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Extremism and weak Western strategy
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Terrorist attacks in Istanbul, Dhaka, and Baghdad demonstrate the reach of the Islamic State (ISIS) in Europe, North Africa, the Middle East, and parts of Asia. Yet ISIS is not especially difficult to defeat. ISIS has a small fighting force, which the US puts at 20,000 to 25,000 in Iraq and Syria, and another 5,000 or so in Libya.
Despite US President Barack Obama’s pledge in September 2014 to “degrade and ultimately destroy” ISIS, the US and its allies have been focusing instead on toppling Syria’s Bashar al-Assad.
For the US, steered by neoconservatives, the war in Syria is a continuation of the plan for global US hegemony launched by Defense Secretary Richard Cheney and Under Secretary Paul Wolfowitz at the Cold War’s end.
The multiple US wars in the Middle East — Afghanistan, Iraq, Syria, Libya, and others — have sought to remove the Soviet Union, and then Russia, from the scene and to give the US hegemonic sway. These efforts have failed miserably.
The US foreign-policy establishment blames Russian President Vladimir Putin for defending Assad, while Russia blames the US for trying to overthrow him.
Violating UN Charter
These complaints might seem symmetrical, but they’re not. The attempt by the US and its allies to overthrow Assad violates the UN Charter, while Russia’s support of Assad is consistent with Syria’s right of self-defense under that charter.
The persistence of ISIS underscores a number of strategic flaws in US foreign policy. For example, the neocon quest for US hegemony through regime change is not only bloody-minded arrogance; it is classic imperial overreach. It has failed everywhere the US has tried it.
Moreover, the US perception of Iran and Russia as implacable foes of America is in many ways outdated and a self-fulfilling prophecy. A rapprochement with both countries is possible.
The US and Russia could begin to reverse their recent new cold war through shared efforts to stamp out terrorism.
The rise of ISIS is a symptom of the shortcomings of current Western — particularly US — strategy. The West can defeat ISIS. The question is whether the US will undertake the strategic reassessment needed to accomplish that end.
Jeffrey D. Sachs is Professor of Sustainable Development, Professor of Health Policy and Management, and Director of the Earth Institute at Columbia University. He is also Director of the UN Sustainable Development Solutions Network. Copyright: Project Syndicate, 2016. www.project-syndicate.org. Shanghai Daily condensed the article.
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