The United States will remain invested in the Middle East for the long haul due to its economic interest and investments in the region, according to Peter Howard, a regional affairs strategic analyst in the Bureau of Near East Affairs and a “diplomat in residence.”
Howard gave a lecture on the political situation in the Middle East with a focus on American foreign policy and the ongoing conflict with the Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant (ISIL) on Tuesday in Park Shops.
“ISIL is the most significant issue we’re facing today,” Howard said.
ISIL rose from the remnants of Al Qaeda and is flourishing as a result of the political and economic conflict occurring in Iraq and Syria. Howard claimed this happened due to corrupt government institutions and politics in Iraq, as well as the conflict with the Syrian Civil War.
“The political dysfunction is so high that it’s hard to create the reforms needed to fix it,” Howard said. “Political reform is dangerous to authoritarian regimes who don’t want to cede their power.”
The corruption in Middle Eastern governments caused a lack of private sector jobs in Iraq, leading to an unemployment rate of 25-30 percent in young people, who make up more than 50 percent of the population in the Middle East, according to Howard.
The weakness in Middle Eastern government has led to the breakdown in many parts of society, as well as conflict in areas such as Libya and Yemen, according to Howard.
Existing governments feel threatened by political Islam, according to Howard.
“These are the big, wide-ranging issues our policies are looking to address,” said Howard.
The U.S. is not alone in creating counter-terrorism initiatives, according to Howard.
“There is a worldwide coalition of nations to fight terrorism and deal with extremism cooperatively,” Howard said. “It’s an opportunity to make progress against the broader network of terrorism.”
President Barack Obama laid out a five-part strategy, which can’t move forth without political activity in Iraq.
“This strategy is happening with a broad coalition of more than 60 nations,” Howard said.
Those five steps are as follows: to provide military support in the Middle East, stop the flow of foreign fighters into Syria and Iraq and counter ISIL funding, which comes largely from smuggling and kidnapping. Addressing the humanitarian efforts is another step, as there are a large number of refugees and displaced people throwing off the regional stability in the Middle East. The last step is to delegitimize ISIL’s ideology and propaganda on terrorism and violence.
The strategy is happening with a coalition of more than 60 nations, according to Howard.
“The broad and active nature of the coalition is to form working groups to address these five issues,” Howard said. “The struggle against ISIL isn’t just an Iraqi-U.S. issue.”
Getting rid of ISIL will not be an easy task, however, according to Edward Critikos, a senior studying political science.
“Tackling ISIL and the goal of stabilization once ISIL is ousted will prove very difficult for the U.S.,” Critikos said. “Being able to support a stable government while ensuring that all the different subgroups are represented will become one of the largest challenges of the U.S. – namely cooperating with the different sects to create and maintain a more stable government.”
