A Middle East expert is advising the incoming Trump Administration not to allow the war on ISIS to dominate the presidency. Austin Long, a Columbia University associate professor of International Affairs, spoke at Sacred Heart University in Fairfield, Conn., just before the election.
Long served in Iraq as an analyst and adviser to coalition forces and the U.S. military. He says the fight against ISIS has been a huge part of the previous two White House administrations under George W. Bush and Barack Obama. He says the Trump administration should avoid this.
“I think the key is going to be just to accept that you are not going to defeat it in one or two or three or even 10 battles. Keep constant pressure on the group, and then try and shrink it slowly and move on to deal with other challenges. Just accept that that pressure is going to be there but don’t let it dominate the presidency.”
Long’s advice for broader Middle East policy is to take into account that the people of the region have a big stake in the outcomes.
“The answer in my opinion is not to do a lot more, another large intervention as we saw in Afghanistan and Iraq, but rather to do just enough so that they are able to solve most of these problems themselves with U.S. assistance rather than expecting the U.S. to solve them.”
Long says much will depend on whom Trump appoints as his advisers.