Military Influence in Post-ISIL Levant
Question (R2 QL7): What significance will small military groups, particularly in Northern Syria, have in a post-ISIL Levant? How should CENTCOM best shape or influence these groups? Author | Editor: Reedy, K. (RAND). The primary theme that all of the experts touched upon is that there will be no single unified situation regarding either the […]
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ISIS and Religion and Nation Building in the Middle East
ISIS and Religion and Nation Building in the Middle East. Speaker: Landis, J. (University of Oklahoma’s College of International Studies). Date: January 2017. Joshua Landis is Director of the Center for Middle East Studies and Professor at the University of Oklahoma’s College of International Studies. He writes and manages “SyriaComment.com,” a daily newsletter on Syrian […]
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Part 3 Encourage Regional Stability
SMA CENTCOM Reach-back Reports – Part 3: Encouraging Regional Stability. Author | Editor: SMA Program Office. This is Part 3 of a 9 part series of SMA Reach back responses to questions posed by USCENTCOM. Each report contains responses to multiple questions grouped by theme. At the request of United States Central Command (USCENTCOM), the […]
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Syrian Reaction to Salafi Institution
Question (R3 QL6): How will the population in northwest Syria react to future Salafist political institutions? Author | Editor: Astorino-Courtois, A. (NSI, Inc). Similar to points made by other contributors to this SMA Reach-back report, Dr. Kathleen Reedy of Rand includes a caveat in her response to the CENTCOM question. Given international pressure to avoid […]
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Discussion with NPS Experts – Jan 2017
SMA Reachback Panel Discussion with Experts from Naval Postgraduate School – Jan 2017. Author | Editor: Nicole (Peterson) Omundson (NSI, Inc.) Speakers were John Arquilla, Ryan Gingeras, Glenn Robinson, and Hy Rothstein of the Naval Postgraduate School. Glenn Robinson: Let me go over the agenda very briefly. As I mentioned yesterday Doc, unfortunately Craig Whiteside […]
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Black Swans to Defeating ISIL in al-Raqqah
Question (R2 #5): What are potential unanticipated complications or reactions (or “black swans”) with respect to defeating ISIL in al-Raqqah? Author | Editor: Reedy, K. (RAND). Predicting the unanticipated is always a challenge, but contributors have identified a couple of considerations for thinking about both potential complications involving external actors such as Turkey (Yeşilada) and […]
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Learning From the Countries Favorable to ISIL
Question (R2 #2): In countries where polling shows favorable opinions of ISIL (Syria, Nigeria, Tunisia, Senegal and Malaysia), what does this tell us? What do these countries have in common? What is our best approach to influence/inform? Author | Editor: Steckman, L. (MITRE). The contributors to this Quick Look responded to GEN Votel’s follow-up question, […]
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Recent IO Efforts and Sentiments
Question (R2 QL1): Have sentiments changed since the December 2014 polling? Have recent IO efforts in Mosul influenced these sentiments? What other means can we use to influence? Author | Editor: McCulloh, I. (Johns Hopkins University Applied Physics Lab). Data suggests that sentiment toward DA’ESH1 has changed since the December 2014 polling conducted by USCENTCOM. […]
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Part 5 The Various Sources of Extremism
SMA CENTCOM Reach-back Reports – Part 5: Sources of Extremism. Author | Editor: SMA Program Office. This is Part 5 of a 9 part series of SMA Reach back responses to questions posed by USCENTCOM. Each report contains responses to multiple questions grouped by theme. At the request of United States Central Command (USCENTCOM), the […]
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Part 7 USG Bureaucratic Requirements
SMA CENTCOM Reach-back Reports – Part 7: USG Bureaucratic Requirements. Author | Editor: SMA Program Office. This is Part 7 of a 9 part series of SMA Reach back responses to questions posed by USCENTCOM. Each report contains responses to multiple questions grouped by theme. At the request of United States Central Command (USCENTCOM), the […]
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