Middle East & Africa

Following are all current, recent, and past IFPA projects, publications, conferences, workshops, articles, and presentations about issues concerning the Middle East and/or Africa.

  • research projects
  • publications
  • conferences & workshops
  • articles & presentations
Iran with Nuclear Weapons: Anticipating the Consequences for U.S. Security
Based on the assumption, unpalatable as it may seem, that a nuclear Iran is all but inevitable, this project, completed in 2008, focuses on three critically important questions.
project report (6.81 MB) || project details
Strengthening Forces for Democracy in the Middle East: Lessons from the Past and Strategies for the Future
This project was completed in 2006 as part of IFPA's ongoing work on democratization. The project's focus was democratic transformation in the Middle East and Central Asia.
project report (249 KB) || project details
Middle East Security and Energy Security
Ongoing analysis, in cooperation with Energy Security Analysis, Inc. (ESAI), of politico-military developments in Iran, Iraq, Saudi Arabia, Kuwait, the United Arab Emirates, and Israel. Reports were issued quarterly between December 1998 and September 2002.
Japan’s Assistance in Peacebuilding in Sudan and Its Challenges
Yasuhito Murakami
June 2011, 13 pp
Description
This paper is a follow-on to a one-day bilateral workshop on April 29, 2011, held in conjunction with the Osaka School of International Public Policy (OSIPP) in Washington, D.C. In the papers, authors aim to assess each government's "whole-of-government" or interagency coordination of peacebuilding policies and to identify priorities, assets, and expertise as applied to Afghanistan and Sudan. The goal of the project is to explore the strengths and weaknesses of both the United States and Japan’s respective initiatives with an eye toward how the two allies can best cooperate and work synergistically in a “whole of alliance” approach to peacebuilding operations in vulnerable or failing states.
peacebuilding paper (164 KB) || workshop agenda || project details
Peacebuilding as a Field of Joint Endeavour In the Japan-U.S. Alliance: The View from an International Organizations’ Perspective
Philip Shetler-Jones
June 2011, 17 pp
Description
This paper was first presented at a one-day bilateral workshop on April 29, 2011, held in conjunction with the Osaka School of International Public Policy (OSIPP) in Washington, D.C. In the papers, authors aim to assess each government's "whole-of-government" or interagency coordination of peacebuilding policies and to identify priorities, assets, and expertise as applied to Afghanistan and Sudan. The goal of the project is to explore the strengths and weaknesses of both the United States and Japan’s respective initiatives with an eye toward how the two allies can best cooperate and work synergistically in a “whole of alliance” approach to peacebuilding operations in vulnerable or failing states.
peacebuilding paper (164 KB) || workshop agenda || project details
The U.S. Approach to Peacebuilding: From a Whole-of-Government to a Whole-of-Alliance Approach with Japan
Weston S. Konishi and Charles T. McClean
June 2011, 14 pp
Description
This paper was first presented at a one-day bilateral workshop on April 29, 2011, held in conjunction with the Osaka School of International Public Policy (OSIPP) in Washington, D.C. In the papers, authors aim to assess each government's “whole-of-government” or interagency coordination of peacebuilding policies and to identify priorities, assets, and expertise as applied to Afghanistan and Sudan. The goal of the project is to explore the strengths and weaknesses of both the United States and Japan’s respective initiatives with an eye toward how the two allies can best cooperate and work synergistically in a “whole of alliance” approach to peacebuilding operations in vulnerable or failing states.
peacebuilding paper (164 KB) || workshop agenda || project details
U.S. Policy and Assistance on Peacebuilding in Sudan: 2001-11
Konrad J. Huber
June 2011, 19 pp
Description
This paper was first presented at a one-day bilateral workshop on April 29, 2011, held in conjunction with the Osaka School of International Public Policy (OSIPP) in Washington, D.C. In the papers, authors aim to assess each government's “whole-of-government” or interagency coordination of peacebuilding policies and to identify priorities, assets, and expertise as applied to Afghanistan and Sudan. The goal of the project is to explore the strengths and weaknesses of both the United States and Japan’s respective initiatives with an eye toward how the two allies can best cooperate and work synergistically in a “whole of alliance” approach to peacebuilding operations in vulnerable or failing states.
peacebuilding paper (164 KB) || workshop agenda || project details
Iran with Nuclear Weapons: Anticipating the Consequences for U.S. Policy
Jacquelyn K. Davis and Robert L. Pfaltzgraff, Jr.
September 2008, 93 pp
Description
We need only ponder the problems posed by an Iran without nuclear weapons to begin to assess the challenges of an Iran in possession of an operational nuclear weapons capability. Considering the issue from the perspective of three different heuristic models of Iran’s proliferation—a defensive Iran, an aggressive Iran, and an unstable Iran—this report assesses the political, strategic, and operational implications of Iran’s attainment of a nuclear weapons capability. It assumes that absent strong, unified, multilateral action to impose a strict sanctions regime, a United Nations Security Council-approved embargo, or other tightly enforced trade and financial restrictions, current policies will not suffice to prevent Iran from becoming a nuclear weapons state.
report (6.81 MB) || project details
Rethinking the War on Terror: Developing a Strategy to Counter Extremist Ideologies
Jacquelyn K. Davis and Charles M. Perry
March 2007, 32 pp
Description
IFPA completed and distributed this summary report on a January 2007 workshop organized in support of U.S. Central Command (USCENTCOM).The focus of the workshop was a discussion of the ideological roots of Islamist extremism as a basis for countering such ideology. In addition, it identified and assessed the elements of a national strategy to defeat radical Islamist threats and addressed measures to promote democratization in the region. Attendees at the workshop ncluded experts and scholars specializing in various aspects of Islamic extremism, as well as USCENTCOM Deputy Commander VADM Dave Nichols, other senior command representatives, and high- ranking U.S. officials.
report (1.86 MB)
Radical Islamist Ideologies and the Long War: Implications for U.S. Strategic Planning and U.S. Central Command's Operations
Jacquelyn K. Davis
January 2007, 73 pp
Description
IFPA completed this report as part of an ongoing study of radical Islam and its implications for the Long War against terrorism. It provides a comprehensive assessment of the ideological underpinnings of radical Islam and how these ideologies seem to be fueling terrorist and insurgent activities, including suicide bombing operations and other asymmetric strategies. Emphasis is placed on the effect of these activities in U.S. Central Command’s (USCENTCOM’s) area of responsibility, especially in Iraq and Afghanistan. This study also includes updated analyses and recommendations derived from a workshop on suicide bombers held in support of USCENTCOM earlier in 2006.
report (14.4 MB)
Strengthening Forces for Democracy in the Middle East: Lessons from the Past & Strategies for the Future
March 2006, 21 pp
Description
This report is based on a workshop of the same title convened by the Institute on February 9, 2006, in Washington, D.C., with the generous support of the Lynde and Harry Bradley Foundation. It assesses the extent to which Cold War lessons in the struggle against Communism have relevance to the war against radical Salafist ideologies and to efforts to establish democracies in the wider Muslim world. The report examines the prospects for democracy in the area spanning North Africa, the Middle East, the Caucasus, and Central Asia. Both the workshop and the report contributed to IFPA's ongoing research focused on post-conflict reconstruction and stability operations in Iraq and Afghanistan and, at the same time, to efforts to inform and help shape U.S. government democratization efforts and public diplomacy strategies.
workshop report (249 KB) || project details
Security Issues in the Middle East Quarterly Rreports
Andrew C. Winner
September 2002
all studies
Counter-Piracy and Anti-Terrorism Planning for Somalia and the Horn of Africa: Implications for NATO and NSHQ Planning
January 10, 2012, The Hague, the Netherlands
Description
IFPA collaborated with the Hague Centre for Strategic Studies to organize the seventh NATO SOF Coordination Centre (NSCC) Senior Steering Group (SSG) meeting, a workshop on Somalia and future requirements for counter-piracy and counter-terrorism planning. The workshop explored options for dealing with piracy and its potential use by al-Shabab to destabilize Somalia and its regional partners, and to understand more precisely the possibilities for and/or constraints on an expanded use of NATO, the European Union (EU), or national forces to support the African Union mission in Somalia (AUMIS), to shore up the position of the Transnational Federal Government (TFG) in and possibly beyond Mogadishu, and to empower regional forces in their fight against violent extremists on the African continent. A related workshop objective was to explore the possibilities for enhancing and broadening intelligence collaboration on counter-piracy and counter-terrorism planning between NATO and the EU, and how such collaboration could enable NATO SOF to position themselves more effectively should the Alliance’s political leaders decide to support a more forward-leaning position on Somalia and the Horn of Africa, either to facilitate World Food Program deliveries or to employ the use of force, under a new UNSC mandate, to target jihadi training camps, pirate bases, or other related logistical infrastructure on the ground in Somalia. 
meeting agenda || project details
Exploring Options for Iran: Implications for DoD and Interagency Planning
January 28, 2011, Washington, D.C., an IFPA-DTRA workshop
Preventing A Nuclear Iran: Current Challenges and Future Opportunities
October 19, 2010, Washington, D.C., an IFPA-DTRA workshop
Re-Calibrating Security Force Assistance as a Critical Component of Waging Irregular Warfare within the Context of the Global War on Terror
November 20, 2008, Washington, D.C., in support of U.S. Special Operations Command
Rethinking the War on Terror: Developing a Strategy to Counter Extremist Ideologies: Part 2
June 17, 2007, Washington, D.C., in support of U.S. Central Command
Rethinking the War on Terror: Developing a Strategy to Counter Extremist Ideologies: Part 1
January 10, 2007, Washington, D.C., in support of U.S. Central Command
report (737 KB)
The Way Ahead with Iran: A Libya in Waiting, a Nuclear Pariah, or Something in Between?
August 1, 2006, Washington, D.C., in support of the under secretary of state for arms control and international security
Dissuading, Deterring, or Defeating the Suicide Bomber Threat
June 28, 2006, Washington, D.C., in support of U.S. Central Command
Strengthening Forces for Democracy in the Middle East: Lessons from the Past and Strategies for the Future
February 9, 2006, Washington, D.C.
Description
This workshop explored the extent to which lessons learned from the Cold War era struggle against Communism have relevance to the war against radical Salafist ideologies and to efforts to establish democracies in the wider Muslim world.
report (249 KB)
Opportunities and Challenges in U.S. Middle East Policy: Implications for U.S. Central Command Planning and Priorities
May 25, 2005, Washington, D.C., in support of U.S. Central Command.
Options for Handling the Challenges Associated with Iran’s WMD Programs
June 25, 2003, Washington, D.C., in support of the National Security Council and the Defense Threat Reduction Agency
An Iran with Nuclear Weapons
Lecture by Robert L. Pfaltzgraff, Jr.
Foreign Policy Challenges for the New Administration: Iran and the Middle East, seminar at the Fares Center for Eastern Mediterranean Studies, Tufts University, Medford, Massachusetts, March 6, 2009; Dr. Pfaltzgraff also served as panel moderator
talk (38 KB)