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Reliant Mermaid Naval Exercise:

Increasing the Peacetime Role of Navies

Last week, between January 9 and 13, surface units from the American, Turkish, and Israeli navies conducted Reliant Mermaid, a biannual humanitarian assistance exercise in the eastern Mediterranean. At the same time, a massive and real humanitarian assistance operation is being conducted mainly by the U.S. Navy to rush aid

Orhan Babaoglu

Articles & Testimony

Jeddah Attack Underscores Fall in Capabilities of Saudi Militants

The 6 December 2004 assault on the US consulate in Jeddah ended six months of relative calm in the Kingdom and provided an unwelcome reminder that the Al-Qaeda movement is down but not out in the region. Michael Knights analyses whether the attack was an unsuccessful anomaly or the leading

Michael Knights

U.S.-Turkish Cooperation against New Maritime Threats in the Mediterranean Basin

On November 23, 2004, Gen. James Jones, NATO's supreme allied commander for Europe, praised Operation Active Endeavour (OAE) for its role on the war on terror. OAE is NATO's post-September 11 answer to the question of naval security in the Mediterranean Sea. With the threat of terrorism on the open

Orhan Babaoglu

Operation Iraqi Freedom: Clearing Sewage in Falluja

Navy Seabee clears flooding in Falluja.

Faces of Battle:

The Insurgents in Falluja

The military outcome of the long-anticipated coalition operation to break the insurgents' control of the city of Falluja was never in doubt. Only the speed of the operation and the casualties inflicted and taken were in question. Ultimately, of course, it remains to be seen if Iraqi and coalition forces

Jeffrey White

The Second Battle of Falluja

Coalition and Iraqi government forces are moving to retake Falluja from insurgents who have held the city since April 2004. On the evening of November 8, U.S. troops with large-scale air support began to penetrate at several points, encountering some resistance. The coalition and the Iraqi government are gambling that

Jeffrey White

The Iraqi Security Forces (Part II):

Challenges and Concerns

The U.S.-led coalition and the Iraqi Interim Government (IIG) have had to confront both bureaucratic red tape and insurgent terrorism in their effort to recruit, train, and equip the Iraqi Security Forces (ISF). Nevertheless, progress is being made. Equipment is arriving, ISF personnel are being trained, and the flow of

Michael Eisenstadt

The Iraqi Security Forces (Part I):

Background and Current Status

The counterinsurgency in Iraq has entered a critical phase: the start of operations by U.S.-led coalition and Iraqi forces to pacify insurgent-held areas, smoothing the way for January 2005 elections. In recent weeks, coalition and Iraqi forces have battled insurgents in Tal Afar, Samarra, Mahmudiya, and Latifiya, as well as

Michael Eisenstadt

In-Depth Reports

Operation Iraqi Freedom and the New Iraq:

Insights and Forecasts

Introduction When Operation Iraqi Freedom commenced on March 19, 2003, it was not the beginning of a conflict but the final act of one that had lasted almost thirteen years. Since Iraq's invasion of Kuwait on August 2, 1990, the military containment of Iraq had become a familiar and unwelcome

Michael Knights

Articles & Testimony

How to Rein In Iran without Bombing It

Iran brags that it has the most crucial technologies for a nuclear bomb. It is known to be deploying long-range missiles that would be militarily useless unless equipped with a nuclear warhead. And it has insisted that it will continue to enrich uranium in defiance of a request by the

Patrick Clawson

A Ramadan Offensive in Iraq

Ramadan starts on October 15 or 16, depending on the sighting of the moon. Last year on the first day of Ramadan, five car bombs went off in Baghdad within an hour, including one in front of the International Committee of the Red Cross (ICRC) offices. There is a disturbing

Patrick Clawson

Looking Forward, Looking Back

On September 14, 2004, Michael Eisenstadt and Jeffrey White addressed a Washington Institute Special Policy Forum held in celebration of their forthcoming Institute anthology Operation Iraqi Freedom and the New Iraq: Insights and Forecasts (edited by Michael Knights). Mr. Eisenstadt is a senior fellow at the Institute, specializing in military

Michael Eisenstadt
Jeffrey White

Gaining Ground—Resistance in Iraq since the Transition (Part II):

Effects and Implications

The effects of resistance operations have been felt in terms of stability and governance, reconstruction, and military security. Sunni resistance has removed some areas from government and coalition control and permitted the emergence of local rule by anticoalition and antigovernment elements. Officials working with the government have been killed, wounded

Jeffrey White

Gaining Ground—Resistance in Iraq since the Transition (Part I):

Evolution and Status

The prospects for violence in Iraq were much discussed in the period leading to the June 28, 2004, transition to Iraqi sovereignty. The "smart money" was on the expectation that violence against the transitional government and coalition forces would increase. This has proved to be the case, with Sunni-based resistance

Jeffrey White

Implications of the 9-11 Report:

Recommendations for U.S. Middle East Policy

Of the 9-11 Commission's forty-one principal recommendations, only one relates directly to the application of military power: namely, the need to eliminate existing terrorist sanctuaries and to prevent the emergence of future safe havens. Indeed, military action is only one of many elements of national policy needed to address the

Articles & Testimony

More Danger in the Future with Moqtada al-Sadr

Najaf, after three weeks of fighting, has more or less settled down from a military standpoint. The sometimes-fierce combat has ended. Anti-US Shiite cleric Moqtada al-Sadr's Mehdi Army has left the streets and the Shrine of Ali is under the control of moderate religious elements. Sadr is again talking rather

Jeffrey White

Articles & Testimony

Sadrist Revolt Provides Lessons for Counterinsurgency in Iraq

The first serious challenge to Coalition forces in Iraq from Shiite elements began on 4 April 2004. Moqtada al-Sadr's organisation and its militia, the Mahdi Army, initiated demonstrations and attacks on Coalition forces and facilities in Baghdad's Sadr City and across southern Iraq. Coinciding with the siege of Falluja and

Jeffrey White

Lessons from the Sunni Triangle

The Mission of the 82nd Airborne Division in Iraq Like all U.S. forces in Iraq, the 82nd Airborne Division was worked hard in 2003-2004. Beginning in February 2003, the division's headquarters were split between Afghanistan and Iraq. From February 2003 to April 2004, at least two maneuver brigades from the

Unilaterally Constructed Barriers in Contested Areas

The International Court of Justice (ICJ) in The Hague is expected to issue an advisory opinion this Friday, July 9, on the international legality of Israel's security fence. Although advisory opinions are often sought from the ICJ before an international body has made up its mind on an issue, the

David Makovsky

Israel's Security Fence:

Effective in Reducing Suicide Attacks from the Northern West Bank

The International Court of Justice is expected to rule this Friday, July 9, on the legality of Israel's security fence. The Palestinians strongly oppose the security fence, claiming that the fence negatively affects them. Israel is now seeking to address their concerns through a variety of means relating to the

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Military and Security Studies Program

The Washington Institute's Military and Security Studies Program has established itself as an unrivaled source of reliable, incisive, and forward-looking analysis concerning several of the most critical national-security challenges facing the United States today: The U.S. military role in the Middle East, Iran's nuclear program and its proxy armies, the ongoing conflict is in Iraq, Lebanon, Syria, and Yemen, the regional proliferation of missiles and weapons of mass destruction, the security dimensions of the Arab-Israeli conflict, and many other security issues on the frontline of the U.S. policymaking agenda.

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Featured experts

Michael Eisenstadt

Michael Eisenstadt

Michael Eisenstadt is the Kahn Senior Fellow and director of The Washington Institute's Military and Security Studies Program.

Michael Knights

Michael Knights

Michael Knights is the Jill and Jay Bernstein Senior Fellow at The Washington Institute and cofounder of the Militia Spotlight platform, which offers in-depth analysis of developments related to Iran-backed militias.

Grant Rumley

Grant Rumley is the Meisel-Goldberger Senior Fellow and Director of the Diane and Guilford Glazer Foundation Program on Great Power Competition and the Middle East at the Washington Institute for Near East Policy.

Elizabeth Dent - source: The Washington Institute

Elizabeth Dent is a Senior Fellow at the Washington Institute for Near East Policy, where she focuses on U.S. foreign and defense policy toward the Gulf states, Iraq, and Syria.

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