Is the Islamic State in Iraq and Syria (ISIS) emerging as a new terrorist “super power”?  According to its publicized projected “Five-Year Plan,” a Sunni Caliphate will be established over the Middle East, Africa, and Europe by 2019.  Should the international community be concerned about these potential expansionist plans, and what can be done to defeat ISIS?

The ICTS at the Potomac Institute hosted a forum on “The Middle East Crisis: Updates on Strategic Challenges and Opportunities” on July 25, 2014. General (Ret.) Alfred Gray (Twenty-Ninth Commandant of the United States Marine Corps; Senior Fellow and Chairman of the Board of Regents, Potomac Institute for Policy Studies) made opening remarks and Professor Yonah Alexander (Director, Inter-University Center for Terrorism Studies, and Senior Fellow, Potomac Institute for Policy Studies) moderated the event. The panel includes Brigadier General David Reist, USMC (Ret.) (Operation Iraqi Freedom, Deputy Commanding General for Governance and Economics in Anbar Province from February 2006-February 2007 and Vice President, Strategy and Planning Division, Potomac Institute for Policy Studies), Oren Marmorstein (Counselor for Public and Academic Affairs, Embassy of Israel), and Dr. Judith Yaphe (Former senior analyst on Near East Persian Gulf issues in the Office of Near Eastern and South Asian Analysis, Directorate of Intelligence, CIA, currently, a professor at the Elliot School of International Affairs at the George Washington University). This panel of experts provided political and military updated assessments clarifying the complex security situation in the region and beyond.

The International Center for Terrorism Studies hosted a seminar on "Post-Europe's Parliament Elections 2014: Political, Social, Economic, and Security Implications" on July 30, 2014. Topics discussed at the seminar included employment and migration policies, combating racism and terrorism, the Ukraine crisis, Middle East challenges, and transatlantic relations. Professor Don Wallace, Jr. (Chairman, International Law Institute) and Eric Fusfield (Deputy Director of the B'nai B'rith International Center for Human Rights and Public Policy) made opening remarks. Professor Yonah Alexander (Director, Inter-University Center for Terrorism Studies, and Senior Fellow, Potomac Institute for Policy Studies) moderated the event. The panel included Dr. Robert A. Pollard (Senior Foreign Service Officer with 30 years of international experience, including service in Europe and Visiting State Department Fellow, Europe Program, Center for Strategic and International Studies), Peter Roudik (Director, Global Legal Research Center, Law Library of Congress), Professor Amit Kumar (Adjunct Associate Professor at Georgetown University) and Geoffrey Harris (Deputy Head of the European Parliament's Liaison Office with the U.S. Congress and formerly Head of the Human Rights Unit within the Secretariat General of the European Parliament (Directorate General for external policies DGEXPO)).

Africa matters to the United States and to its friends and allies for reasons ranging from its strategic geographic position to the threats posed by radicalization and violence to the vast economic opportunities and resources it offers. While the international community is currently focusing on crises in the Ukraine, Syria, and elsewhere, the security challenges in Africa also deserve much greater attention.  

Read more: 3/27 Ambassadors' Forum "The Current Security Challenges in Africa"