Twenty-seven leading foreign policy experts, including Danya Greenfield, deputy director of the Council’s Rafik Hariri Center for the Middle East, sent a letter to President Obama, calling for a broader approach on US policy towards Yemen that “expands beyond the narrow lens of counterterrorism.”
As US intelligence agencies point to the rise of Al Qaeda in the Arabian Peninsula (AQAP) activity making Yemen the next front in counterterrorism, the letter, signed by diplomats, security specialists, scholars, and US policy experts, argues that current US policy is short-sighted. It strongly urges for better policy that still serves America’s national interests by decreasing extremism and combating security threats in the region, but through a comprehensive, long-term approach that addresses Yemen’s social, economic, and political challenges.
MEDIA MENTIONS
- Yemen airstrikes part of broad strategy to curb al-Qaeda, Obama adviser says – Karen DeYoung, Washington Post
- Middle East experts urge changes to Obama’s Yemen policies – Allison Good, Foreign Policy
- U.S. Dangerously Short-Sighted on Yemen, Experts Warn – Carey Biron, IPSNews
- Assad declares Syria in ‘state of war’ – Jennifer Parker, Foreign Policy
- US must change ‘erratic’, ‘short-sighted’ approach to Yemen – Democracy Digest
- Letter to President Obama on Yemen: More Aid, Fewer Drones, Please – Arabica News Intelligence
- Letter to President Obama on Yemen: More Aid, Fewer Drones, Please – Juan Cole
- In Letter to President, Leading Experts Call for Recalibration of Policy On Yemen – Foreign Policy Association Blog
- Analysts: Obama’s drone war in Yemen ‘not a sustainable solution’ – World Tribune