May 25, 2017
Trump seeks greater collaboration with Saudi Arabia, but will this boost counterterrorism?
On Sunday in Saudi Arabia, President Trump announced an agreement to sell his hosts at least $110 billion worth of weapons and expressed an eagerness to ally with Sunni autocrats against Shiite Iran, which he accused of fueling the fires of sectarian conflict and terrorism in the region.
Whether the arms deal clears Congress, which has blocked sales in the past, remains to be seen, and experts believe the ultimate amount actually sold to Saudi Arabia may be far lower. Nevertheless, some analysts suggested that Trump’s visit and the deliverables he promised could pay dividends on counterterrorism. My research on counterterrorism partnerships suggests that we should be skeptical.
Read the full article in The Washington Post.
More from CNAS
-
Trump Needs to Reestablish Deterrence with Iran
Commentary
The attack attributed to Iran on Saudi Aramco oil facilities is the latest in a series of Iranian escalations—the May 14 and June 13 tanker attacks, the June 20 downing of a U...
By Kaleigh Thomas & Elisa Catalano Ewers
-
Nicholas Heras on Killing of ISIS Leader in U.S. Military Raid
Video
The Center for a New American Security’s Nicholas Heras talked about the killing of ISIS founder and leader Abu Bakr al-Baghdadi in a U.S. military raid in Syria. Listen to th...
By Nicholas Heras
-
Discussing Turkey’s Offensive Against the Kurds in Syria with Nick Heras
Podcast
The United States’ withdrawal and the Turkish military’s incursion into the Kurdish-controlled northeast have completely changed the balance of power in Syria. Without America...
By Andrea Kendall-Taylor, Jim Townsend & Nicholas Heras
-
The Nonintervention Delusion
Commentary
Richard Fontaine addresses the most frequently expressed concerns about U.S. military interventions and concludes that the use of military force will remain a key component of...
By Richard Fontaine
