passed. It may take years to fully close the facility because the real problem is not only Guantanamo, but the entire U.S. detention policy.
The Obama administration’s goal of closing the military detention facility at Guantanamo Bay was encouraging, but unrealistic; the larger issue that must first be addressed is the entire U.S. detainee policy and the need for disengagement programs that mitigate the chance of former detainees engaging in violent activities.
The steady rise of sectarian tensions over the past few years in Egypt is the result of an indecisive state, an incendiary media, and a failure of civil institutions to stand up for the equal rights of all Egyptians.
King Abdullah's November 2009 dissolution of the parliament was welcomed by the opposition, particularly Islamists, because it affords an opportunity to address the country's electoral law and representation of citizens of Palestinian origin.
Yemen’s stability is threatened by multiple security and economic challenges, ranging from a rapidly growing population to imminent economic collapse, and immediate and sustained international attention is needed to prevent Yemen from becoming a failed state.
Assertions that "Yemen is tomorrow's war" are unhelpful; while Yemen will not replace South Asia as the central front in the war on terror, it is nevertheless a critical state of concern that will require long-term attention to target the sources of its instability.
Civil war, terrorism, a deepening secessionist movement, and economic and demographic trends threaten to overpower the Yemeni government, destabilize the region, and provide a breeding ground for terrorists who will mount operations across the Arabian Peninsula and internationally.
The rise of al-Qaeda in the Arabian Peninsula inside of Yemen comes at a time when the central government is threatened by a failing economy, a water shortage, a growing population, high unemployment, and civil war.
Yemen’s stability and security situation is rapidly deteriorating, threatening the entire region, and without the help of Yemen’s neighbors and international partners, the situation will only continue to worsen, with potentially catastrophic results.
Given the prominent role of the internet in propagating and perpetuating violent Islamist ideology, identifying methods to short-circuit internet radicalization has become an urgent goal for numerous countries, including Saudi Arabia.