US President Obama has doubled the number of American troops in Iraq. Ostensibly, those troops are merely “advisers”. But the line between combat troops and advisers is very unclear, and there is little question that the US troops will be in combat situations. The belief that more US troops are necessary to counter the threat from ISIS has no strategic limit, only a political limit, and there will inevitably be a tendency toward “mission creep” in which local commanders will try to amplify the effectiveness of the US presence in Iraq. The US is positioning itself to get involved more deeply in the fighting in Iraq.
Richard Haas has written a fascinating article for Foreign Affairs which is summarized by him in a shorter commentary entitled “The Era of Disorder.” The essay is definitely worth a read: he discusses the various forces in contemporary world politics which seem to be beyond the traditional mechanisms of control Needless to say, the conclusion is grim, but the logic of the essay is clear and compelling.
Iran is one of the most important countries in the word, but very few in the West know much about it. Relations between Iran and the West have been miserable since 1979 when the country was transformed by an Islamic Revolution. The Economist has published an essay suggesting that it is past time for the West to reconsider its relations with Iran. Admittedly, there are risks to a change in policy, but many of the assumptions underlying policy toward Iran are no longer valid.
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