Carnegie Endowment for International Peace
- Follow Carnegie
- Search
- Global Resources
Global Centers
Languages
More than one-third of the remaining 255 detainees at the U.S. detention facility in Guantanamo Bay are Yemenis, representing the single largest national contingent.
If President-elect Obama closes Guantanamo, as he pledged to on the campaign trail, the administration will have to figure out what to do with the remaining detainees. One option is a rehabilitation program modeled on a successful Saudi initiative that includes intensive counseling sessions, help finding employment, and, crucially, religious dialogue with imams.
The recent attacks on the U.S. embassy in Sana’a illustrates Yemen’s continuing struggle to fight terrorism. Less recognized are the government’s efforts to develop a “soft” strategy for combating extremist ideology.
Stability in Afghanistan and the future of its government depend on the United States and its Afghan and other allies providing security for the Afghan people. Calls for an Iraq-style “troop surge” ignore the immediate need for a comprehensive political strategy to fix Afghanistan’s fragile security structure, dysfunctional system of government, and unstable borders.
Senior Saudi officials have announced recently that they will soon begin trying terrorism suspects held in connection with a series of major attacks that began in 2003. The use of the court system to battle extremism was not possible while the government perceived al-Qaeda as an existential threat; clearly it has now been downgraded to an internal security threat.
Iran continues to be a critical national security challenge for the United States, despite decades of effort to change Tehran’s behavior by isolating the country politically and economically. The relevant question is not whether to talk to Iran but how. Engagement should focus on six critical issues: Iraq, Afghanistan, nuclear proliferation, the Arab–Israeli conflict, energy, and terrorism.
The next president must revise Washington's approach to Iran if the United States hopes to halt Iran's enrichment activities and address Iran's role in other issues of critical importance to the United States.
A U.S. withdrawal plan for Iraq that creates a political vacuum will invite Iraq's neighbors to shape the nation's internal evolution in accordance with their own security considerations. The U.S.-Iraq deal for combat troop withdrawal by 2011 lacks a much needed political strategy for neutralizing the influence of Iraq’s neighbors.
Saudi Arabia’s increasing use of unconventional, “soft” measures to combat violent extremism is bearing positive results, especially its rehabilitation program, which officials claim enjoys an 80-90% success rate. The Saudi approach is now serving as a model for the US military as it deals with insurgent detainees in Iraq.
The increasing use of unconventional, “soft” measures to combat violent extremism in Saudi Arabia is bearing positive results, leading others in the region, including the U.S. in Iraq, to adopt a similar approach.
Stay connected to the Global Think Tank with Carnegie's smartphone app for Android and iOS devices