A nation must think before it acts.
Four veteran counterterrorism experts discuss whether America’s alliances with Middle East partners have helped or hindered the fight against global extremism.
On September 14, Matthew Levitt, Stephen Tankel, Tricia Bacon, and Barak Mendelsohn addressed a Policy Forum at The Washington Institute. Levitt is the Institute’s Fromer-Wexler Fellow and editor of its recent compilation Neither Remaining Nor Expanding: The Decline of the Islamic State. Tankel is an associate professor at American University and author of With Us and Against Us: How America’s Partners Help and Hinder the War on Terror. Bacon is an assistant professor at American University and author of Why Terrorist Groups Form International Alliances. Mendelsohn is an associate professor at Haverford College and author of Jihadism Constrained: The Limits of Transnational Jihadism and What It Means for Counterterrorism. The following is a rapporteur’s summary of their remarks.