NSN 2016 Update: Clash of Civilizations November 13, 2015 Over the last few days, Republicans have engaged in a spirited competition over who can say the most horrible things about Syrian refugees, and a few went further, calling for unconstitutional religious tests that threaten the core freedoms this country was founded to protect. Marco Rubio is reading straight from the ISIS playbook when he calls the conflict in the Middle East a “clash of civilizations.” “ISIS wants to make this a clash of civilizations,” says Rand Beers, former Acting Secretary of the Department of Homeland Security and founder of NSN. “Why should we be helping them make their case? Why should we be turning on our own values?” By feeding the ISIS narrative and comparing Muslims to Nazis, Marco Rubio is helping, not harming these fanatics, by allowing them to argue that Muslims will never find acceptance in the West. The correct approach is to welcome these refugees, and by doing so harm ISIS’s claims about both the West and its so-called “Caliphate.” But it’s not just Rubio. Many conservatives are eager to throw away core American values to stoke fear of Islam and deny sanctuary to people fleeing the… Read More ›

From Russian escalation to a negotiated solution in Syria By J. Dana Stuster November 16, 2015 | THE HILL Secretary of State John Kerry’s meetings with counterparts from the Gulf states, Iran, and Russia in Vienna represent the best chance the United States has for resolving Syria’s civil war. While Russia’s recent escalation clearly risks prolonging the violence needlessly, it could turn out to be the catalyst for a resolution to the crisis. Russia’s strikes so far and the fact that the meetings are happening at all are a reason to pursue this diplomatic opening, especially when the United States has few options in Syria short of risking a direct military conflict with Russia. When Russia began conducting airstrikes in defense of the Assad regime a month ago, the assessment of many Kremlinologists was that it was the latest manifestation of President Vladimir Putin’s impulsive action bias. “The question is, have the Russians thought two or three moves ahead?” Andrew Weiss of the Carnegie Endowment for International Peace said. “This to me looks suspiciously like what happened in Ukraine, where what seemed like a good idea, a very pressurized decision by the Russians to unleash aggression against Ukraine, has backfired quite… Read More ›

TO INCREASE YOUTH TURNOUT, MAKE VOTING SEXY Tara Sonenshine, NSN Advisory Board November 13, 2015 | THE HILL With a year left before a presidential election, America has a major challenge ahead: getting its young citizens to exercise, not just in the gym, but in the voting booth. We need teens and 20-somethings, and the entire under-35 generation, to get motivated and engaged in choosing the direction of this nation. In 2014, just under 37 percent of eligible voters turned out to vote, the lowest level of voter turnout seen in a midterm election since World War II. Of all demographics, the greatest drop-off in voting from a presidential year to a midterm is among young voters under 40. The share of the electorate composed of voters under 40 fell 10 percentage points from 36 percent in 2012 to 26 percent in 2014. Young people were motivated during the election of Barack Obama and the number of young voters did rise, with 52 percent turnout. But many young people didn’t feel involved after the election, and interest in politics trailed off. The rate of voters younger than 30 who could say with certainty that they were registered to vote fell steadily… Read More ›