fbpx
Wikipedia

Institute for the Study of War

January 29, 2023

The Institute for the Study of War (ISW) is an American research group and think tank founded in 2007 by military historian Kimberly Kagan. The ISW provides research and analysis regarding issues of defense and foreign affairs. It has produced reports on the Syrian War, the War in Afghanistan, and the Iraq War, "focusing on military operations, enemy threats, and political trends in diverse conflict zones".[1][2] The institute currently publishes daily reports on the 2022 Russian invasion of Ukraine[3] as well as the Mahsa Amini protests in Iran.[4]

Institute for the Study of War
AbbreviationISW
Formation2007; 16 years ago (2007)
TypePublic Policy think tank
Legal status501(c)(3)
Headquarters1400 16th St NW
Location
President
Kimberly Kagan
Websiteunderstandingwar.org
www.iswresearch.org

ISW was founded in response to the stagnation of the Iraq and Afghanistan wars, with core funding provided by a group of defense contractors.[5] According to a mission statement on its website, ISW aims to provide "real-time, government-independent, and open-source analysis of ongoing military operations and insurgent attacks".[6] ISW currently operates as a nonprofit organization, supported in part by contributions from defense contractors[7] including General Dynamics, DynCorp,[8] and previously, Raytheon.[9] It is headquartered in Washington, D.C.[10]

Political stance and influence

ISW criticized both the Obama and Trump administration policies to the Syrian conflict, advocating a more hawkish approach. In 2013, Kagan called for arms and equipment to be supplied to "moderate" rebels, with the hope that a state "friendly to the United States [would emerge] in the wake of Assad."[11] In 2017, ISW analyst Christopher Kozak praised president Donald Trump for the Shayrat missile strike but advocated further attacks, stating that "deterrence is a persistent condition, not a one hour strike package."[12] In 2018, ISW analyst Jennifer Cafarella published an article calling for the use of offensive military force against the Assad government.[13]

Kagan participated formally on the Joint Campaign Plan Assessment Team for Multi-National Force – Iraq U.S. Mission – Iraq in October 2008, and as part of the Civilian Advisory Team for the CENTCOM strategic review in January 2009.[14] Kagan served in Kabul as a member of General Stanley McChrystal's strategic assessment team, composed of civilian experts, during his strategic review in June and July 2009. She returned to Afghanistan in the summer of 2010 to assist General David Petraeus with key transition tasks following his assumption of command in Afghanistan. Kagan also serves on the Academic Advisory Board at the Afghanistan-Pakistan Center of Excellence at CENTCOM.[citation needed]

Structure

The ISW board includes General Jack Keane, Kimberly Kagan, former US Ambassador to the UN Kelly Craft, William Kristol, former US Senator Joseph I. Lieberman, Kevin Mandia, Jack D. McCarthy, Jr., Bruce Mosler, General David Petraeus, Warren Phillips, and William Roberti.[15] Previous and current members of the ISW's corporate council include Raytheon, Microsoft, Palantir, General Motors, General Dynamics, and Kirkland & Ellis.[16][17][9]

Research

Afghanistan Project

The ISW's Afghanistan Project monitors and analyzes the effectiveness of Afghan and Coalition operations to disrupt enemy networks and secure the population, while also evaluating the results of Afghanistan's 2010 Presidential election.[18]

The Afghanistan Project remains focused on the main enemy groups in Afghanistan, specifically: the Quetta Shura Taliban, the Haqqani network, and Hizb-i Islami Gulbuddin.[18] Specific attention is paid to understanding the ethnic, tribal, and political dynamics within these areas and how these factors are manipulated by the enemy and misunderstood by the Coalition.

In 2010, ISW researchers testified before the United States Congress in regards to understanding the problems of corruption and use of local powerbrokers in ISAF's Afghanistan strategy.[19]

Iraq Project

 
Kimberly Kagan in Iraq, 2008

The Iraq Project at the ISW produces fully documented reports that monitor and analyze the changing security and political dynamics within Iraq. Since the end of military operations in Iraq and after a general withdrawal of US forces there, ISW now focuses its research on the security and political dynamic now taking place there.

The Surge: The Untold Story

ISW president Kagan was noted for her support of "the Surge" strategy in Iraq and argued for a restructured American military strategy more generally. The Surge: The Untold Story, co-produced by ISW provides a historical account of U.S. military operations in Iraq during the Surge of forces during 2007 and 2008. As a documentary, it offers audiences a look into the story of the Surge in Iraq, as told by U.S. military commanders and diplomats as well as Iraqis.[20]

The video documented the Iraq Surge as part of a population-centric counterinsurgency approach and features many of the top commanders and others responsible for its implementation—including Gen. Jack Keane (Ret.), Gen. David Petraeus, Amb. Ryan Crocker, Gen. Raymond Odierno, Gen. Nasier Abadi (Iraq), Col. Peter Mansoor (Ret.), Col. J.B. Burton, Col. Ricky Gibbs, Col. Bryan Roberts, Col. Sean MacFarland, Col. James Hickey, Col. David Sutherland, Col. Steven Townsend, Lt.-Col. James Crider, and Lt. James Danly (Ret.)[21]

The Surge: The Untold Story was nominated for several awards and in 2010 was a winner of a Special Jury Award at the WorldFest film festival in Houston.[22] It also won honors as the best documentary part of the Military Channel's Documentary Series at the GI Film Festival in Washington, D.C.[23]

Middle East Security Project

The Institute for the Study of War launched its Middle East Security Project in November 2011. The project seeks: to study the national security challenges and opportunities emerging from the Persian Gulf and wider Arab World; to identify ways the United States and Gulf States can check Iran's growing influence and contain the threat posed by its nuclear ambitions; to explain the shifting balance of power within the Middle East caused by recent upheaval, and assess the responses of the United States and Arab States to address these changes as they emerge. The Project currently is focused on Syria and Iran and also produced a series of reports during the Libyan Revolution.

Syria

ISW has chronicled the resistance to President Bashar al-Assad through a number of reports, including:

  • The Struggle for Syria in 2011
  • Syria's Armed Opposition
  • Syria's Political Opposition
  • Syria's Maturing Insurgency[citation needed]

Libya

ISW released four reports on the conflict that overthrew Muammar Gaddafi between September 19, 2011, and December 6, 2011. The series was entitled "The Libyan Revolution" with each of the four parts focused on different stages in the struggle in order to chronicle the revolution from start to finish.

Iran

The Middle East Security Project has released reports on the status of the Iranian military as well as the influence that Iran has on its neighbors in the region. These reports include "Iran's Two Navies" and "Iranian Influence in the Levant, Egypt, Iraq, and Afghanistan" which was co-written with the American Enterprise Institute.

Reception

ISW's maps of the 2022 Russian invasion of Ukraine have been republished by Reuters,[24] the Financial Times,[25] the BBC,[26] The Guardian,[27] The New York Times,[28] The Washington Post,[29] and The Independent.[30]

Usually critics have described ISW as "a hawkish Washington" group[31] favoring an "aggressive foreign policy".[7] Writers for The Nation and Foreign Policy have called it "neoconservative".[32][33]

In 2013 a senior analyst at the Institute, Elizabeth O'Bagy, was fired after it was revealed she did not have a doctorate from Georgetown University, and following criticism of the omission in an op-ed of her affiliation with the Syrian Emergency Task Force, a U.S.-based group that supports and lobbies for the moderate Syrian opposition. These generated controversy after O'Bagy's research for the Institute was cited in a U.S. Senate hearing on possible U.S. military intervention into Syria.[34]

References

  1. ^ "About Us". Institute for the Study of War. December 2010. Retrieved October 12, 2010.
  2. ^ "Kimberly Kagan". Center for Presidential History at Southern Methodist University. Retrieved October 15, 2022.
  3. ^ "Ukraine Project". Institute for the Study of War. Retrieved April 7, 2022.
  4. ^ . Institute for the Study of War. Archived from the original on March 25, 2022. Retrieved January 8, 2023.
  5. ^ Urrutia, Olivier (September 2013). "The Role of Think Tanks in the Definition and Application of Defence Policies and Strategies" (PDF). Revista del Instituto Español de Estudios Estratégicos. 2: 26–27 – via Revista del IEEE.
  6. ^ "Institute for the Study of War".
  7. ^ a b Civilian analysts gained Petraeus's ear while he was commander in Afghanistan, By Rajiv Chandrasekaran, The Washington Post, December 19, 2012
  8. ^ "Our Supporters". Institute for the Study of War.
  9. ^ a b . April 1, 2013. Archived from the original on April 1, 2013. Retrieved March 25, 2022.
  10. ^ "About". Right Web. June 2010. Retrieved January 31, 2011.
  11. ^ "The Smart and Right Thing in Syria". Hoover Institution. Retrieved March 22, 2022.
  12. ^ "ISW Analysts React to the U.S.'s Anti-Assad Strike in Syria". Institute for the Study of War. Retrieved March 29, 2022.
  13. ^ Cafarella, Jennifer (February 22, 2018). "US passivity in the face of Syrian atrocities is hurting our global interests". Fox News. Retrieved March 22, 2022.
  14. ^ . Institute for the Study of War. November 2010. Archived from the original on November 5, 2010. Retrieved November 12, 2010.
  15. ^ "Who We Are". Institute for the Study of War.
  16. ^ . December 19, 2017. Archived from the original on December 19, 2017. Retrieved March 25, 2022.
  17. ^ . Institute for the Study of War. Archived from the original on March 25, 2022. Retrieved March 25, 2022.
  18. ^ a b "Afghanistan Project". Institute for the Study of War. November 2010. Retrieved January 12, 2011.
  19. ^ "Testimony". CSPAN. June 22, 2010. Retrieved October 12, 2010.
  20. ^ "'The Surge: the Untold Story' (never-before-seen interviews)". ISW. October 28, 2009. Retrieved March 2, 2022.
  21. ^ "The Surge: The Untold Story". Small Wars Journal. November 2009. Retrieved January 12, 2010.
  22. ^ . WorldFest. June 2010. Archived from the original on February 25, 2007. Retrieved January 12, 2009.
  23. ^ "GI Film Festival". GI Film Fest. May 2010. Retrieved November 12, 2010.[permanent dead link]
  24. ^ "Maps: Tracking the Russian invasion of Ukraine". Reuters. Retrieved March 29, 2022.
  25. ^ "Russia's invasion of Ukraine in maps — latest updates". Financial Times. March 25, 2022. Retrieved March 29, 2022.
  26. ^ The Visual Journalism Team (March 29, 2022). "Ukraine war in maps: Tracking the Russian invasion". BBC. Retrieved March 29, 2022.
  27. ^ "Institute for Study of War says Russians unable to secure Kyiv attack positions – as it happened". the Guardian. March 27, 2022. Retrieved March 29, 2022.
  28. ^ Levenson, Michael; Santora, Marc; Hopkins, Valerie (March 19, 2022). "What Happened on Day 24 of Russia's Invasion of Ukraine". The New York Times. ISSN 0362-4331. Retrieved March 29, 2022.
  29. ^ Morris, Loveday (March 20, 2022). "Russia tells Mariupol to surrender, but Ukrainian official is defiant". The Washington Post. Retrieved March 29, 2022.
  30. ^ "Dozens in Mariupol maternity hospital 'deported' - live". The Independent. March 29, 2022. Retrieved March 29, 2022.
  31. ^ Newton-Small, Jay (September 17, 2013). "The Rise and Fall of Elizabeth O'Bagy". Time.
  32. ^ Walt, Stephen M. "Being a Neocon Means Never Having to Say You're Sorry". Foreign Policy. Retrieved March 22, 2022.
  33. ^ Fang, Lee (September 16, 2014). "Who's Paying the Pro-War Pundits?". The Nation. ISSN 0027-8378. Retrieved April 15, 2022.
  34. ^ Newton-Small, Jay (September 17, 2013). "The Rise and Fall of Elizabeth O'Bagy". Time. ISSN 0040-781X. Retrieved March 22, 2022.

External links

  • Official website  

January 29, 2023
institute, study, american, research, group, think, tank, founded, 2007, military, historian, kimberly, kagan, provides, research, analysis, regarding, issues, defense, foreign, affairs, produced, reports, syrian, afghanistan, iraq, focusing, military, operati. The Institute for the Study of War ISW is an American research group and think tank founded in 2007 by military historian Kimberly Kagan The ISW provides research and analysis regarding issues of defense and foreign affairs It has produced reports on the Syrian War the War in Afghanistan and the Iraq War focusing on military operations enemy threats and political trends in diverse conflict zones 1 2 The institute currently publishes daily reports on the 2022 Russian invasion of Ukraine 3 as well as the Mahsa Amini protests in Iran 4 Institute for the Study of WarAbbreviationISWFormation2007 16 years ago 2007 TypePublic Policy think tankLegal status501 c 3 Headquarters1400 16th St NWLocationWashington D C United StatesPresidentKimberly KaganBoard of directorsJack Keane Kimberly Kagan Kelly Craft William Kristol Joseph I Lieberman Kevin Mandia Jack D McCarthy Jr Bruce Mosler David Petraeus Warren Phillips William RobertiWebsiteunderstandingwar wbr org www wbr iswresearch wbr orgISW was founded in response to the stagnation of the Iraq and Afghanistan wars with core funding provided by a group of defense contractors 5 According to a mission statement on its website ISW aims to provide real time government independent and open source analysis of ongoing military operations and insurgent attacks 6 ISW currently operates as a nonprofit organization supported in part by contributions from defense contractors 7 including General Dynamics DynCorp 8 and previously Raytheon 9 It is headquartered in Washington D C 10 Contents 1 Political stance and influence 2 Structure 3 Research 3 1 Afghanistan Project 3 2 Iraq Project 3 2 1 The Surge The Untold Story 3 3 Middle East Security Project 3 3 1 Syria 3 3 2 Libya 3 3 3 Iran 4 Reception 5 References 6 External linksPolitical stance and influence EditISW criticized both the Obama and Trump administration policies to the Syrian conflict advocating a more hawkish approach In 2013 Kagan called for arms and equipment to be supplied to moderate rebels with the hope that a state friendly to the United States would emerge in the wake of Assad 11 In 2017 ISW analyst Christopher Kozak praised president Donald Trump for the Shayrat missile strike but advocated further attacks stating that deterrence is a persistent condition not a one hour strike package 12 In 2018 ISW analyst Jennifer Cafarella published an article calling for the use of offensive military force against the Assad government 13 Kagan participated formally on the Joint Campaign Plan Assessment Team for Multi National Force Iraq U S Mission Iraq in October 2008 and as part of the Civilian Advisory Team for the CENTCOM strategic review in January 2009 14 Kagan served in Kabul as a member of General Stanley McChrystal s strategic assessment team composed of civilian experts during his strategic review in June and July 2009 She returned to Afghanistan in the summer of 2010 to assist General David Petraeus with key transition tasks following his assumption of command in Afghanistan Kagan also serves on the Academic Advisory Board at the Afghanistan Pakistan Center of Excellence at CENTCOM citation needed Structure EditThe ISW board includes General Jack Keane Kimberly Kagan former US Ambassador to the UN Kelly Craft William Kristol former US Senator Joseph I Lieberman Kevin Mandia Jack D McCarthy Jr Bruce Mosler General David Petraeus Warren Phillips and William Roberti 15 Previous and current members of the ISW s corporate council include Raytheon Microsoft Palantir General Motors General Dynamics and Kirkland amp Ellis 16 17 9 Research EditThis section needs to be updated Please help update this article to reflect recent events or newly available information March 2022 Afghanistan Project Edit The ISW s Afghanistan Project monitors and analyzes the effectiveness of Afghan and Coalition operations to disrupt enemy networks and secure the population while also evaluating the results of Afghanistan s 2010 Presidential election 18 The Afghanistan Project remains focused on the main enemy groups in Afghanistan specifically the Quetta Shura Taliban the Haqqani network and Hizb i Islami Gulbuddin 18 Specific attention is paid to understanding the ethnic tribal and political dynamics within these areas and how these factors are manipulated by the enemy and misunderstood by the Coalition In 2010 ISW researchers testified before the United States Congress in regards to understanding the problems of corruption and use of local powerbrokers in ISAF s Afghanistan strategy 19 Iraq Project Edit Kimberly Kagan in Iraq 2008 The Iraq Project at the ISW produces fully documented reports that monitor and analyze the changing security and political dynamics within Iraq Since the end of military operations in Iraq and after a general withdrawal of US forces there ISW now focuses its research on the security and political dynamic now taking place there The Surge The Untold Story Edit ISW president Kagan was noted for her support of the Surge strategy in Iraq and argued for a restructured American military strategy more generally The Surge The Untold Story co produced by ISW provides a historical account of U S military operations in Iraq during the Surge of forces during 2007 and 2008 As a documentary it offers audiences a look into the story of the Surge in Iraq as told by U S military commanders and diplomats as well as Iraqis 20 The video documented the Iraq Surge as part of a population centric counterinsurgency approach and features many of the top commanders and others responsible for its implementation including Gen Jack Keane Ret Gen David Petraeus Amb Ryan Crocker Gen Raymond Odierno Gen Nasier Abadi Iraq Col Peter Mansoor Ret Col J B Burton Col Ricky Gibbs Col Bryan Roberts Col Sean MacFarland Col James Hickey Col David Sutherland Col Steven Townsend Lt Col James Crider and Lt James Danly Ret 21 The Surge The Untold Story was nominated for several awards and in 2010 was a winner of a Special Jury Award at the WorldFest film festival in Houston 22 It also won honors as the best documentary part of the Military Channel s Documentary Series at the GI Film Festival in Washington D C 23 Middle East Security Project Edit The Institute for the Study of War launched its Middle East Security Project in November 2011 The project seeks to study the national security challenges and opportunities emerging from the Persian Gulf and wider Arab World to identify ways the United States and Gulf States can check Iran s growing influence and contain the threat posed by its nuclear ambitions to explain the shifting balance of power within the Middle East caused by recent upheaval and assess the responses of the United States and Arab States to address these changes as they emerge The Project currently is focused on Syria and Iran and also produced a series of reports during the Libyan Revolution Syria Edit ISW has chronicled the resistance to President Bashar al Assad through a number of reports including The Struggle for Syria in 2011 Syria s Armed Opposition Syria s Political Opposition Syria s Maturing Insurgency citation needed Libya Edit ISW released four reports on the conflict that overthrew Muammar Gaddafi between September 19 2011 and December 6 2011 The series was entitled The Libyan Revolution with each of the four parts focused on different stages in the struggle in order to chronicle the revolution from start to finish Iran Edit The Middle East Security Project has released reports on the status of the Iranian military as well as the influence that Iran has on its neighbors in the region These reports include Iran s Two Navies and Iranian Influence in the Levant Egypt Iraq and Afghanistan which was co written with the American Enterprise Institute Reception EditISW s maps of the 2022 Russian invasion of Ukraine have been republished by Reuters 24 the Financial Times 25 the BBC 26 The Guardian 27 The New York Times 28 The Washington Post 29 and The Independent 30 Usually critics have described ISW as a hawkish Washington group 31 favoring an aggressive foreign policy 7 Writers for The Nation and Foreign Policy have called it neoconservative 32 33 In 2013 a senior analyst at the Institute Elizabeth O Bagy was fired after it was revealed she did not have a doctorate from Georgetown University and following criticism of the omission in an op ed of her affiliation with the Syrian Emergency Task Force a U S based group that supports and lobbies for the moderate Syrian opposition These generated controversy after O Bagy s research for the Institute was cited in a U S Senate hearing on possible U S military intervention into Syria 34 References Edit About Us Institute for the Study of War December 2010 Retrieved October 12 2010 Kimberly Kagan Center for Presidential History at Southern Methodist University Retrieved October 15 2022 Ukraine Project Institute for the Study of War Retrieved April 7 2022 Institute for the Study of War Institute for the Study of War Archived from the original on March 25 2022 Retrieved January 8 2023 Urrutia Olivier September 2013 The Role of Think Tanks in the Definition and Application of Defence Policies and Strategies PDF Revista del Instituto Espanol de Estudios Estrategicos 2 26 27 via Revista del IEEE Institute for the Study of War a b Civilian analysts gained Petraeus s ear while he was commander in Afghanistan By Rajiv Chandrasekaran The Washington Post December 19 2012 Our Supporters Institute for the Study of War a b Our Supporters Institute for the Study of War April 1 2013 Archived from the original on April 1 2013 Retrieved March 25 2022 About Right Web June 2010 Retrieved January 31 2011 The Smart and Right Thing in Syria Hoover Institution Retrieved March 22 2022 ISW Analysts React to the U S s Anti Assad Strike in Syria Institute for the Study of War Retrieved March 29 2022 Cafarella Jennifer February 22 2018 US passivity in the face of Syrian atrocities is hurting our global interests Fox News Retrieved March 22 2022 Staff Bios Institute for the Study of War November 2010 Archived from the original on November 5 2010 Retrieved November 12 2010 Who We Are Institute for the Study of War Our Supporters Institute for the Study of War December 19 2017 Archived from the original on December 19 2017 Retrieved March 25 2022 Institute for the Study of War Institute for the Study of War Archived from the original on March 25 2022 Retrieved March 25 2022 a b Afghanistan Project Institute for the Study of War November 2010 Retrieved January 12 2011 Testimony CSPAN June 22 2010 Retrieved October 12 2010 The Surge the Untold Story never before seen interviews ISW October 28 2009 Retrieved March 2 2022 The Surge The Untold Story Small Wars Journal November 2009 Retrieved January 12 2010 World Fest WorldFest June 2010 Archived from the original on February 25 2007 Retrieved January 12 2009 GI Film Festival GI Film Fest May 2010 Retrieved November 12 2010 permanent dead link Maps Tracking the Russian invasion of Ukraine Reuters Retrieved March 29 2022 Russia s invasion of Ukraine in maps latest updates Financial Times March 25 2022 Retrieved March 29 2022 The Visual Journalism Team March 29 2022 Ukraine war in maps Tracking the Russian invasion BBC Retrieved March 29 2022 Institute for Study of War says Russians unable to secure Kyiv attack positions as it happened the Guardian March 27 2022 Retrieved March 29 2022 Levenson Michael Santora Marc Hopkins Valerie March 19 2022 What Happened on Day 24 of Russia s Invasion of Ukraine The New York Times ISSN 0362 4331 Retrieved March 29 2022 Morris Loveday March 20 2022 Russia tells Mariupol to surrender but Ukrainian official is defiant The Washington Post Retrieved March 29 2022 Dozens in Mariupol maternity hospital deported live The Independent March 29 2022 Retrieved March 29 2022 Newton Small Jay September 17 2013 The Rise and Fall of Elizabeth O Bagy Time Walt Stephen M Being a Neocon Means Never Having to Say You re Sorry Foreign Policy Retrieved March 22 2022 Fang Lee September 16 2014 Who s Paying the Pro War Pundits The Nation ISSN 0027 8378 Retrieved April 15 2022 Newton Small Jay September 17 2013 The Rise and Fall of Elizabeth O Bagy Time ISSN 0040 781X Retrieved March 22 2022 External links EditOfficial website Retrieved from https en wikipedia org w index php title Institute for the Study of War amp oldid 1136123585, wikipedia, wiki, book, books, library,

article

, read, download, free, free download, mp3, video, mp4, 3gp, jpg, jpeg, gif, png, picture, music, song, movie, book, game, games.