The Limits of Iran’s Regional Ambitions Policy Brief by J. Dana Stuster July 9, 2015 The reach of Iran’s foreign policy has exceeded its grasp. For all its efforts to maintain its sphere of influence and expand its power in the Middle East, it has gained little from its interventions. Tehran has consolidated its control over the leadership in Damascus and South Beirut, but these allies are stretched thin and seeing their power and influence recede. Meanwhile, Iran is increasingly challenged in Iraq by the Islamic State and resurgent U.S. diplomacy. In Gaza, Tehran has ceded its influence with Hamas to the same governments supplying its opponents in Syria. Far from an ascendant actor in the region, Iran is currently fighting the greatest challenge to its power since its sphere of influence coalesced in the 1980s. The discourse in the United States should take this into account and refrain from inflating the threat of Iran’s policies. Such alarmism risks an American overreaction. Instead, U.S. policy must take into account not just Iran’s ambitions for preeminence in the region, but also the limited effectiveness of its recent strategy. Read the full NSN policy brief. Check out the helpful infographic we made here.… Read More ›

To Counter Violent Extremism, Focus on the Young By Tara Sonenshine, member of the NSN Advisory Board July 2, 2015 | The Hill In the run-up to July Fourth, there is increasing “chatter” about the potential for a terrorist attack somewhere in the world this weekend. And behind the fear of violent extremism, is always an unspoken assumption that Muslim youth around the globe are, by and large, inclined towards negative activity, and likely to be recruited and radicalized by the Islamic State in Iraq and Syria (ISIS) or another terrorist group, and that social media is today’s platform for youth-inspired hatred, hostility and horrific behavior. Both are misleading assumptions and likely to create a self-fulfilling prophecy. Yes, ISIS has become very good at targeting young Muslims to come to Iraq and Syria and join foreign fighters in a struggle to build a caliphate. ISIS preys on youth vulnerabilities and the desperate longing by those most isolated to “belong” to something big, and to address whatever frustrations and sense of injustice young people feel by encouraging them to pick up a weapon and carry out an attack. But the media attention on terrorism carried out by young Muslims eclipses a… Read More ›

The Human Tinderbox in the Middle East Sandy Berger, NSN Advisory Board Chairman June 10, 2015 | Foreign Policy The 25,000 civilians who fled the Iraqi city of Ramadi after its recent fall to the Islamic State represent only the latest wave of tragic human dislocation resulting from violence in the Middle East. Turmoil across the region has displaced more than 15 million people since 2011, leaving their return uncertain. Today, a staggering 78 million people worldwide, many uprooted, need assistance to meet basic food and shelter needs. This reflects a steady and unrelenting increase, up from approximately 30 million in 2006 and 65 million in 2012. This situation is the human byproduct of political disintegration in conflict-torn countries across the Middle East and around the world, resulting from weakened state authority, the rise of brutal extremism, and conflicts based on power, religion, and ideology. The dislocation and desperation this chaos produces will only continue to grow, overtaking our collective institutional capacity to deal with it, while accelerating the vicious cycles of violence and disruption. The humanitarian machinery established by the international community, largely after World War II, along with private relief groups, does courageous and remarkable work every day.… Read More ›