March 22, 2017
Trump says he'll destroy ISIS. His budget would make that a lot harder.
The Trump administration is hosting a meeting today of the 68 countries battling ISIS to take stock of the current campaign and plan their next moves. It should be a big moment for President Trump, who won the White House after vowing to eradicate the group.
The problem is that Trump’s proposal to slash the State Department and USAID budget by 36 percent — from $58.8 billion to $37.6 billion — will make the fight much harder. Trump will have to choose between a desire to dramatically slash spending on diplomacy and foreign aid and his promise to defeat ISIS. He can’t do both.
The hardest part of destroying ISIS’s self-declared “caliphate” in Iraq and Syria isn't reconquering actual territory. It’s been a bloody and slow fight, but Iraqi and Kurdish forces — backed by US airpower and troops — are gradually retaking both small towns and major cities like Mosul.
Read the full article on Vox.
More from CNAS
-
Podcast
Transatlantic Security / Middle East Security
The Russia-Iran Partnership: A Geopolitical Balancing ActIt has been almost a year since Russia and Iran signed their comprehensive strategic partnership. That deal established a 20-year partnership between the two countries coverin...
By Andrea Kendall-Taylor & Jim Townsend
-
Commentary
Transatlantic Security / Middle East Security / Energy, Economics & Security
Sanctions Aren’t Enough to Shut Down the Moscow-Tehran Black Market for WarThe geographic scope and extent of Iranian-Russian cooperation highlights the failure of traditional sanctions to prevent Moscow and Tehran from seeking key components like ch...
By Delaney Soliday
-
How a Peace Deal Between Hamas and Israel Will Reshape the Middle East
Podcast
Rachel Brandenberg joins NPR to discuss how the region will change if Israel and Hamas continue to abide by the peace deal President Trump brokered. Listen to the interview o...
By Rachel Brandenburg
-
Donald Trump’s Gaza Plan Skips Step One
Commentary
The White House proposal attempts to solve too many distinct issues all at once, without enough input from Palestinians....
By Delaney Soliday
