AAPSS Discussion Predicts Middle East Challenges for the Next Administration
On October 24, the Middle East Institute (MEI) and the American Academy of Political and Social Science (AAPSS), a member of COSSA, held a panel discussion to highlight the November 2016 volume of The ANNALS, the flagship AAPSS publication. The November volume, “The Middle East and Regional Transition, Terrorism, and Countering Violent Extremism: What the Next President Will Face,” analyzes the state of U.S. relations in the Middle East and provides concrete policy recommendations and priorities for the next president and administration. The ANNALS’s guest co-editors Rand Beers (former Deputy Homeland Security Advisor to President Obama), Richard A. Clarke (former U.S. National Coordinator for Security, Infrastructure Protection), Emilian Papadopoulos (President, Good Harbor Security Risk Management), and Paul Salem (Vice President for Policy and Research, MEI) discussed these issues and how the next president can address them. National Security Correspondent Mary Louise Kelly (NPR) moderated the panel.
The November 2016 volume of The ANNALS is organized into two sections, the first focusing on “the drivers of instability and radicalization in the Middle East and ways to counter them,” and the second on countering violent extremism domestically and internationally. During the discussion, panelists pointed out the increase in the number of failed states in the Middle East over the past eight years, from three or four in 2008 to approximately six or seven now. The panelists discussed how the evolution of terrorism and rise of terrorist groups like ISIS has created a need for the U.S. to change its strategy in how it confronts violent extremism. The panelists also discussed potential hot spots for the U.S. in the Middle East over the next several years and shared some of the recommendations for the next administration from The ANNALS volume.
More information and the full presentation are available here.
This article was contributed by COSSA’s fall intern, Zykkia Webb of Texas A&M University.