A man walks past a billboard warning people of the deadly Ebola virus in Monrovia, Liberia, Oct. 10, 2014 (AP photo by Abbas Dulleh).

Across Africa and the Middle East, governments and international organizations are paying the price for responding to crises too late. Last week, the continuing spread of Ebola in West Africa vied for global attention with new advances and atrocities in Syria and Iraq by the so-called Islamic State (IS). These were arguably both avoidable disasters. A more determined international medical effort to contain Ebola when it appeared in Liberia and Sierra Leone at the start of this year would almost certainly have stemmed the epidemic. Earlier Western and Arab military action against IS, perhaps paired with a nasty but necessary […]

A Latvian man casts his ballot papers at a polling station in Riga, Latvia, Oct. 4, 2014 (AP photo by Roman Koksarov).

Last weekend, Latvia’s ruling coalition maintained its majority in parliamentary elections that were held against the backdrop of continued harassment from Russia. Latvia and its two Baltic neighbors, Estonia and Lithuania—all former Soviet republics and current members of NATO and the European Union—have watched Russia’s intervention in Ukraine with escalating concern. While NATO’s Article 5 obligates the entire alliance to come to the defense of the Baltics in the event of a Russian attack, Russian President Vladimir Putin has been testing the limits of that commitment. In recent months, Russia has captured an Estonian intelligence officer in a cross-border raid, […]

Iranian Foreign Minister Mohamad Javad Zarif talks with diplomats before the start of the 69th session of the United Nations General Assembly, at U.N. headquarters, Sept. 25, 2014 (AP photo by Richard Drew).

In September, Iranian Foreign Minister Mohammad Javad Zarif met with his Saudi counterpart, Saud al-Faisal, in New York in the latest attempt under Iranian President Hassan Rouhani to reduce the prevailing hostilities between Tehran and Riyadh. So far it appears the Saudi leadership has responded positively, creating a strong possibility of Iranian-Saudi relations entering a new phase, with a significant reduction of hostilities. There are even some indications that the improved relations could lead to a grand bargain between the two longtime regional rivals, with significant implications for the entire Middle East. Decades of rocky relations followed by heightened tensions […]

An Iraqi Air Force Cessna 208 flies over Iraq on a training sortie, Nov. 9, 2008 (U.S. Air Force photo).

Earlier today, fighters from the so-called Islamic State (IS) shot down an Iraqi military helicopter. In an email interview, Rick Brennan, a senior political scientist at the RAND Corporation and former senior adviser to the U.S. military in Iraq from 2006-2011 who led a RAND study entitled “Ending the U.S. War in Iraq: The Final Transition, Operational Maneuver and Disestablishment of United Sates Forces —Iraq,” discussed the current air capabilities of the Iraqi military and its significance for both internal security and external defense. WPR: What air assets does the Iraqi army currently have, and what purchases—on order and planned—are […]

Photo: Russian President Vladimir Putin at the Black Sea resort of Sochi, Russia, Aug. 15, 2014 (AP photo by Ivan Sekretarev).

Throughout the Ukrainian crisis, Russia has demonstrated a keen appetite for both territory and power. It has shown less concern for international agreements and institutions. While Moscow has largely kept the United Nations out of the conflict, it has permitted the Organization for Security and Cooperation in Europe to monitor the situation on the ground. Even this looks like a mere ploy to deflect Western criticism: Russia has used OSCE peacemaking efforts backed by Germany as a cover for its efforts to destabilize Ukraine, and its proxies in the east of the country have menaced and kidnapped the organization’s observers. […]

An Islamist flag flaps in the main square in Maan, southwest of Amman, Jordan, July 4, 2014 (AP photo by Raad Adayleh).

In the U.S.-led coalition against the so-called Islamic State (IS), one country has remained relatively aloof: Israel, which has only provided some intelligence when asked. Israel has a good reason for this stance. Unlike Syria and Iraq, where IS controls swaths of territory, or Iraq, where its takeover of Mosul and other northern towns has weakened an already fragile state, it is not a direct threat to Israel. As a result, Israel does not want to get involved in what is amounting to a regional war. But IS does pose an indirect threat to Israel. And while Syrian militants from […]

This image taken from video shows heavy shelling by warplanes in the Eastern Ghouta area near Damascus, Syria, Dec. 10, 2012. (AP Photo/Shaam News Network via AP video).

On the edge of Damascus, Syrian rebels have united in an effort to break the crushing siege of the suburbs known as the Ghouta. And to do so, they have rallied behind the controversial but charismatic Zahran Alloush, the Salafist head of Jeish al-Islam (the Army of Islam) and one of the most prominent rebels in Syria. Syria’s rebels have announced alliances, mergers and charters in the past, but they have nonetheless remained largely atomized countrywide. While infighting among rebels unaffiliated with the so-called Islamic State (IS) has been exaggerated, cooperation has remained mostly ad hoc. Coordination has been hamstrung […]

Fighters of the Islamic State waving the group’s flag from a damaged display of a government fighter jet following the battle for the Tabqa air base, Raqqa, Syria, photo post Aug. 27, 2014 (AP photo/ Raqqa Media Center of the Islamic State group).

President Barack Obama has set his course for the U.S. conflict with the so-called Islamic State (IS). The deep roots of the extremist organization, the chaotic conditions in Iraq and Syria, and Obama’s determination to limit American involvement will make this a long slog. Months, even years will pass with few demonstrable gains. Whoever moves into the White House after Obama will inherit the crisis. Over time, though, the situation will undergo major shifts, each forcing the United States to re-examine its strategy. To be ready to exploit opportunities and avoid risks, American leaders must anticipate what the big “game […]

President Barack Obama salutes as he arrives on the South Lawn of the White House, Sept. 12, 2014 (AP photo by Evan Vucci).

After nearly six years in office, the Obama administration has still not found the appropriate balance in its foreign policy rhetoric between making the case for continued U.S. leadership of the international system and encouraging other countries to help lighten America’s load by taking up more of the burden. This is often reflected in the frustration that comes through in the speeches and statements of senior leaders, including those of the president himself, that other states seem to fail to appreciate how endorsing and then providing concrete support to realize a U.S. position in international affairs is in their interest. […]

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