Social Science Research Council

In February 2002, the SSRC Washington office launched a new initiative convening a group of policy professionals, NGO activists, journalists and academics in a series that examines emerging dimensions of “war & terrorism.” As the war progresses from the bombing campaigns in Afghanistan to the Iraq crisis, a number of countries and relatively new issues are coming into play. This forum provides briefings by experts with in-depth knowledge and perspectives not often available in the Washington circuit. The luncheon seminars are being developed under the leadership of GSC Program Directors Itty Abraham and John Tirman.

Topics covered to date have included:

• issues and questions facing Pakistan in the aftermath of the Afghan war, including the perilous relations between Pakistan and India (Saeed Shafqat, Columbia University);
• Hadrami diasporic communities and migratory flows from the Arabian peninsula, with special attention to the social bases for non-state actors such as Al-Qaeda (Engseng Ho, Harvard University);
• the implications for Northern Iraq of an American military effort to remove Saddam Hussein from power (Kevin McKiernan, Freelance Journalist);
• the evolution of Israeli government ideology and its relationship to the current conflict (Joseph Massad, Columbia University);
• the prospects for democracy and liberalization in Iran and US-Iran relations in the light of Iran being held to be the major worldwide sponsor of terrorism (Ramin Jahanbegloo, University of Toronto);
• the effects of the “axis of evil” speech on relations with North Korea, the Bush administration’s handling of the North Korean crisis, and alternative policy options (Leon Sigal, SSRC);
• the consequences of war, and the political ramifications on reform in Saudi Arabia (Mai Yamani, Royal Institute for International Affairs);
• the Iraq crisis and its ramifications on the war against terror, in the broader context of contemporary international relations. This session was co-sponsored by the SSRC and the Alliance for International Conflict Resolution (Kevin Clements, International Alert);
• Turkey’s role in the recent war on Iraq with specific emphasis on Kurdish factions’ involvement in the war. The implications of the Kurdish dynamic in its historical context. Close attention was paid to the role of the Turkish military in influencing Turkish foreign policy decisions and its effects on Turkish relations vis-à-vis its neighbors and the US (Dogu Ergil, Ankara University);
• the de-Arabization of northern Iraq, the status of the Kurdish population in Iraq after the war, political transition in Iraq, the current security crisis and how it can be averted to establish a more stable environment. Also, the successes and failures of the re-construction phase of American and British involvement in Iraq (Joost Hilterman, International Crisis Group).