Peter1469
04-16-2016, 12:33 PM
Gen. David Petraeus on fighting Islamists (https://www.washingtonpost.com/opinions/5-big-ideas-to-guide-us-in-the-long-war-against-islamic-extremism/2016/04/15/c145cdde-028a-11e6-9203-7b8670959b88_story.html)
Petraeus is coming back out into the public. Read this Washington Post article that he authored.
The formulation of sound national policy requires finding the right overarching concepts. Getting the “big ideas” right is particularly important when major developments appear to have invalidated the concepts upon which previous policy and strategy were based — which now appears to be the case in the wake of the Arab Spring (https://www.washingtonpost.com/news/worldviews/wp/2016/02/10/five-years-after-egypts-arab-spring-we-didnt-need-a-revolution/).
To illustrate this point, I have often noted that the surge that mattered most in Iraq was not the surge of forces (https://www.washingtonpost.com/news/worldviews/wp/2012/11/09/the-iraq-success-story-that-propelled-david-petraeus-to-the-top/). It was the surge of ideas, which guided the strategy that ultimately reduced violence in the country so substantially.
The biggest of the big ideas that guided the Iraq surge included recognition that:
Petraeus is coming back out into the public. Read this Washington Post article that he authored.
The formulation of sound national policy requires finding the right overarching concepts. Getting the “big ideas” right is particularly important when major developments appear to have invalidated the concepts upon which previous policy and strategy were based — which now appears to be the case in the wake of the Arab Spring (https://www.washingtonpost.com/news/worldviews/wp/2016/02/10/five-years-after-egypts-arab-spring-we-didnt-need-a-revolution/).
To illustrate this point, I have often noted that the surge that mattered most in Iraq was not the surge of forces (https://www.washingtonpost.com/news/worldviews/wp/2012/11/09/the-iraq-success-story-that-propelled-david-petraeus-to-the-top/). It was the surge of ideas, which guided the strategy that ultimately reduced violence in the country so substantially.
The biggest of the big ideas that guided the Iraq surge included recognition that: